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The plant-based food boom is disrupting all corners of the meat and dairy industry, reaching an estimated market value of more than $4.5 billion in 2019.

Notably, the key drivers of this trend aren't vegetarians or vegans, but curious omnivores looking for new ways to eat less meat. Research generally suggests that reduced meat consumption is optimal for both environmental and human health. Has the message finally sunk in, or is this just another food trend destined to go the way of Atkins and the cabbage soup diet?

Only time will tell. But with the segment set to top $6.5 billion in within five years, companies are vying for a slice of this additional market share with an impressive lineup of products set to launch in 2020. Here are a few standouts, coming soon to restaurants and grocery shelves near you.

Beyond Meat expands to more grocers, teases entry in the poultry space

After going public in one of the most headline-grabbing IPOs of 2019, analog protein purveyor Beyond Meat has big plans for the year ahead. Its plant-based meat lineup, which includes burgers, ground beef and sausage, is already available at more than 50,000 restaurants and grocery stores worldwide. Starting in 2020, over 4,000 Canadian grocers will start carrying Beyond Meat, as will new U.S. retail partners including Costco. 

CEO Ethan Brown teased an entry into the poultry space in a December appearance on Bloomberg TV, while declining to name any "specific partners or developments.” It certainly wouldn't be a stretch: Beyond Meat first got noticed when its since-discontinued line of vegan chicken strips started flying off the shelves at Whole Foods, and the company partnered with KFC on a plant-based chicken test last year. 

Beyond Meat is also said to be testing new pork substitutes, with news outlets including The Observer guessing a Beyond bacon product may be just around the corner. 

Impossible Foods brings burgers to more grocery stores, parlays into pork

The still privately-owned Impossible Foods is playing catch-up in the grocery aisle but plans to narrow the gap in 2020. Compared to thousands of stores selling rival Beyond Meat, Impossible started its retail rollout last fall with only three partners: Wegmans in parts of the U.S. Northeast and South, Gelson’s Markets in Southern California and Fairway Market in New York City. 

"We want to make sure we do this right," David Lee, Impossible's chief financial officer, told CNET. "So we're focusing on a smaller, high-quality retailer, just like we started with smaller restaurants." It's true: Impossible got its start at high-end restaurants like Jardinière and Momofuku Nishi before moving on to mainstream chains like Burger King and White Castle, so the approach has worked before.

Impossible plans to make its signature burgers available at grocers in every U.S. region by the middle of this year, reports CNBC. Meanwhile, the company valued at $5 billion showcased its newest product—Impossible Pork—at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month and just released an Impossible Sausage collaboration with Burger King. 

Panera Bread wants half of its menu to be plant-based

Fast-casual restaurant chain Panera Bread rolled out a bevy of plant-based options in 2019—including grain bowls, the company's most successful launch for the past three or four years, CEO Niren Chaudhary told CNBC. 

The company hopes to expand plant-based options from around 25 percent of its menu to 50 percent in the coming years, Chaudhary told the outlet, and customers can expect new plant-based options in every menu category by 2021. Unlike some other chains, representatives say Panera's new offerings will favor vegetables over meat substitutes. 

Burger King to test Impossible Croissan’wich

A partnership with Impossible Foods created Burger King's best quarterly financial performance in four years. After selling millions of Impossible Whoppers in 2019, the company is looking to expand its plant-based roster even further. 

The fast-food chain will test the Impossible Croissan’wich, a breakfast sandwich made with eggs, cheese and an Impossible Sausage patty, in five U.S. markets in early 2020. Customers in Savannah, Georgia; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Montgomery, Alabama; Lansing, Michigan; and Springfield, Illinois, will see the new sandwich pop up on Burger King menus later this month, reports The Chicago Tribune. 

Good Catch brings more plant-based seafood to the grocery store

Pennsylvania-based startup Good Catch offers a solution to overfishing with a line of plant-based seafood made from beans like chickpea, lentil and fava—and it's getting noticed in a big way. The company has attracted more than $18 million in venture capital over the past three years, and its fish-free tuna was named the best new meat alternative at Expo East 2019. Grocery shoppers can expect new plant-based crab cakes and whitefish sliders from the company this year, reports the Today show. 

Just looks to increase production capacity tenfold

Just is no stranger to controversy. The company formerly known as Hampton Creek was once sued by Hellmann's for using the term "mayo" to describe an eggless substitute and investigated by Bloomberg for misleading investors.

Back with a new name and what it says is a new approach to governance, the company is pushing aggressive production expansion for its flagship product, Just Eggs. In December, the company told reporters its newly acquired plant in Appleton, Minnesota, can now produce enough protein for 1.5 million vegan eggs in only six days. 

Just says it has already sold the equivalent of 17 million eggless eggs but hopes to increase production tenfold in 2020 while driving down costs. 

