Today in Brussels, Cogeca organised its traditional biannual Business Forum under the topic “The importance of communicating Environmental, Social and Governance elements: the B2B and B2C approaches of European agri- cooperatives?”.
The forum, which gathered policy experts and agri-cooperative representatives from across the EU in two roundtables, focused on the effect environmental social and governance (ESG) communication and sustainability labelling under the Sustainable Food System initiative will have on agri-cooperatives, ways in which this can result in added value for agri-cooperatives, and the importance of marketing and communication in raising greater awareness of the contributions agri-cooperatives make to sustainability across Europe.
Christian Høegh-Andersen, Coordinator of the Business Forum and Cogeca Vice-President opened the forum by underlining, “It is clear to us that agri-cooperatives have a competitive advantage over other business forms with regard to sustainability. Therefore, we should look at what the best means are for ensuring consumers are informed of this, and that our agri- cooperatives can gain added value, visibility, and recognition”
Sustainability labelling focuses on the need to ensure consumers (as well as other actors in the food supply chain) are given clear, transparent, and accurate information on the environmental and social impact of food products, allowing them to make informed decisions on their purchases. Hence, the two moderated roundtable discussions, one on B2B disclosures and one on B2C information, focused on the importance of distinguishing between information to other business and that directed to consumers (“B2C”) and ensuring the cooperative perspective was heard in both cases.
European agri-cooperatives are not only well placed to meet the social, economic, and environmental sustainability needs of our food systems but may also be able to achieve added value for their products over those of other producers through effectively making use of a sustainability labelling system.
Cogeca President Ramón Armengol concluded the Forum, “While supporting the goals of the Sustainable Food Systems initiative and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, we need to focus on how the contributions and sustainability inherent to the cooperative model are recognised, and on how we can ensure they receive the rewards for their efforts which can be passed onto their farmer-owners.”
Artigo publicado originalmente em Copa Cogeca.