Innovation Forum Podcast

This week: At the recent scope 3 innovation forum, Ian Welsh spoke with Katy Stevens from the European Outdoor Group and Maria Venus from Swiss outdoor brands business Fenix Outdoor about their sector decarbonisation collaboration project. They discuss the positive outcomes from this collaboration and its significance in creating a clear roadmap towards net-zero.   Plus: Innovation Forum’s Emily Heslop shares launch details about the upcoming sustainable commodities and land use forum, taking place in Amsterdam on 22-23 October. Click here to register at early-bird pricing.

At Innovation Forum's future of food and beverage conference in Amsterdam, some of the expert participants spoke with Ian Welsh, reflecting on discussions from the conference. They talked about how to develop regenerative agriculture across supply chains, improving farmer incomes and resilience and biodiversity impacts. Hear from Dorothy Shaver from Unilever, Producer Direct's Jason Archie-Acheampong and Marika McCauley Sine from Mars.

IFC’s senior industry specialist Ahmad Slaibi, and Tom Cumberlege, director at the Carbon Trust, talk with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about their collaborative efforts in developing a tool to address the food loss challenge in the agricultural sector. They explore the tool’s potential for agribusinesses at reducing greenhouse emissions by tracking food losses, and its broader implications for food security and environmental sustainability.

This week: Tate & Lyle's president of innovation and commercial development, Victoria Spadaro Grant, talks with Innovation Forum's Hannah Oborne about the challenges and concerns around ultra-processed foods and what brands should prioritise to secure the future of food systems. They discuss how ultra-processed foods can be a solution to tackle sustainability, nutrition and accessibility of food.   Plus: Better Cotton in the spotlight again over sustainability claims; people's climate vote supports stronger climate action and support for global south; UK retail chain John Lewis launches a 20-piece circular economy home and fashion collection; ISSB shares guidelines to align sustainability reporting; UK delivery company Evri increasing its electric vehicle fleet as part of a £19m investment; and, Denmark to introduce the world's first carbon tax on agriculture, in the news digest by Innovation Forum's Ellen Atiyah.   Host: Ian Welsh

On 20th June, Innovation Forum hosted a free virtual event with Bayer Crop Science. Data is key to shaping decisions that increase food production, farm incomes, and climate resilience. For farmers, the right data is an essential foundation for efficient, productive, and profitable operations. And now, it is becoming much easier for farmers to benefit from the data they produce. In this webinar, we discussed real-life case studies to explore how data collection and analysis can inform decision making at the farm level. We also assessed how agribusinesses like Bayer can leverage data and support carbon sequestration efforts to reduce emissions, protect nature, and build supply chain resilience.  Our panel examined:  How technology and data can support farmers to deliver efficiency gains, emissions reductions, and carbon sequestration. How effective Measurement, Reporting, and Verification can ensure compliance and progress for food value chain actors. How Bayer's digital solutions can empower carbon farming

This week: CottonConnect's Alison Ward spoke with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh at the recent sustainable apparel and textiles conference in Amsterdam. They discussed what climate resilience looks like in cotton production and the unintended consequences of over-reliance on technology to tackle this. Plus: Innovation Forum's Hannah Oborne announces the scope 3 innovation forum USA, returning to Washington DC on 3rd-4th December this year.  Click here for more information. And, Catie Ball shares the latest updates ahead of the sustainable apparel and textiles conference USA this week. CottonConnect will be continuing the conversation in New York, click here for registration details.

On 18th June, IF hosted a virtual event for ofi’s sustainability strategy launch Increasing regulatory requirements are tasking food and beverage companies with more robust corporate reporting. Strengthening commitments to enhance the resilience of supply chains also remains a key imperative to deliver the change the law demands and farmers, rural communities and nature needs. Enabling better choices to be made across the value chain is the focus of ‘Choices for Change’, a new sustainability strategy by ofi, a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients. With 2030 targets and action plans spanning its five product platforms – cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts, and spices – join us as we discussed:   The imperative to drive positive change across the food system, to enable prosperous farmers, thriving communities, climate action and a regenerated living world   The role of data and digital tools in generating actionable insight to inform more efficient interventions for real and measurable impact

This week: Debbie Shakespeare, senior director, sustainability and compliance at Avery Dennison talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how fashion companies can become ESPR compliant, outlining the main requirements of the Eco Design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and its timelines, starting with the latest developments, and offers practical tips to help companies get started today. Plus: Innovation Forum's Ellen Atiyah the discusses the Nature Restoration Law, why EV sales growth has slowed in the US and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's latest report on the importance of producer responsibility policies (EPR) to achieve a circular economy for textiles.