Nando’s launches vegan 'Perinaise' in restaurants and grocers

South African chain Nando's is famous for its take on Portuguese classics like peri-peri style chicken. Operating more than 1,000 restaurants across 35 countries, the chain already offers several plant-based alternatives to its classic sandwiches and burgers. But until now, customers looking to avoid animal ingredients were advised to specify "no mayo" when ordering, as Nando's signature Perinaise (like most mayos) contains eggs. 

Starting in January, Nando's-lovers can now enjoy plant-based favorites like the Sweet Potato and Butternut Pitta—mayo and all—thanks to a companywide roll-out of vegan Perinaise. Along with all Nando's restaurants, the plant-based peri-peri mayonnaise will hit the shelves at Tesco supermarkets in Asia and Europe.

Hardee's and Carl's Junior put plant-based foods on the breakfast menu

Carl’s Junior debuted Beyond Meat's signature Beyond Burger at more than 1,000 locations across the U.S. in 2019—and has since sold over 6.5 million of them, making it the chain's most successful new product launch over the past two years. 

In 2020, the Beyond Meat partnership will extend to Carl's sister restaurant, Hardee's, and move on to the breakfast menu. With all-day options like breakfast burritos and biscuit sandwiches featuring plant-based Beyond Sausage alongside eggs and hash browns, the quick-serve chains are going all-in on the alt-meat trend. 

Whole Foods adds plant-based egg sandwiches to the hot bar

This month, Whole Foods introduced breakfast sandwiches featuring Just-branded vegan eggs in the hot bar section at 63 stores in Hawaii, Arizona, Southern California and Las Vegas. This isn't the grocer's first foray into the plant-based breakfast game, having piloted breakfast sandwiches made with the EatGUD vegan egg patty in 2018, reports Vegan News Now. 

McDonald's courts partners for plant-based burger roll-out

After receiving criticism for arriving late to the plant-based burger party, McDonald's debuted its first alt-meat option in September. Introduced in Canada, the PLT (or plant, lettuce and tomato) sandwich features a Beyond Meat patty made exclusively for McDonald's. 

The fast-food giant entertained offers from multiple companies—including Beyond Meat and rival Impossible Foods—while teasing a wider rollout. Earlier this month, Impossible dropped out of the running, saying its production capacity isn't ready to meet McDonald's demands. The news sent Beyond Meat stocks soaring, but news reports indicate McDonald's is unlikely to choose just one plant-based protein provider for a nationwide rollout in the U.S.

For now, the Beyond Meat PLT will head to 52 new restaurants across Southwestern Ontario for a 12-week pilot, reports Business Insider.

KFC tests plant-based chicken sandwich in the U.K.

The Zero Chicken sandwich features a plant-based patty from U.K. analog meat purveyor Quorn, seasoned with KFC's famed 11 herbs and spices. The sandwich arrived at the chain's 900 U.K. locations on January 6 and may extend to other markets—including the U.S.—if it performs well, Quartz reports.

Meanwhile, fellow Yum! Brands chain Taco Bell will roll out the Oatrageous Taco, featuring a vegan ground beef alternative made from oats, across Europe after successful pilots in Finland and Spain. 

Dairy-free Horchata heads up the winter drink menu at Peet’s Coffee

The Horchata is a tasty winter beverage dating back nearly 1,000 years, with almost all varieties using a type of plant-based milk combined with sweetener and spices. Peet's Coffee introduced a twist on the classic for its 2020 winter drink menu, replacing rice or nut milk with the increasingly popular oat and adding pulled espresso, ground cinnamon and Madagascar vanilla. 

Daring Foods plant-based chicken is coming to the U.S.

U.K. startup Daring Foods refers to its signature product as "the opposite of chicken." Made from five non-genetically modified ingredients—water, soy, sunflower oil, salt and spices—this is a vegan meat "that's actually healthy," co-founder and CEO Ross Mackay told TechCrunch. 

Last month, the company linked up with foodservice supplier Rastelli Foods Group to enter the U.S. market. In exchange for a $10 million investment in Daring Foods, Rastelli will retain exclusive rights to sell the company's products to restaurants and retailers, The Spoon reports. Daring will relocate its headquarters to New York, and its vegan chicken will roll out nationwide beginning in February. 

Questlove's vegan cheesesteak comes to New York fast-casual chain Fresh&Co.  

Philadelphia-born Questlove, drummer for The Roots, launched his own vegan cheesesteak last year. Made from Impossible-brand meat, the sandwich debuted at Philadelphia Phillies home games during the 2019 season, along with 40 Live Nation venues across North America. 

In 2020, Questlove’s Cheesesteak will appear alongside half a dozen new plant-based offerings at fast casual farm-to-table restaurant chain Fresh&Co. Bringing a touch of Philly to New York, the sandwich is served with Impossible meat, cheese sauce and banana pepper relish on an Amoroso’s Roll. Click here to check out other plant-based options on Fresh&Co.'s menu. 

Aldi rolls out house-branded vegan ice cream bars

Vegan Food U.K. recently spotted house-branded vegan ice cream bars at supermarket chain Aldi. The plant-based food news outlet posted a photo on Instagram to much fanfare, with users comparing the almond and dark chocolate treats to those sold by cult favorite Magnum Ice Cream. 

