Food and Drink Federation announce impressive line-up for Sustainability Convention

With climate change threatening to have a huge impact on the food industry, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has announced speakers who will talk at its inaugural Sustainability Convention later this year.

The food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK and FDF is the voice of this industry. FDF’s first ever convention on sustainability will take place on October 21 at the British Museum, London.

The line-up includes leading figures such as Glyn Davies, the executive director of global programmes at WWF, and Inder Poonaji, the head of sustainability at Nestlé. Other speakers include Karen Hamilton, the vice-president of sustainability at Unilever, and Jonathan Horrell, the director of sustainability at Mondelez International.

Peter Andrews, the sustainability executive at FDF, said at the start of June that climate change would create a challenge for the food and drink sector. He also talked about the need for this industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change to feed the growing global population.

With recent studies showing there could be a shortage of farmland in 2030, meetings such as the FDF convention are vital to ensure manufacturers are thinking about the future sustainability of their businesses.

FDF’s director general Melanie Leech said, “As the country’s largest manufacturing sector, we believe that the UK food and drink industry has the opportunity and a major role to play in delivering growth, but this growth must be sustainable and meet the challenge of increasing global pressures on food systems.

“Our members have been delivering impressive savings in water, energy use, transport, packaging and food waste as part of our five-fold environmental ambition and I look forward to sharing this expertise and helping more companies on their sustainability journeys at our Sustainability Convention this autumn.”

The event will feature talks, panels, discussions and workshops, which will focus on policy in the EU and the view from UK along with advice on how to communicate sustainability to shoppers and talks on factories of the future.

Blue & Green Tomorrow is holding a series of events for Sustainable September, a month-long celebration of sustainability. The sustainable retail debate is on September 10 and other debates throughout the month include sustainable tourism, energy and investment with an all-day conference on September 30. The aim is to bring together leaders in fields to discuss sustainability. Tickets can be bought here.

Photo: Polycart via Flickr

Further reading:

Climate change will have a ‘major impact’ on food production

Population growth in UK highlights need to manage consumption

UK’s severe shortage of farmland will hit food production – study

UK’s food security at risk from climate change and unsustainable diets

Tickets on sale for Blue & Green Tomorrow’s Sustainable September events