Investors attending Britain’s first food industry investment summit are calling for government action to transform the way food is grown, manufactured and eaten.
This comes as the food sector looks to tackle the public health crisis and the industry’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
The Summit, ‘Putting Money on the Menu: How can investors transform the UK food system?’ took place in London on 7 February, organised by The Food Foundation and attended by leading investment experts, as well Iceland Foods head of product and process, Stuart Lendrum.
Delivering a message written by the frozen food retailers executive chairman, Richard Walker, Lendrum said that to achieve societal change, “we need to get the whole food industry working together under a strong, clear and consistent govenment lead.”
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
He added that government intervention needs to be “well thought-through and well-implemented” in order to “make a positive change” to consumers earing habits.
Environmentally, the food system is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and the current National Food Strategy includes goals that need to be met by 2030 to combat global warming, including changing methods to diets, food production and farming.
The summit’s audience was given outline plans for the government’s Food Data Transparency Partnership which ensures all large food businesses report publicly on metrics which will help determine whether the health, sustainability and animal welfare impacts of the food system are improving.
“We are only growing a third of the fruit and vegetables in the world that are needed to allow everyone to eat a healthy diet, and about twelve times too much sugar,” Catham House research director of emerging risks, Professor Tim Benton said.
“We need to think about how we can work with politicians to get market restructuring right so the incentives are in the right places to make the food that people ought to be eating more available and cheaper and the food they shouldnt’t be eating less available and more expensive. That requires a radical change.”
Rathbone Greenbank Investments expert in sustainable and ethical investment, Sophie Lawrence said that retailers shouldn’t be taking on all of the burden, instead the industry should focus on “getting comparable data so we can make the right decisions as investors, and consumers can have the right information.”
“The UK will be leading in this kind of regulation, and we hope there will be a ripple effect.”
The Food Foundation executive director, Anna Taylor added that government regulation is important as it allows the industry to create the right incentives.
“We are delighted with the response to this event and the level of support it has generated. These are forward thinking investors who recognise the risks of their assets, and that business as usual is no longer an option.”
