Wales will hold its first food and drink sustainability conference on Wednesday 3rd July at the All Nations Centre, Cardiff. It will be open to all food businesses and professionals in Wales.

The Food & Drink Wales Sustainability Conference, which is being delivered by the Welsh Government’s Food & Drink Wales Sustainability Cluster, in collaboration with the Food & Drink Wales Insight Programme, will aim to help businesses improve their sustainability in “areas that matter most” to consumers.

Using an interactive mix of activities and networking opportunities, the event aims to increase business knowledge across market insights, consumer trends, and buyer Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The event will also demonstrate how Welsh Government is working to “enhance the environmental performance” of the food and drink industry and to highlight the successes of businesses in improving their sustainability.

The conference will offer the opportunity to take part in the Carbon Reduction Plan Pilot Programme, designed to support business baseline their carbon emissions and develop actionable carbon reduction plans.

Mark Grant, Food & Drink Wales sustainability cluster lead, who is organising the conference, said: “We are thrilled to launch the first Sustainability Conference in Wales. We have many great speakers with extensive knowledge and experience in the industry joining us, so it promises to be a beneficial event for all food and drink businesses and professionals in Wales. It will be a great chance for the industry to come together at this unique event to discuss and tackle sustainability.”

Bringing the industry together

The Cluster has over 100 producer members, along with 60 Government bodies, academic organisations and support organisations including Food Innovation Wales, AMRC Cymru, FareShare, Wrap Cymru, National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) and Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC).

Functioning as a central hub, the Cluster provides intelligence to businesses, becoming the eyes and ears of the industry, developing networks and industry expertise to help Wales become a world leader in sustainability.

The conference will bring together experts, trade and policymakers to explore the latest consumer insight from Kantar, IGD and The Food People, whilst finding out why sustainability is important to food business and the trade more widely.

Guest speaker Fiona Powell, IGD head of sustainability said: “I am delighted to be a part of the Food & Drink Wales Sustainability Conference where I will give an overview of how sustainable packaging is evolving, with some key insights on the current progress of environmental labelling in the UK. This will give the SME delegates insight as to what they can be planning for within their own businesses over the medium term.”