Sustainability in Food Industry

Question: Discuss about theSustainability in Food Industry. Answer: Introduction: The assignment aims to examine different applications of sustainability in the food industry in New Zealand. The study draws its strength from several articles and literary sources. The first paper studies food business in the country taking Toad Hall Cafe as its basis. The next section studies the local food business drawing matter from the restaurant and delves into its sustainable practices. The section also analyses the effects of sustainable practises of Toad Hall Cafe on the local environment and society. The paper ends with ratings for the sustainable practices and recommendations for the restaurant. Toad Hall Store Cafe, Motueka in New Zealand is an eco-friendly cafe which offers local delicacies like fruits, vegetables and cakes. The restaurant is recommended due to its environment friendly sourcing of energy and raw materials. The cafe also has facilities to help the aged and disabled customers. Their philosophy of the restaurant is to contribute towards the development of the local farmers and operate in a sustainable way (Matos Silvestre, 2013). The cafe employs staffs who conduct research towards finding out innovative ways of recycling wastes and conserve environment. It sources water from the local areas and energy from environment friendly sources like solar panels ("Toad Hall Store Cafe", 2017). Analysis of Local Food industry, New Zealand: The local food industry generates employment to a third of New Zealands employment and accounts for a half of the exports of the nation. The government of the country support the local food industry through a plan called Food Innovation Network which aims at synthesising local industries with multinational chains. The local food industry in New Zealand operates in sustainable ways while the multinational chains of restaurants have the models to cater to a wide range of consumers. The government seeks to combine the two segments to make the food industry more profitable and sustainable (Food Innovation Network, 2017). The analysis shows that the local food industry in New Zealand enjoys a strong support from the government and synthesises sustainability with profitability. Today food industry all over the world is driven by the need to intensify and diversify food production. It aims to achieve maximum utilisation of land, labour and capital. The farming in New Zealand is done in big farms which produce large quantities of crops which account for sustainable sourcing of food materials (Herrero et al., 2017). Sustainable sourcing of raw materials is an important feature of New Zealand food industry. Crops are grown in symbiosis with each other to ensure productivity and soil conservation (Widdup et al., 2015). Business and Operations of Toad Hall Store Cafe: Toad Hall Store Cafe conducts business in sustainable ways to ensure benefit of the stakeholders like the consumers and farmers. The restaurant offers fresh and organic food products like meat, fruits and vegetables. It sources these from local farmers and promotes development of the agriculture community (Martin et al., 2014). The restaurant sources wines and beers made from the local sustainable vine yards. Thus, the firm contributes to the innovative and sustainable growth of the vineyards and wineries in New Zealand (Garnevskaa, E., McLaren, S., Hiroki, 2014). The businesses of the restaurant also involve selling pieces of local toys arts and artefacts. This way the restaurant promotes the development of the local artisans and craftsmen. The restaurant also permits performances by local artisans in the weekends. The restaurant has wheel chair facilities for the aged and disabled. Thus, it can be opined that Toad Hall Cafe promotes the development of the local communities like farmers, vine growers and artisans through its operations (BBC Storyworks , 2017). Analysis of Current Practices of Toad Hall Cafe: Sourcing: The cafe sources its raw materials from the local farmers, vine grower and horticulturalists. Sustainable sourcing of raw materials like fruits and vegetable promote development of local industries and communities. This helps in the social development by increasing income of groups of farmers and artisans (Hendry, Sayed Zorini, 2015). Environment: The restaurant sources organic food items like fruits and vegetable from local farms. This farm encourages cultivation of food using renewable wastes like organic manure and discourages use of chemical pesticides. This way the farm acts towards lowering the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment (Swinton et al., 2015). The restaurant uses its waste materials like food leftover and water to recycle them for further usage. The waste materials can be recycled and used as manure to grow more crops. This ensures recycling and reduction of waste emission into the environment. Society: Sustainable local sourcing of raw materials helps the society in multiple ways. As discussed before that recycling wastes reduce environmental pollution. Studies show that modern agro systems using unsustainable mode of operations deplete natural resources and causes pollution. The restaurant sources its raw materials from sustainable sources which means it reduces pollution and consequent damage to social health (Pretty Bharucha, 2014). The restaurant obtains fruits, vegetables, coffee and so on from local communities. This means that it encourages these communities to practice sustainable farming and earn their living. The restaurant sells local artefacts, toys and allows performances by local musicians. Thus, the restaurant provides employment to these people and contributes towards social development. Thus, one can point out that Toad Hall Cafe benefits a variety of stakeholders like the farmers, consumers, musicians and so on (Triste et al., 2014). It contributes to increase in income of these people which is measurable. Rating: Toad Hall Cafe can be rated five stars considering its three key areas of sourcing namely, sourcing, environment and society. Recommendations: The restaurant should spread its environment friendly modus operandi and encourage other restaurants to adopt it. The restaurant should explore new markets and use its modus operandi as a business model. Conclusion: Sustainability is a very important aspect of the food industry and its future. The study shows that sustainable practices of Toad Hall Cafe benefits the various local communities like farmers, vine growers and musicians. It can be pointed out that sustainable practices can contribute towards generation of employment on one hand and conservation of environment on the other. References: BBC Storyworks |. (2017). Bbc.com. Retrieved 21 April 2017, from https://www.bbc.com/storyworks/travel/specials/new-zealand-corporate-style/culinary-triple-treat.html Food Innovation Network. (2017). Mbie.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 April 2017, from https://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/food-beverage/food-innovation-network Garnevskaa, E., McLaren, S., Hiroki, S. (2014). Yealands Wine Group: Balancing Business and Sustainability.International Food and Agribusiness Management Review,17(4), 237. Hendry, L., Sayed, M., Zorini, M. (2015). Local buying: the easy answer for sustainable sourcing. InConference paper. Herrero, M., Thornton, P. K., Power, B., Bogard, J. R., Remans, R., Fritz, S., ... Watson, R. A. (2017). Farming and the geography of nutrient production for human use: a transdisciplinary analysis.The Lancet Planetary Health,1(1), e33-e42. Martin, G., Clift, R., Christie, I., Druckman, A. (2014). The sustainability contributions of urban agriculture: Exploring a community garden and a community farm. InProceedings of the 9th international conference on life cycle assessment in the agri-food sector (LCA Food 2014)(pp. 752-760). Matos, S., Silvestre, B. S. (2013). Managing stakeholder relations when developing sustainable business models: the case of the Brazilian energy sector.Journal of Cleaner Production,45, 61-73. Pretty, J., Bharucha, Z. P. (2014). Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems.Annals of botany,114(8), 1571-1596. Swinton, S. M., Rector, N., Robertson, G. P., Jolejole-Foreman, C., Lupi, F. (2015). Farmer decisions about adopting environmentally beneficial practices.The ecology of agricultural landscapes, 340-359. Toad Hall Store Cafe. (2017). Toad Hall Store Cafe. Retrieved 21 April 2017, from https://www.toadhallmotueka.co.nz/ Triste, L., Marchand, F., Debruyne, L., Meul, M., Lauwers, L. (2014). Reflection on the development process of a sustainability assessment tool: learning from a Flemish case.Ecology and Society,19(3). Widdup, K. H., Ford, J. L., Cousins, G. R., Woodfield, D. R., Caradus, J. R., Barrett, B. A. (2015). A comparison of New Zealand and overseas white clover cultivars under grazing in New Zealand.Journal of New Zealand Grasslands,77, 51-56.