By Emilio Tenuta, SVP of Corporate Sustainability and CSO at Ecolab

Setting the stage

While the food and beverage (F&B) industry has seen steady growth in the first half of 2023, challenges from the pandemic, inflation, and workforce remain. Forbes recently noted that “managing margins may be the biggest challenge and the biggest story” right now for those working in F&B. Meanwhile, sustainability concerns also continue to plague the industry. According to an AlixPartners study, 

Western F&B companies will miss the industry-wide carbon reduction goal. The goal – set to prevent Earth’s temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius – requires a 37.6% reduction in emissions by 2030, yet the industry is currently only tracking at a 25% rate. 

Leading with water

One major way the sector is addressing this issue is by reducing forms of waste, such as food, which significantly contributes to emissions and reduced profitability. However, there’s still plenty of room for improvement, and an often-overlooked solution is creating efficiencies around water usage in operations. Although many don’t realize it, water is not only essential to life, but it also plays the same leading role within a business. This is particularly true in the F&B industry as – more often than not – water is either a part of a company’s product or heavily used in the creation of that product. With water as a critical dependency of F&B processors, the growing water quantity and quality risks make it harder to ensure consistent access to continue to operate. 

Behind the scenes

Water must be moved, heated, cooled and treated to be fit for commercial use, all of which requires energy. This inherent relationship between water and energy is called the water-energy nexus. Essentially, it means decreasing water use directly translates to energy and GHG reductions as well as financial savings. By incorporating solutions including auditing, consulting, engineering, advanced chemistries, and digital technologies that support reduce, re-use, and recycle water strategies across an enterprise, F&B companies will be more empowered to meet lofty climate goals. For example, Ecolab has found that – through more efficient water use within beverage and brewery manufacturing – water consumption can be reduced by 25%, which then leads to a reduction in energy use by 12% and GHG emissions by 6%.*

*Average cumulative savings for beverage and brewing manufacturing industry based on system-wide industry audits conducted from 2013 – 2023. Actual results will vary based on individual plant design and operation.

Smart technology as a supporting actor

Water’s largest impact on business in recent years is due to new technological innovations. Through advancements in areas like water re-use, cleaning efficiency, and optimization projects, companies have been able to conserve millions of gallons of water and improve their bottom line. Advanced water performance management systems have played a major role in boosting water and energy efficiency in critical utility systems and reducing food safety risks. By utilizing cloud-based platforms, companies can more easily track performance and provide visibility into program parameters. Advanced Clean in Place (CIP) programs can also help optimize cleaning efficiency to improve turnaround time and increase production, while conducting operation audits that provide a holistic, end-to-end review – and recommendations for – a facility’s water and energy use.

Kraft Heinz has seen the value in these types of initiatives, and since implementing them in partnership with Ecolab, the company has achieved substantial benefits. More specifically, a reduction in water and energy use (51 million gallons and 1.3 billion BTU, respectively), drop in GHG emissions (170 metric tons), and enhanced productivity and efficiency (66 days’ worth) across North American manufacturing facilities. These savings have also equated to approximately $1.2 million in total value delivered.

Overcoming obstacles

However, there are a few challenges the industry faces when it comes to water. First, water is typically not top of mind for F&B companies until it is a concern. Waiting until water issues occur can lead to reactive approaches that may only be surface-level. Businesses also spend significant budget on consultants to identify water-saving strategies. These strategies develop a risk of being too high-level to address the unique challenges at specific locations – and sometimes they won’t even help with implementing their ideas on the ground.

Additionally, water is hyper localized and requires subject matter experts who can deliver holistic solutions that address their unique local water challenges. First, leaders must leverage tools and solutions to help their company understand its water risks and formulate a response that is proportional to the local issue. This includes ensuring that action takes place at the local level. And second, leaders must help their company build trust and credibility with its key stakeholders in the local watershed in order to drive more effective engagement in collective action.

Curtain call

For decades, there’s been a common misconception amongst business leaders that ambitious sustainability and profitability goals can’t possibly co-exist, especially in the F&B industry. These sustainability issues were previously swept under the rug to focus on other issues that were top of mind, but the climate crisis has become too big to ignore. Companies are finally feeling the pressure from a variety of stakeholders to start fixing these issues before it’s too late.

By harnessing the power of water, F&B companies can easily meet their climate goals without compromising business growth. It only takes 150 of the world’s largest companies to have a positive impact on one-third of the world’s freshwater use, and the F&B industry is a natural fit for businesses to set a positive example for everyone else to follow.

Emilio Tenuta, SVP and Chief Sustainability Officer for Ecolab, is responsible for leading Ecolab’s strategic sustainability journey and advancing global sustainability practices. Tenuta is also chair of the board of directors of the World Environment Center and on the leadership council of the Corporate Eco Forum.