Starbucks adds new plant-based drinks to the permanent menu

The first new Starbucks drinks of the decade feature plant-based dairy alternatives, the coffee giant recently announced on its blog. The Almondmilk Honey Flat White (pictured above) and Coconutmilk Latte are now available at all stores in the U.S. and Canada. The company also introduced oat milk at 1,300 stores in the Midwest and showcased the non-dairy option with a new latte. 

Fatburger brings vegan milkshake to more locations

California-based Fatburger linked up with Craig’s Vegan Ice Cream to offer plant-based vanilla and strawberry milkshakes at a dozen Los Angeles locations in October 2019. The fast-casual chain will roll out the vegan shakes to 50 additional locations in Southern California and Las Vegas in 2020, adding to its existing vegan menu options like the plant-based Impossible Burger and dairy-free cheddar cheese.

Kroger to add 50 new products to its plant-based house brand

Grocery chain Kroger enjoyed early sales success from its organic and health-focused house brand, Simple Truth, and last year launched a spinoff for plant-based foods. The aptly named Simple Truth Plant Based already features an impressive lineup of products, from analog meats to vegan chocolate chip cookie dough and dairy-free sour cream.

Kroger plans to launch 50 new products under the label in 2020—including fresh vegan burgers and ground beef substitutes made from pea protein, which hit store shelves this month at prices far below brands like Beyond Meat. 

U.K. chain Frankie & Benny's introduces vegan menu

Italian-American restaurant chain Frankie & Benny's—which has more than 200 locations across the U.K.—is doubling down on vegan offerings with a standalone menu. Replete with plant-based takes on Italian classics like meatballs, calzones and pizza margherita, the new menu rolled out across all Frankie & Benny's locations on January 2, bringing the chain's already impressive list of vegan offerings up to 30. 

Vegan veteran Tofurky gets into the plant-based burger game

Tofurky sold plant-based meat long before it was cool—and the brand has come a long way since its namesake Thanksgiving dinner substitute hit store shelves in 1995. Tofurky's lineup now includes plant-based chicken, deli slices, sausages and a tempeh ingredient for use in cooking, among other products.

In 2020, it will add a plant-based burger to that list. Made from a "combination of soy protein, vegetable protein and wheat gluten," the burger will debut at more than 600 Target locations across the U.S. in January. 

*All images courtesy of respective brands and intended for press use only 

When Joseph Lubenstein walked into airplane engine giant Pratt & Whitney on his first day of work as a new aerospace engineer in 1970, he had no idea what an engineer actually did. Fresh from college, Lubenstein had logged plenty of time in classrooms, but none on a shop floor.

While hands-on experience now is considered essential to students’ education, companies that offer internships most often seek out undergraduates rather than high-school students.

But Lubenstein, now retired from engineering and education, knows the benefits of early on-the-job training and now devotes his time to helping arrange internships, mentorships and shadow programs for students at the Academy of Aerospace and Engineering, a grade 6-12 magnet school in Windsor, Connecticut. The academy focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. 

Giving kids real-world experience in  STEM 

“Kids say it helps them think through the whole area of career selection,” said Lubenstein, a former director of the school and retired president of Kaman Corporation. “They get out and see what a shop floor looks like more now and it gives them exposure to production and business processes, so they get to see other aspects of work.” Students who interned at The Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, Connecticut, for example, learned about the application of computational biology. “Kids saw how they could deploy math in ways they had not thought of.”

Capitalizing on his years in the industry, Lubenstein forged relationships with executives at many of the area’s aerospace and technical companies and colleges. “Initially, companies were more interested in college students, but lately they have been more accepting [of secondary school students],” he said. “I did a lot of work to connect students with internships, summer jobs, and career symposiums and bring in upper management from finance, medicine, computer science and engineering.” 

The school’s advisory board is a who’s who of industry leaders. “We treat them [advisory board members] as our advocates within their companies,” Lubenstein continued. “The key is finding a motivated manager and keeping them motivated to participate. The fact that they [managers] are motivated gives us the best shot at keeping a relationship alive.”

Mentoring can help build young students' job prospects

Kaman employees, for example, have mentored eighth-grade students for several years and GKN Aerospace provides mentors for ninth graders. During the school year, students visit the company twice a month and spend about 90 minutes each visit with their mentors, working on projects they decide would be productive.

High-school students can apply for summer internships when they are 16. They must prepare resumes and participate in a formal interview process. About 25 students each summer are hired. 

While many companies draw interns from the college-age pool, Bristol, Connecticut-based Barnes Group Inc. is similarly focused on developing strong relationships with students of all ages, said James Pelletier, deputy general counsel of the Barnes Group Inc., and general counsel of Barnes Aerospace. Last year Barnes had interns in its manufacturing facilities and in its functional groups such as health and safety, contracts and engineering. “We believe it’s important to support the development of STEM education to ensure a strong and diverse talent pipeline in the communities in which we operate,” he said. “As students make early career decisions, we are in a position to both positively influence those career choices, and also offer them key learning opportunities and potentially future employment choices at Barnes.”

