Sustainable Solutions Group

Consumer Demand for Grassfed Will Rise in 2012

Neitzel_Janice — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:20:01 +0000

It’s a new year and a good time to check the pulse of consumer interest in animal welfare certified foods. Food industry trend watcher, the Hartman Group, cites grass-fed meat, healthy fats, real butter, cage-free eggs, heirloom marbled pork, and the family dinner as growing trends in 2012 and beyond. On the other hand, “naturally raised” meat, processed factory cheese, egg whites, margarine, and The Other White Meat are on their way out, as described in its recent report “Looking Ahead: Food Culture 2012.”

Among consumers, concern about their meat’s origins is growing, according to Carolyn Dimitri, an associate professor of Food Studies at New York University. Though factory-farmed meat is still a big seller, some shoppers are willing to pay two or three times as much to guarantee that the animals they eat had ample living space and sufficient time outdoors, were raised on organic or foraged food (or both), and were not fed antibiotics or growth hormones.

Consumers do not like pig gestation crates or battery cages and want to know if food animals were raised in cages or crates. According to a 2011 Kansas State University study, data was collected on pork and egg products described as having mandatory labeling indicating the use OR lack of crates and cages. The study results show consumers will likely pay up to 20% more for meat with a mandatory label showing cage and crate animal welfare information. Women and younger consumers indicated even higher demand for this labeling.

In December 2011, Forbes published an article on Quick Service Restaurants “going greener” and highlighted Chipotle using hormone-free and no-antibiotic meats as an important part of Chipotle’s outstanding 2011 50%+ return on investment. The Forbes article went on to cite a recent study showing that a whopping 75% of American citizens want the U.S. government to restrict antibiotics fed to farm animals and to conclude that the future will certainly be tougher for restaurants not willing to make these changes now.

Sustainable Solutions Group guides top food industry decision makers to source higher welfare meat, dairy, and eggs using an innovative roadmap approach for more responsible sourcing over time. Using consumer demand as a driver and with world-famous Dr. Temple Grandin as a primary advisor, we bring attention to the benefits of sourcing healthier, higher welfare meat, dairy, and eggs and supporting farmers with higher welfare practices.

The first step is a Responsible Sourcing Assessment

Neitzel_Janice — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:03:50 +0000

Farm animals are excluded from the U.S. Animal Welfare Act and don’t have legal protection while grown on the farm. The federal Humane Slaughter Act does not protect poultry so chickens and turkeys, which make up over 95% of land animals killed for food, do not have protection from mistreatment at slaughter. These gaps in regulations have led to identification of species-specific animal welfare criteria such as cage-free and crate-free and development of 3rd party certifications. Measuring these supplier certifications and species-specific welfare attributes are at the heart of our Responsible Sourcing Assessment.

We examine your meat, dairy, and egg sourcing against widely-accepted animal welfare criteria and certifications to provide a Summary of Progress and Recommendations.

Bring Responsible Leadership Training to your Organization

Neitzel_Janice — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:02:19 +0000

The Supermarket Guru, Phil Lempert’s 2011 Food Trends says, “Consumers will expand recognition of and commitment to social responsibilities, including the humane treatment of animals.”

The Motley Fool’s “Seeking More Humane Profits” says “In their search for truly ethical companies, socially responsible investors highly rank businesses that work to eradicate cruelty from their operations.”

Responsible Leadership Training brings together curious, motivated leaders to develop leadership skills in Responsible Sourcing to improve animal welfare in your supply chain. We use an awareness-building empowerment approach including exposure to prominent industry leaders such as Dr. Temple Grandin and a series of book and video selections.

The training consists of 4 full days once a month across 4 months. It is a participant-led discussion for 5 to 15 people combining leadership components with speakers and relevant media to build awareness and collaboration. Topics include product quality, food safety, farmer impact, antibiotics in farmed animals, sustainable farming, animal welfare certifications, etc.

Organizations don’t adapt to change, their people do. Changing human behavior is complex so we introduce the importance of the human side of change and equip participants with the leadership actions necessary to become change agents. Change Readiness Assessment, Risk Avoidance, Stakeholder Management and Next Steps for becoming Responsible Sourcing leaders will be addressed.

Preparing to deliver healthy, higher welfare food

Neitzel_Janice — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:00:39 +0000

As demand for healthy, higher welfare food is greater than is supply, Sustainable Solutions Group guides companies to develop a 5-year Responsible Sourcing Roadmap for sourcing healthy, higher welfare ingredients. We use a results-based approach to guide you to build brand equity and attract the best talent.

We are uniquely positioned to bring clarity to food industry corporate responsibility (CSR) issues, specializing in animal welfare and healthy eating. We facilitate CSR Strategic Planning and Project Implementation.
We understand what your competitors are doing and the challenges of Responsible Sourcing. We guide you to develop your customized Responsible Sourcing Roadmap for meat, dairy, egg, and seafood.
We specialize in creating CSR Messaging consistent with your brand.
We provide Responsible Leadership Training with exposure to prominent industry leaders, such as Dr. Temple Grandin, to create awareness and build leadership within your organization to address food industry CSR issues effectively.
We guide you to avoid being an NGO target (PETA, Greenpeace) with NGO Relationship Management.