I recently keynoted for our client Tetra Pak's client network of food producers across Latin America (courtesy of Nathan Thompson at Keppler Speakers) on Sustainable Innovation and wanted to share some of the highlights on Sustainable Strategies and how innovators are harnessing the power of the Circular Economy to regenerate the 3Ps - people, planet and profit. It is so heartening to see brands like Tetra Pak and our clients at the Australian Food and Grocery Council wholeheartedly drive change in this area and I am honored as a futurist (and the Entrepreneurs' Organization Sydney Leadership Impact Chair) to be playing a role in this strategic mindset shift.
Check out the video highlights and an edited transcript below...
We are now seeing - through our clients at Microsoft and at Mercedes-Benz AG - for example, teaming up to collaborate on bringing carbon emissions down to sustainable levels, which is of course, zero, by 2030. This is absolutely critical, because brands now need to take a stance on sustainability - to be more planetarian, to be more humanitarian - in the products that we offer.
And as a result, new business models and new types of food, of course, are emerging as well. Not only to boost people's mental and physical well-being, but also for the planet's sustainability. At Beyond Meat, for example, this is no longer just happening in Portland or in the hipster quarters of San Francisco, but they're now scaling through China, bringing Beyond Meat into something that is now truly mainstream.
We have to make sure that our brands also live - and are in alignment with Greta Thunberg's initiatives - in their sustainability practices and the environmentalism that's also being highlighted by the United Nations sustainability goals at the same time. Make sure you audit your practices, because increasingly, this is what the #consciousconsumer is expecting of you.
Additionally, we're expecting brands to go circular, like the Australian brand zeroco.com.au , who's pulling plastics out of the ocean to use for their packaging of home and kitchen products. This is leading to a circular economy where previous outputs get to be reused, recycled and upcycled for new products. Increasingly, this is something that we - as conscious consumers - are expecting.
What do you think? What are the best examples of sustainability being harnessed for innovation?
#sustainability #circulareconomy #sustainable #climatechange #environment #recycling #zerowaste #businessmodels