The US is Expected to be One of the Fastest-Growing Regions for the Sustainable Food and Beverage Industry

Tuesday 15 January 2013, Amsterdam

Food and beverage industry manufacturers’ sustainability management budgets are expected to rise over the next 12 months by an average of 6.6%; a total of 50% of respondents expect an increase in sustainability budgets, of which 20% of respondents expect budgets to increase by ‘5–10%’. The increasing need to adopt sustainability, lack of government funding, compliance with legislation, increasing operational costs, and growing customer demand are considered the primary reasons for the expected increase in sustainability budgets.
    
In total, 22% of food and beverage manufacturer respondents expect their organizations’ cost saving targets to be ‘less than 5% of their overall organizational expenditure’; however, with inflation rising worldwide and similar increases occurring in energy prices, a 5% saving on expenditure could have a major impact on food and beverage budgets. On average, food and beverage manufacturer respondents expect their cost savings targets to be 7.8% of total organizational expenditure.

According to survey results, 60% of respondents consider the UK and Germany each as the fastest-growing regions for sustainable products and services. In addition, the US is expected to be one of the fastest-growing regions for the sustainable food and beverage industry, as identified by 59% of respondents. As a consequence of increased awareness levels, UK consumers have increased expenditure on sustainable products, and are aware of the fact that sustainable agriculture and localized food and energy systems can potentially compensate for greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.