Eastman's circular policy director, Christopher Layton, discusses current progress and trends in developing circular economy models for plastic and packaging with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh. They provide guidance on taking a regional approach for greater circularity, useful regulatory approaches, and progress indicators.

On June 11th, IF hosted a webinar in partnership with Vayda. Advancing regenerative agriculture farming has become a priority for agri-food stakeholders in an effort to mitigate some of the most pressing challenges threatening the resilience of global food systems, whilst tackling climate change. While companies have experimented with regenerative farming practices, these often remain limited to the pilot phase.   In partnership with Vayda, a certified B Corp dedicated to boosting grower adoption of regenerative practices, this webinar explored the essential strategies needed to accelerate on-farm transformation and ensure long-term sustainable practice changes at an industry level. Our panel of experts discussed: What does regenerative transformation entail for growers?  What are the biggest obstacles for scale according to farmers? How can farmers and companies best collaborate to de-risk and scale regenerative practices?   How can the food and agriculture industry maximize the impact of regenerative pra

This week: At our recent Future of Food and Beverage conference in Minneapolis, a Kansas farmer, Dwane Roth, shared the farmer's perspective of what's crucial to drive sustainable agricultural practices on the ground. In conversation with Ian Welsh, Dwane highlighted the importance of collaboration across the food and agriculture sectors. Plus: Bayer Crop Science's EMEA digital solutions science manager, Kiera Holland, talks with Innovation Forum's Ellen Atiyah about the next webinar in the 'Beneath the surface' series, which will focus on carbon farming and farm-level resilience. Click here to join us live on June 20th at 3 PM CEST. And, hear what ofi and partners plan to do in delivering prosperous farming communities, climate action, and a regenerated world on June 18th at 2 PM CEST. To join us live, you can click here.

This week: Peter Bunce, vice president, head of cotton and microbials at Indigo Ag, talks with Ian Welsh about the importance of implementing regenerative agriculture and tackling scope 3 emissions. They discuss how companies can specifically address their cotton and grain scope 3 emissions, and best practices for collaboration. Plus: Tate & Lyle's president of innovation and commercial development, Victoria Spadaro Grant, talks with Innovation Forum's Hannah Oborne about the challenges and concerns around ultra-processed foods and what brands should prioritise to secure the future of food systems. They discuss how ultra-processed foods can be a solution to tackle sustainability, nutrition and accessibility of food, and how it's not always nutritionally harmful.

On 6th June, IF hosted a free webinar in partnership with CottonConnect. Regenerative sourcing has shown significant promise for the cotton industry; helping to regenerate soils, support ecosystems, and improve farmer livelihoods all whilst increasing yield. With initial pilots showing the potential for transformative impact, how can this approach now be implemented at scale? In this webinar, we used CottonConnect's work with cotton farmers in Gujarat as a case study to discuss: The challenges that remain in the cotton industry, and the potential for regenerative agriculture as a solution How best to work with local partners on the ground to implement regenerative programmes What are transferable lessons for regenerative transformation in the cotton sector globally We heard valuable insights from: Alison Ward, CEO, CottonConnect Hardeep Desai, global head – farm programmes, CottonConnect Prakash Philip, senior director – monitoring evaluation & learning, CottonConnect This discussion was moderated by T

Patrick Mallet, director for innovations at ISEAL Alliance, and Rachel Wall, project manager for landscapes and collaborations at Proforest, talk with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the importance of investing in landscape initiatives and what landscape actions can look like in practice. They discuss ISEAL Alliance's position papers that provides baseline expectations for companies on how to engage with landscape approaches and then how to communicate about their engagement.

