How COVID-19 changed the sustainability conversation

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, consumers have become interested in the ways emerging technologies could make food production more sustainable.

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As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, consumers have become interested in the ways emerging technologies could make food production more sustainable.

“I’m starting to see consumers wanting to solve sustainability issues in food production,” said Kevin Ryan, found of Malachite Strategy and Research. “If they can see new technologies as a way that helps, I think they’ll embrace it.”

Ryan spoke alongside Charlie Arnot, the CEO of the Center for Food Integrity (CFI), and Ujwal Arkalgud, an award-winning cultural anthropologist and co-founder of MotivBase, during Shifting Priorities: COVID-19 and the New Face of Sustainability. The May 14 webinar was sponsored by the United Soybean Board.

Why is the conversation shifting?

Sustainability is a top issue for consumers – especially younger consumers who have consistently said they’d prefer to buy a product marketed as green when given the choice.

“CFI has been working for some time to help brands navigate balancing the demands of competing stakeholders with their commitments to improve sustainability of the entire system. All of that became much more complicated with the onset of COVID-19,” Arnot explained.

“I’m seeing a switch between the use of sustainability as a marketing buzzword to the idea of sustainability as a supply chain issue. COVID-19 really highlighted a lot of supply chain struggles for CPG companies,” Ryan said.

The term ‘food miles’ has become a hot topic among consumers as a result of supply chain challenges during the pandemic. Interest in this category was already growing before COVID-19, but Arkalgud expects to see further gains.

“There is a lot of discussion in how technology can help make gains in sustainability across food production systems,” Arkalgud explained. “This is pre-mainstream, but now is the time to think about how to address this issue.”

What will make consumers accept innovation?

Companies need to think carefully about why they are adopting new technologies.

“If a company uses technology to improve sustainability and the ‘why’ is just, consumers will accept it,” Ryan said.

How new technologies are implemented needs to also be thoughtfully communicated to consumers in order to gain overall acceptance.

“It’s all about the shared values. The technology in and of itself is value neutral, but it’s how people feel about the technology that decides overall acceptance,” Arnot concluded.

View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

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