Academy students who interned at Barnes demonstrate strong analytical and problem solving skills and have experience with the latest digital and data analytics technology, Pelletier added.   

Building relationships can make a difference for students interested in STEM

“Because U.S.-based companies are competing for top technically-trained talent across the country, we think it is key, now more than ever, to develop relationships with students early on,” he continued. “You build relationships by exposing them to real challenges where they can make real contributions to your business.”

Nearly 4 in 5 STEM college students, for example, report that they became interested in STEM fields while in high school or earlier. (More educators today are adding arts to the mix, and calling the subject cluster STEAM). 

The Academy of Aerospace and Engineering stresses its hands-on opportunities to potential students. The school is part of a continuum of STEM studies that begins with pre-kindergarten students. In 2019, 73 of the first graduates of the pre-k-to-grade 5 Academy of Aerospace and Engineering Elementary School in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, enrolled at the secondary school. 

Most of the students are selected by lottery. The secondary school has a long waiting list. “This shows the demand for high-quality, integrated STEAM education,” said Adam Johnson, the secondary school principal.  “We need to invest in public schools and programs that promote STEM [or STEAM.]”  

The academies are part of a group of specialized magnet schools created by state entities in an effort to reduce racial and economic isolation in urban districts, particularly Hartford. The secondary school enrolls approximately 800 students from 42 towns; about 50 percent are from Hartford. At least half the students are black or Hispanic. “We provide a high-quality STEAM education in a racially-integrated learning environment,” according to Johnson. “We find ways to embed [the STEAM] thought process right from the start. We want to create problem-solving, creative thinkers, who can use their innovative skill set to address the world’s foremost challenges. The goal of what they learn is to make the world better for everyone, whether it is studying the lack of water or climate change.” 

Most academy graduates go on to college, studying the sciences, engineering, computer science or programming or aerospace manufacturing. Some join the military or pursue a trade. “A lot of kids already are interested in this stuff; what matters is making hands-on and engaging activities for kids,” added Johnson. “If we care about them, we need a sustainable pipeline in these areas of study; we need to invest in youth.”

Image credit: Eric Bruton/Unsplash

Picture this: A chicken factory farm with overcrowded hens packed onto the cement floor with a higher risk for disease and without good-quality feed or even fresh air. Now, picture this: Family farms that provide their pasture-raised hens with plenty of feed, nutrients and abundant space to forage for seeds, grass and protein-packed critters in luscious pastures.

Actually, you don’t have to picture it: Vital Farms egg customers can now watch and hear the clucking chickens on a 360-degree video on the company’s website. According to the Austin-based company, offering consumers such a view of how these egg farms operate is an industry first.

Vital Farms gives customers a 360-degree view of egg farms

Vital Farms partners with about 200 U.S. farms and lists the farm of origin on every egg carton. Customers can then search out the farm online to view the video. Prompts on the Vital Farms’ website encourage viewers to crank up the volume to appreciate the clucking noise the chickens make as they scavenge in spacious pastures. A Featured Farm of the Month video is available for people who have not purchased eggs but want to check out the videos.

The Featured Farm of the Month video shows foraging hens roaming in and out of camera view that appear healthy (with smooth, full feathers and without visible wounds from pecking). Though the videos are not live, Vital Farms' welfare claims are third-party verified by Humane Farm Animal Care’s Certified Humane standards.

Going far beyond cage-free to pasture-raised eggs

It’s one thing for a company to say its animals are treated humanely. It’s another thing to actually film such efforts.

To that end, Vital Farms says it’s on a mission "to bring ethically-produced food to the table." One of the ways the company seeks to accomplish this goal is by ensuring that every egg is laid by a pasture-raised hen. These hens roam 108 or more square feet of pastureland and are brought indoors at sunset for their safety from predators, according to the company. 

Vital Farms’ demonstration of traceability and transparency is indicative of the turnaround the U.S. egg industry has made over the past decade. Consumers who became appalled at how hens were treated have long been pressuring businesses to boost their animal welfare standards, and many of the largest U.S. retailers and restaurant chains have responded in kind. The evidence suggests this trend is continuing, albeit slowly, worldwide: Nestlé is among the companies that have committed to a cage-free eggy supply chain by 2025.

Vital Farms, however, is going even further with its pasture-raised commitment and worked with Certified Humane to develop a formal standard for the claim. The on-farm videos are a next step and give customers a window into how their eggs are produced.

Consumers are demanding to know how their food is sourced

A growing trend in America is a desire to understand how everyday food gets from farm to table. Technology certainly helps, but an industry commitment is important as well—and some sectors within the wider food industry have been more transparent than others. 

Vital Farms’ decision to become more transparent about how its eggs are sourced follows in the footsteps of other brands that have attempted to show consumers the origins of their food products. In the fall of 2017, for example, the brand Honeysuckle White allowed some customers in Texas to see where its Thanksgiving turkeys came from. In Australia, JBS launched a similar program late last year for beef customers.

