In a recent analysis of how effectively food and beverage companies are handling water impacts and risks, Unilever and Coca-Cola led the sector, according to new rankings from the sustainability advocacy group Ceres. The report, “Feeding Ourselves Thirsty: How the Food Sector is Managing Global Water Risks,” gave scores to the nation’s 37 largest food, beverage, meat and agricultural companies based on public disclosures.
Growing food is the most water-intensive business on the planet, using 70 percent of the world’s freshwater supplies, the report noted, and escalating competition for water — combined with weak government regulations, increasing water pollution and worsening climate change impacts — is creating unprecedented water security risks for the food sector.
At some companies, water risks are already impacting the bottom line, with falling profits due in part to drought reported at Cargill Inc. and the Campbell Soup Company, Ceres said. Of the publicly traded companies studied, 90 percent cited water as a material risk in their annual financial filings.
Unilever led both the overall rankings and the packaged food industry. Ceres cited the company for having a time-bound goal to source the majority of its agricultural inputs from farmers that use responsible water practices and for factoring a “true” cost of water into key business planning decisions. Coca-Cola earned the highest marks in the beverage sector in part due to its watershed-level planning. It also reported goals to reduce wastewater discharges and improve water quality beyond compliance requirements.
Ceres reported that companies in the meat industry and agricultural companies generally received significantly lower scores.
More at www.ceres.org/issues/water/agriculture/water-risks-food-sector.