2Sustain

A new study by Keystone Distribution Europe found that foodservice operators and suppliers believe that the distribution industry is failing to take the sustainability agenda seriously.

According to results reported by logisticsmanager.com, 46 percent of suppliers and 36 percent of operators who participated in the study thought that many companies do not take the issue of sustainability seriously. Nearly three quarters (73 percent) of foodservice operators believe that the industry must take responsibility.

The study, “Chain Reactions,” also looked at barriers to implementing sustainability practices and found that:

• Almost two- thirds (64 per cent) of operators in the poll said reluctance to work together is a major barrier to the creation of a sustainable industry. Surprisingly, 36 percent of survey respondents believe that collaborative partnerships actually lead to a loss of competitive advantage.

• More than half (55 percent) of operators cited prohibitive costs as another barrier.

• Nearly half (46 percent) of operators in the survey say their supply chain partner is ineffective at helping them to improve the sustainability of their business.

More and more these days, successful companies are developing comprehensive supply chain collaboration and logistics integration. They are working closely with supply chain partners to set up comprehensive processes that increase agility, lower costs, improve efficiencies, inspire innovation, reduce environmental impacts, and mitigate risks. Particularly now, I think there’s a clear business case for strategies like these–but of course, successful collaboration requires commitment from both sides.