But we are a long way off from watching cattle freely roam, or fish swim, on web cams—and in this way, Vital Farms is pushing the envelope on supply chain traceability and transparency.

Image credit: Vital Farms

“Creative PR.” That is how Greta Thunberg, de facto leader of the growing youth climate movement and Time magazine’s Person of the Year, brands corporate America’s attempts to mask inadequate ESG (environmental, social and governance) actions. She regularly accuses the business world of “misleading” people about the authenticity of their sustainability actions in comparison to the scale of their pollution.

As an economist and former CEO, I've spent days reading corporate ESG reports in an attempt to face her challenge. What I found was a glaring gap between their reported ESG achievements and the most basic reporting of financial results.

This type of reporting gap, if found within a public company’s 10K annual report (as mandated for publicly-owned companies by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC), would raise serious questions of relevancy and materiality based on the accounting industry’s Generally Accepted Accounting Standards (GAAP). Such a gap in a financial report would have to be accounted for in accounting notes or it would not be certified.

Corporate America’s ESG relevancy gap is bad business because it opens the door to competition from disruptive entrepreneurs who win customers by aligning value with values. For example, the traditional food industry now confronts the competitive challenge as consumers gravitate toward meatless burgers sold through fast-food retailers that are price competitive, healthy, tasty and environmentally sustainable. Similarly, combustion turbine manufacturers are losing market share to solar and wind power. Renewable energy now represents half of new utility generating plant additions because it is least cost with zero emissions. And the auto industry is racing to catch up with Tesla, which outsells BMW and Mercedes combined because its all-electric cars deliver on price, performance and zero tailpipe emissions.

ESG initially linked value and values

Back in 2012, corporate America did link business and sustainability performance. One of my most read TriplePundit interviews was with Walmart’s Jeff Rice. What made this interview noteworthy was his linking of Walmart’s financial results to its sustainability initiatives. He powerfully summarized, “Sustainability absolutely supports everyday low prices.”

Rice also explained how Walmart was making over $200 million a year by converting what it used to throw away into cash. And he put forth a sustainable vision, describing Walmart’s self-fulfilling cycle of making money through sustainability action and using this cash flow to invest in additional sustainable best practices that would generate even more money.

But something has changed since 2012. I reached out to Walmart for an update on the financial performance provided by Rice. The response from Walmart’s representative was that I should read the company's ESG report. I explained that I had and, finding little financial data, I was reaching out for help. Their next reply was that I should read Walmart's financial reports. I did. These reports offered little or no links between the company's reported ESG results and its financial results.

Thinking this might just be a Walmart issue, I then began reading other companies’ ESG reports. They were all like Walmart’s. A lot of aspirational goals and stand-alone sustainability performance with little or no context in terms of profitability or sales results. 

Relevancy: The bottom-line focus for ESG reporting

Corporate America is missing a huge business opportunity by not making their ESG reports relevant to consumers and investors. Their reporting fails the millennial generation’s search for businesses that are “cool with a purpose.” They are failing to materially link their financial goals to Generation Z’s demand for change.

How could ESG reporting satisfy expectations that millennials and Gen Z have?

One example would be Walmart reporting on how its California stores are growing sales and profitability within the context of the Golden State’s 2016 public referendum banning plastic bags. I count ten Walmart stores within ten miles of my home. Their parking lots are full of cars. This economist’s guess is that Walmart sales are booming—and realizing measurable cost savings from consumers adopting the sustainable best practice of using reusable bags.

Rather than providing insights that would really gather millennial and Gen Z attention, however, Walmart reports on its 2025 aspirational goals for reducing plastic waste. The retailer does note its current success in recycling 430 million pounds of plastic, but leaves readers to wonder what percentage this recycled plastic is when accounting for Walmart’s enterprise-scale plastic waste stream. The company is silent on how much money it saves from recycling and repurposing their waste streams.

This is just not a Walmart issue.

Corporate America’s continued market share and appeal to investors are at competitive risk if they continue to delink ESG reporting and financial results. This gap will be filled by disruptive entrepreneurship that delivers the authenticity millennials and Gen Z are demanding both at the cash register and within ESG reporting.

Image credit: Pixabay

Germany’s Bayer, Italy’s Eni, Switzerland’s Nestlé and Anglo-Dutch Unilever are rated “gold class among Europe’s 50 top listed companies in terms of how they combine their ESG (environmental, social and governance) progress and sustainability talk with “walking the walk” and executing on it.

New research from Lundquist, a corporate communications and sustainability agency based in Milan, has for the first time analyzed how European companies that are members of the STOXX Europe 50 Index position themselves in terms of ESG and sustainability. Researchers reviewed the English language content across corporate websites, social media channels and related digital properties (magazines, mini-sites, etc.).

In essence, the analysis provides a snapshot on how fit for purpose these entities are, as well as what consumers expect, what LinkedIn influencers want and what millennials aspire to see.