KFC's chief sustainability officer Nira Johri and global chief development officer Nivera Wallani speak with Ian Welsh about the company's climate commitments across scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Hear how the brand's sustainability strategy is closely integrated with its overall development plans.   Also, Innovation Forum’s Natasha Bodnar discusses with Ian what to expect at the upcoming scope 3 emissions innovation forum in Amsterdam on 12th and 13th June. Click here for full registration details.    Hear from Innovation Forum’s Sarah Jackson about the sustainable packaging innovation forum taking place in Philadelphia on October 29th and 30th, which will focus on the opportunities and benefits from sustainable packaging solutions. Full registration details can be found here.   Plus, Innovation Forum’s Savanna Razzaque chats with Vayda's CEO Mike Shoemaker about the company's direct work with growers to drive regenerative transformation and preview of their upcoming farmer-led discussion on 11th June. Sign up

On 4th June, IF hosted a webinar in partnership with Bayer Crop Science.  In recent years, the agricultural industry has witnessed a significant shift towards sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. Within this context, biologics – derived from natural resources such as microbes, plants, pheromones and other sources – are emerging as crucial agricultural tools in this transformation.   Biological solutions have the opportunity to offer benefits for crop protection, soil health improvement, and regenerative farming practices. However, the ongoing discourse surrounding biologicals in agriculture contains uncertainties and misconceptions that warrant thorough exploration and discussion.   Taking a myth-busting approach to dissect this prevailing discourse, our panel discussed:   What are the existing criticisms and hesitancies towards biologicals – and are these useful?   The role of biological crop protection in modern agriculture, with concrete examples of potential solutions.   How collaborative

This week: IFC’s senior industry specialist, Ahmad Slaibi and Tom Cumberlege, director at the Carbon Trust talk with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about the development of their new food loss tool. They discuss how the tool can drive increased food availability and reduce significant food loss in developing countries, as well as further opportunities to collaborate with industry leaders to improve the tool. Plus: new president of Mexico at crossroads in delivering the country’s energy transition and economic interests; Google to eliminate plastic from its consumer electronics packaging before their plastic-free 2024 deadline; Edinburgh city council sets to ban fossil fuel companies and advertising of high emission modes of transport; global efforts fall short of meeting 2030 targets for renewable electricity generation, says the International Energy Agency; and, climate change is set to be the central focus of UK labour party’s general election campaign, in the news digest. 

Niamh McCarthy, director for climate related risks at Climate Advisors, talks with Ian Welsh about the Brazilian soy sector’s risks from climate transition, including potential decreases in producer prices, and the opportunities that can arise from these risks. They discuss the projected rise in demand of plant-based proteins and share action points for companies within the sector to adapt to new demands to build resilience.

This week: At the future of food and beverage conference in Amsterdam, Jason Archie-Acheampong, international commercial programmes manager at Producers Direct, spoke with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about value chain actor and next-generation engagement in farming. They discuss the importance of improving farmer incomes and how to implement new technologies on-the-ground with farmers in mind.   Plus: Bayer Crop Sciences’ head of biologics Benoit Hartmann and Innovation Forum’s Savanna Razzaque talk about what to expect in the next focus on farmers webinar series. This complimentary webinar will focus on how agri-food stakeholders can efficiently scale, accelerate and unlock innovation. Click here to register.

This week: Christopher Layton, director of circular policy strategy at Eastman, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about the development of circular economy models for plastics and packaging. They discussed the potential for regional circularity and the regulatory approach that might help. Plus: final approval for the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive; University of Cambridge study shows brightly coloured plastic products are up to 20% less likely to be recycled; US Farm Bill passed focusing on climate, nutrition and agricultural resilience; the Sun Cable project in Australia becomes the world’s largest renewable energy project; China projected to rely solely on recycled materials for electric vehicles in 15 years, according to the Contemporary Amperex Technology; and, the Science Based Targets initiative updates criteria for climate target-setting in the financial sector, in the news digest.