In a study from Food Business News sister publication Baking & Snack, “The State of the Industry: Sustainability Commitment in US Wholesale Baking,” conducted by Cypress Research, survey respondents from baking, equipment and ingredient manufacturer companies were asked to weigh in on their company’s engagement with initiatives across environmental, social responsibility and governance priorities. These findings were reported in a webinar, “State of the Baking Industry: Sustainability and the Future of Baking” that is available on demand. 

When it comes to environment, the top initiatives either in place or under development were those that improved efficiencies and the bottom line. They also are those that the industry has the most experience with.

“Material recycling, waste, energy and water reduction, those are fundamental,” said Chris Wolfe, senior director, corporate environmental/sustainability, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Horsham, Pa., during the webinar. “These initiatives have been around for a long time. ... The ones that are near the bottom of this list are the ones that are more challenging to execute.” 

In all three sectors of the industry, materials recycling, waste, energy and water reduction lead in plans in place or currently under development. For baking companies, initiatives like sustainable packaging (62%), renewable energy usage (46%), heat recovery (27%), eco-friendly distribution/transportation (32%) and regenerative agriculture (28%) can be daunting either from an investment perspective, a lack of technology or simply because they are difficult to scale, Mark Hotze, vice president, sustainable food solutions, NAM, Corbion, said during the webinar.

“Smaller baking companies may know about regenerative agriculture and be interested, but it is hard to drive change in that space,” he said. “The economies of scale are so big there that they can’t have a meaningful impact.”

Sustainable packaging might have the technology available, but not necessarily at a desirable price point, Mr. Wolfe said. With renewable energy and heat recovery, the technology is there, but it requires a major capital investment that might not make sense for a small to midsize bakery or even a large baking company if the facility isn’t built new. 

“We want to do right by the environment, but we’re still a low-margin business, and we have to make good business decisions,” he said. 

Noteworthy is that ingredient and equipment suppliers bucked some of the trends seen on the baking company side by making greater strides in program development. Seventy percent of both supplier sectors have a program in place or under development for renewable energy usage. Seventy-four percent of ingredient suppliers are pursuing programs related to supply chain transparency, compared to 43% of baking companies and 35% of equipment companies. And 70% of ingredient companies are pursuing regenerative agriculture initiatives. 

While baking companies are satisfying retailers and end consumers, ingredient manufacturers must be the ones to support those claims baking companies are making, hence the focus on supply chain and agriculture. 

When asked if they had measurable goals for each initiative, however, respondents across the board showed a significant gap between a plan in place or under development and their commitment to tracking program impacts. When looking at baker respondents who indicated they had plans in place, some areas were fairly aligned, as in the case of waste reduction. Fifty-six percent of bakers reported they had such a program and 53% indicated they had measurable reduction/increase targets. However, when it comes to materials recycling, 70% of bakers reported having a company program but only 55% disclosed formal measurable targets. This gap widens when considering companies that have programs under development and persists in the social and governance areas of sustainability as well. 

Related to environmental, specifically, however, companies across all sectors can find assistance in setting those goals through the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Program. The Energy Star program can help companies find a baseline and set reasonable targets, but it appears to be an underutilized resource in the baking industry. When asked if company facilities participate in this program, only 33% of bakers, 53% of ingredient suppliers and 14% of equipment suppliers reported yes. When examined by company size, large bakers fared a little better with 38%, but only 21% of small to midsized bakers indicated their company’s participation in the program.