The agency’s research extends Lundquist’s horizons to examine how European corporates are interpreting the challenge of sustainability communications.

It measures communications from two connected perspectives—namely, substance (i.e. information that users need to understand about a company: the facts and figures defining the substance of what they do and why) and distinctiveness (tracking user experience and engagement, from stories and viewpoints to social media use).

Based on the findings, corporates were rated gold class, silver class, bronze class, “The Narrators”, “The Glitterati” (with a focus on what is visually striking and exploiting social channels to talk about sustainability) to “The Traditionalists” and “The Sleepers.”

The evaluation protocol consisted of seven sections, with a maximum possible score of 100. The research takes what is described as “a new, future-oriented perspective” built around real stakeholder expectations. Credible and concrete stories about sustainability examined.

Today, this mission is as “urgent as ever," driven by a “surging interest in sustainability and an expectation that business should articulate how it is contributing to our collective future challenges,” the researchers wrote. 

Top of class: ‘The Narrators’

Some leading corporates in Europe are shown to be paving the way and labelled "The Narrators,” whilst others are confined for now to “the bench”—to use a footballing term—or categorized as “The Sleepers.”

Nine of the 49 companies considered qualify as “narrators,” led by oil companies BP and Eni, consumer packaged goods brands Nestlé and Unilever, and healthcare firms Bayer and Roche. Almost all of them were found to have struck a balance between the perspectives of substance and distinctiveness.

The best companies in Europe were found to be managing to connect communications to the substance of the impacts of their business. This trend suggests that "companies are working hard not only to be relevant and engaging, but to make sure communication is backed up by the kind of robust evidence that users clamor for," said James Osborne, head of sustainability at Lundquist.

In respect to the “narrators,” Osborne added: “They exhibit a good balance between what they say and how they say it.” Almost all of them strike a balance between substance (45 points out of 100) and distinctiveness (55 out of 100), the two pillars analyzed for the research.

Companies rated ‘gold’ class, were those which scored at least 60 percent of maximum in both pillars. Those companies scoring at least 50 percent of maximum in both pillars but not qualifying as gold were rated silver (BASF, BP, Deutsche Telekom, National Grid and Roche in the latter class).

Bottom of the class: ‘The Sleepers’

Seven companies were rated "sleepers" and included ASML Holding, Lloyds Banking Group, LVMH, Prudential, Rio Tinto, Sanofi and Safran.

The analysis does not stress “rankings” in absolute terms as with Lundquist’s other studies such as the Web ranking for Top 500 European companies, seeking instead to show positioning of companies.

In respect of “The Traditionalists,” which comprise 14 companies including Airbus, Allianz, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Astra Zeneca, BNP Paribas and SAP, this was noted as the “most dangerous area” to be in for a company, as it “indicates the absence of a culture of transparency and attention to the digital user.”

These companies tended to focus on technical and compliance disclosure, but “without demonstrating a distinct corporate identity," researchers found. 

On the social media front, industrial gas company Linde scored the top spot for best use of sustainability communications on Facebook, while best use of Twitter for this purpose was clinched by Unilever, which generates more social engagement on social and environmental themes than on other topics, according to the research.

Image credit: Francesco Ungaro/Pexels

“Are you okay?” That is the whispered question I now receive from friends who have not seen me for a few years. They are really asking if I have cancer. They are reacting to seeing me 40 pounds lighter.

To allay their fears, I smile broadly and say, “I feel great.” And that is really true. I can run again. I am wearing a pant size I last wore in my twenties. Even better (and this will sound unbelievably false) I achieved this success while still enjoying pizza and Dairy Queen.

Rethinking our approach to healthy living and weight loss

But I have learned the hard way that telling someone you have figured out the weight loss “Holy Grail” only generates an “oh boy, Bill has gone off the deep end” look. It is the same look I got when I first began sounding the alarm about climate change.

I went to see my doctor after my wife wondered if I wasn’t fooling myself and that my weight loss might actually be due to something wrong with me. My doctor assured me I was in great health. He lamented that the reactions I was receiving represented how our culture had accepted plus sizes as the new norm.

As a behavioral economist, addiction is the best way I can explain why Americans are normalizing weight gain. This insight, which I gained a few years ago while researching a TriplePundit article series on our national obesity crisis, sparked me to write my latest book, The Boomer Generation Diet. 

The themes within this book address the contemplation stages in addressing addiction. Contemplation is a questioning process for visualizing what to change and how to change it. It is the first step in addressing addiction. The Boomer Generation Diet disruptively refutes the idea that hunger, denial and painful exercise is the path to weight loss. In addiction terms, going cold-turkey rarely works. This lifestyle change profiles 10 best practices to sustainable weight loss that still provides the type of pleasures provided by a weight-gaining addictive lifestyle.

It's about sustainable living, boomers

Where I screwed up was in entitling my book The Boomer Generation Diet. The goal was to help my generation confront their diabetics epidemic and a life sustained through medicines. Unfortunately, focusing the book’s title on the boomer generation missed what is now obvious: Weight gain is a national health crisis impacting all generations. Half of us are projected to be obese by 2030.

