Driving Change in the Retail Sector: The Role of Collaboration

At Future Food Together, we believe that collaboration is key to bringing about transformative change in our food systems. Our teams in South America held an exchange workshop in Paraguay to discuss their work with retailers: to learn from each others experience and take up suitable strategies and tools.  

Retailers have the power to influence the choices consumers make, and by promoting sustainable practices, they can help to shift consumer behavior towards more sustainable options. Retailers have a significant impact on the environment due to their role in the production and distribution of goods. They are responsible for selecting suppliers, transporting products, and selling them to consumers. One way retailers can promote sustainable consumption and production practices is by working with suppliers to reduce their environmental impact. This can involve selecting suppliers who use sustainable materials, reduce waste and emissions, and promote sustainable practices in their own supply chain. Retailers can also promote sustainable consumption by offering sustainable products and educating consumers on the benefits of these products. In Colombia, Future Food Together partners with selected beef and dairy producer associations to promote deforestation-free supply chains. Additionally, the project analyzes and addresses hotspots of fresh produce food waste in cooperation with retailers.  

Both our teams met in Paraguay to exchange on their strategies in working with the retail sector. Future Food Together thrives to echange knowledge in a South South transfer. The teams from Paraguay and Colombia valued the opportunity to meet their colleagues in person and each team could get new ideas out of the meeting. The workshop included a visit to a retailer Casa Rica, that is partnering with our project in Paraguay. The workshop allowed for mutual growth and learning. A video was procudes summarizing the event, as well as a graphic recording, which illustrates the workshop sessions in a creative way.  

The team from Colombia shared their experiences in deveiopling the sustainable sourcing guidelines. Future Food Together Colombia has developed a guide to support the private sector to transition towards more sustainable practices covering the commodities palm oil, livestock, milk, cocoa and fisheries.

We recognize the importance of working closely with retailers to bring about sustainable practices in the food industry, and our workshop allowed us to share ideas and best practices for achieving this goal. We look forward to continuing this collaboration and working together towards a more sustainable future for our food systems. Our teams will continue to work closely with each other, and have planned another exchange visit that will take place in Colombia.