Carbon footprint, food waste, traceability... the CSR imperatives of the fresh food industry

The carbon question

Measuring the footprint of fresh food means accounting for production, processing, packaging, transport, storage and distribution. Meat is the usual target because of methane, but imported fruit and vegetables weigh heavily too: a large share of what is consumed in France travels from abroad.

Waste, remuneration, welfare

• Food waste concentrated at the ends of the chain, where shelf life runs out
• Producer remuneration under pressure from long, opaque intermediation
• Animal welfare now a purchasing criterion, not only an ethical debate
• Traceability expected by consumers and increasingly required by law

CSR as an operating constraint

These commitments only become credible when they are measurable. That means capturing origin, volumes and losses in the ordinary flow of transactions rather than reconstructing them once a year for a report.

A CSR claim is only as solid as the transaction data behind it.