I also should have known better than to use the word “diet” in the book’s title. We hear the word diet and feel denial. I should have entitled the book something like The Sustainability Lifestyle for Having Fun and Living More. This type of title captures the book’s sizzle: There is a path for loving food, having fun and losing weight.

This same type of win/win message is now emerging as the solution for climate change and other environmental crises. We are moving past the failed idea that you have to give up fossil fuel-powered pickup trucks and SUVs to save the world. The emerging new message is that you will want to give up conventional trucks and SUVs because electric vehicles will have more torque, are faster, handle better, require little maintenance and are least cost over the life of the vehicle. (And in a few more years they will be competitive on their retail sticker prices.) We are entering what I would describe as a clean technology cost less, mean more mass-production cycle.

Consumers will flock to electric vehicles because, through mass production and technology innovations, they will cost less and be more fun to drive. And, oh by the way, they have zero tailpipe emissions. A similar story is unfolding with other sustainable lifestyle choices—they're simply more desirable, as well as more conscious. 

The exciting news of The Boomer Generation Diet is that the sustainability best practices that have begun delivering clean tech cost less, mean more results can also deliver weight loss while having fun and living more.

I am proof that you can lose weight, have fun and live more!

Image credit: Steve Buissinne/Pixabay

The Lego Foundation – the philanthropic arm of the company many of us know from our childhood days – is on a mission to reshape education for a generation of refugee children.

Last month, the Denmark-based foundation awarded $100 million to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to promote play-based, early learning solutions for pre-primary and primary school-aged children impacted by the humanitarian crises in East Africa living in Ethiopia and Uganda, and potentially a third country in the region. The grant builds on a previous $100 million grant Lego awarded in 2018 to Sesame Workshop and its partners BRAC, IRC and New York University to develop, test and scale-up playful early learning solutions for the youngest most vulnerable children, birth to six years of age, impacted by the Syrian and Rohingya crises.

In a press release announcing this latest grant, the Foundation said the five-year project PlayMatters will help strengthen children’s resilience and help build their social, emotional, cognitive, physical and creative skills.

Through PlayMatters, Lego and the Lego Foundation are demonstrating one way the private sector can help address UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 -- Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all – as well as the Global Compact for Refugees’ request for the international community to support governments in finding durable solutions to the  refugee crisis.

Play-time crucial even in crisis situations

Lack of access to food, medicines and shelter – not play time – is often associated with the plight facing the world’s more than 70 million refugees. But experts say that play-based learning is a critical component for childhood learning and building the skills necessary to cope with adversity -- and one that is woefully neglected in crisis situations.

An estimated 31 million children have been displaced and now live in refugee camps. They’ve lost homes and loved ones, seen violence, and endured the kinds of trauma that put them at risk for lifelong impairments. Millions have no access to quality early learning. Yet less than 3 percent of all humanitarian aid goes to education, and only a tiny fraction of that to early childhood.

An article in the American Journal of Play found that it is through play that children first learn how to make decisions, solve problems, exert self-control, and follow rules. Play can also teach children how to handle their emotions, including anger and fear. In addition, play can help build the resilience children need to thrive in conflict settings.

“We know that investing in play-based learning interventions is key to addressing toxic stress and trauma for young children in refugee settings as learning through play helps to develop social and emotional skills, builds resilience, and strengthens brain connections essential for future development,” said John Goodwin, CEO of the LEGO Foundation. “The children in these largely forgotten crises in Ethiopia and Uganda deserve the power of learning through play and the hope that it can bring for a bright future.”

Together, IRC & Lego are reaching 800,000 children

IRC, together with local partners and the governments of Ethiopia and Uganda, plan to train approximately 10,000 pre-primary and primary school teachers and education personnel and 170,000 primary caregivers through PlayMatters. They will equip them with play-based solutions that they can integrate in classrooms and at home. In all, IRC and the Lego Foundation hope to improve education outcomes for approximately 800,000 children.

Sarah Smith, IRC’s senior director of education, told TriplePundit that IRC will work with the Lego Foundation to evaluate the success of the initiative and create a program that’s adaptable across Africa and beyond.

“We plan to work with local experts to understand what is working and what is not working, and through this research, we’ll assess progress against our broader goal of educating every refugee child,” said Smith. “Our ultimate goal is to create models that can travel to wherever there are children who aren’t getting the education that they need and deserve.”

Image credit: Embassy of Denmark in Uganda/Facebook

Reducing red meat consumption—and eating less meat in general, for that matter—is a regular staple on my New Year’s resolution list. And plenty of data suggest it’s become a more popular resolution in recent years.

A British nonprofit, Veganuary, has tried to make it more official. Since 2014, the organization has called on people worldwide to pledge to go vegan in the month of January, and hopefully beyond. In 2019, more than 800,000 people ate less meat and animal products for at least a month, according to a study conducted by the group. 

Cheerio, steak and kidney pie?

