July 03, 2025
Workshopping sustainability
An interactive FaBA workshop on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) kicked off the Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) 2025 Grow National program.
Growing consumer, government and stockist demand for sustainability and transparency inspired a workshop on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) delivered by the FaBA Innovation Pathways Program.
The workshop highlighted incoming sustainability reporting requirements that will impact the entire food and beverage value chain.
Participants accessed practical tools and calculators for tracking company carbon emissions and explored strategies for reducing energy usage, water and waste.
FaBA Innovation Pathways Lead Facilitator Alexander Smith said the workshops were designed to build confidence in participants and helped to put reporting in context.
“The AASB-S2 reporting standard on Climate Related Disclosures will affect large stockists and distributors across Australia from this year onwards,” Alexander said.
“What was less clear was the flow-on reporting requirements for their food and beverage product suppliers.
“Larger companies will be required to collect emission data from their suppliers and to enable this, most suppliers require a more detailed understanding of identifying and measuring emissions.
“Even without the pressures of mandatory reporting, active participation in emission reduction from all food and beverage manufacturers, regardless of size, is needed to meet our national climate targets.”
Beyond the environmental measures, exploring the social and governance aspects of a business brought the encompassing framework of ESG into focus.
“Seeing how the three pillars intersect highlights a 360 overview of a company’s operations.”
This enables a broader view of opportunities: cost reduction, enhanced brand value, employee engagement and other areas important to stakeholders.
Workshop participant Kym Cooper, East Forged Co-Founder, said the workshop provided an excellent overview.
“I found the ESG workshop useful and have taken away a number of insights,” Kim said.
“The broad topic content provided knowledge across the key areas for consideration, making the session practical and actionable for business owners.”