The food and agriculture industry is starting to see the effects of reduced meat consumption. Last year, red meat sales in the United Kingdom dropped by $242 million, or 185 million British pounds.

It may surprise some that Britain, the home of Beefeaters, Sunday roasts, and steak and kidney pies would be at the forefront of the vegetarian shift, but there is a long history there. The first vegetarian society in the modern western world was founded in 1847 in Ramsgate, England. During the European Enlightenment and early 19th century, vegetarianism was more accepted in England than anywhere else in Europe. Further, when I lived there 20 years ago, I remember seeing a lot more vegetarian options and friendliness toward meat-free eating than I saw in the U.S. at the time.

Health and cost savings top the list of reasons Britons are cutting back on meat consumption, but the environmental impact plays a role as well. Even in the U.S., where consumption of meat outstrips that of other western countries, there are signs of a shift. Sales of plant-based foods increased by 20 percent across the U.S. in 2018.

Attitudes toward red meat consumption shift on both sides of the pond

Climate action advocates surely welcome these trends. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommended reducing meat consumption as a tool for combating climate change, and a new story seems to come out every week about going vegetarian—even part-time—as an environmental measure.

However, some recent studies indicate many meat substitutes may be detrimental to the environment. The news can be confusing to consumers, even as more people adopt a diet with less meat. The reality is: As consumers, we should all be more mindful of the costs of food production and the associated waste. There is a lot of water and energy burned in our food systems, and whether people choose a meat-free diet or not may be out of their hands if we start running out of water.

An overlooked reason to go plant-based: Meat production’s impact on water

For example, 80 percent of all water used in California is used by the agricultural sector. In addition to being unavailable for other uses, any water that is returned must be purified, an energy-intensive process, which, depending on the energy source, can also be water-intensive. Further, much of the food produced worldwide is wasted—around 25 percent—and with that, roughly 4.2 trillion gallons of water are lost.

The key is efficiency, both in food processing and our consumption. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, 40 to 50 percent of fruits and vegetables are wasted, much before they even reach our shelves. In a visit to the U.K. two years ago, I was pleased to find imperfect vegetables not only sold in the local supermarket, but also marketed as such. Further, more efficient irrigation techniques and the deployment of low-water wind and solar power could reduce both the energy and water footprint of production, while next-generation warehouses and silos could prevent the spoilage and waste of food between the field and the supermarket.

Meat production and processing are heavy burdens on our food systems, and reducing consumption will likely have environmental benefits, from lower water and energy use to carbon and methane emissions reductions. But animal agriculture is only part of the problem of a larger conundrum of how to feed billions of people sustainably. Better data is needed across the energy-water-food nexus to increase efficiency. Being mindful of what we choose to eat is important, but like the industry, we should be taking a holistic view of the entire system.

Image credit: Pixabay

U-Haul made headlines last week after announcing the company will no longer hire nicotine users. This change will go into effect on February 1 in 21 states.

Based in Phoenix, U-Haul employs over 30,000 people in the U.S. and Canada. In states in which the policy will be enacted, job applicants will be questioned about nicotine use and will be subject to testing if allowable by state law.

This new hiring policy was met with opinions across the spectrum regarding whether it was a smart move by U-Haul or a cruel method of narrowing the pool of applicants for future positions.

The company stated that the policy was enacted to help maintain a “healthier workforce.” Jessica Lopez, U-Haul chief of staff, defended the policy by calling it a move to further the goals of the company’s health and wellness program, ABC15 Arizona reported.

"Each year it's been our mission to increase our wellness benefits program to help our workers and family members conquer their health goals,” Lopez said. “This nicotine-free hiring process is the next step.”      

Part of U-Haul’s health and wellness program includes programs designed to help people quit the use of nicotine products.

Opponents of the new policy maintain that refusing work to smokers is an “extreme” action and that employers are more concerned about their bottom line than the health of their employees.

Although many businesses choose to ban the act of smoking at the workplace rather than refuse to hire tobacco users, U-Haul is not the only company with a no-smokers policy for employees. Alaska Airlines has been turning smokers away as potential hires since 1985, and some hospitals and health businesses have also jumped on the bandwagon.

One of the main reasons that companies give for refusing to hire nicotine users is that the health of their employees is placed at a significant risk when there are smokers on-site. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 preventable deaths are caused by smoking (or 480,000 annually). Secondhand smoke also threatens the health of employees and clients or customers who visit the workplace.

In addition to the lost lives and compromised health that smoking causes, companies pay higher costs for smoking employees. According to a 2013 study conducted by Ohio State University, businesses pay approximately $6,000 more per year for each employee who smokes. These costs are associated with issues including lower productivity, absenteeism and healthcare costs. All totaled, smoking-related illnesses cost more than $300 billion in medical expenses and lost productivity each year in the U.S. alone, according to the CDC.

U-Haul is not the first company to implement a non-smoking policy for its new hires – and it won’t be the last. Watch for other companies to consider such a policy – along with a lively debate in traditional and social media between those who support and oppose such a policy.

Image credit: Mike Mozart/Flickr