An Exploration of Food Sustainability Practices in the Food Industry across Europe

Abstract

Sustainability is becoming essential and actively debated in the food sector, influencing companies and stakeholders globally. Sustainability practices have been developed and integrated into food industry actions and policies to meet present needs without compromising future needs. The aim of this study was to explore the current sustainability practices across the food industry in Europe and how initiatives are developed, implemented and evaluated to achieve food sustainability targets. This study formed part of a larger European project (2022-1-IE01-KA220-VET-000087508 Digitalisation of Sustainable Health Education). In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 food industry employees with expertise in sustainability across Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, and Cyprus. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed. Three themes were identified: sustainable practices challenges, facilitators of green practice, and thinking to the future, Complying with the Science-Based Targets initiative, and setting emissions targets such net zero by 2050 and reducing waste output, drove sustainable activities. Participants identified barriers to initiative development and implementation including cost, monitoring time, product quality, and employee engagement. Employee and stakeholder understanding were crucial to sustainability initiative success. Gaps in research were identified as the proliferation of environmental labels and greater company collaboration to share sustainability data. A key consideration highlighted in discussions was the importance of collaboration and education for raising awareness and strengthening the implementation and long-term maintenance of food sustainability practices within industry. Greater collaboration between large food companies to share raw sustainability metric data could strengthen initiative outcomes and raise greater awareness among stakeholders, bridging the knowledge gap with producers or stakeholders who operate on a smaller scale.

1. Introduction

The food industry is intertwined in every continent and culture, shaping dietary habits and economies worldwide [1]. It is constantly evolving to meet the demands of an ever-growing population, while grappling with sustainability and health concerns. The global food industry is facing mounting pressure to address the environmental, social, and economic challenges posed by its operations. A 2021 report by Binns et al. stated that food production is responsible for 20–30% of greenhouse gases [2].

In recent years, sustainability has become a central theme in the food industry, influencing the decisions and actions of food industry stakeholders worldwide. The global food industry has the resources and power to improve sustainability practices worldwide. Data and trends from 2022 show that the “EU food and drink industry employs 4.6 million people, generates a turnover of EUR 1.1 trillion and EUR 230 billion in value added”, making it one of the largest manufacturing industries in the EU [3]. Sustainable practices (SPs) are the strategies implemented by the food industry to improve and harmonize their operations with ecological, social, and economic sustainability imperatives [4]. SPs refer to actions and policies that aim to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [5]. The food industry recognises that sustainability is not only a moral imperative, but also a business imperative, as consumers increasingly demand products that align with their values and support a more sustainable future [6,7]. This shift towards sustainability encompasses a range of considerations, including sustainable ingredient sourcing, efficient resource management, waste reduction, ethical labour practices, and community engagement [8]. To date, no comprehensive exploration into the intricate processes by which food industry stakeholders develop, implement, and evaluate sustainability practices has been completed.

Exploration of the dynamic landscape of SPs, scrutinizing the development of strategies that resonate with the broader goals of environmental stewardship, ethical sourcing, and societal well-being would build an understanding of best practices and impact future research and development that can inform not only industry stakeholders but also policymakers, researchers, and consumers invested in shaping a more sustainable and equitable food future [9,10]. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have acted as a roadmap across the food industry, guiding companies on steps to address their company’s sustainability, and involve adopting practices that promote sustainable agriculture, reduce food waste, ensure food security, and support economic growth. This means implementing eco-friendly farming techniques, reducing emissions, and conserving natural resources [11]. Additionally, it includes improving supply chain efficiency, minimizing food loss, and ensuring fair labour practices. By aligning with the SDGs, the food industry can contribute to ending hunger, fostering sustainable consumption and production patterns, and addressing climate change, thereby creating a more resilient and equitable food system [12].

The food industry faces many challenges when trying to implement sustainable changes and policies. The global food industry is responsible for major environmental impacts, including biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, water extraction and pollution [13,14]. Yet little has been published on the SPs the food industry is implementing to tackle these challenges. Understanding how SPs have been developed, implemented, and monitored will allow best practice to be identified and provide inspiration for other food companies to improve their sustainability approach and contribute to a sustainable future. The aim of this study was to explore the current sustainability priorities across the food industry in Europe and how initiatives are developed, implemented, and evaluated to achieve food sustainability targets. Therefore, this study set out to answer the following research questions: how are SP initiatives currently developed, implemented, and monitored for effectiveness?

2. Materials and Methods

This study was a joint Erasmus KA2 European funded project led by the Atlantic Technological University, Galway, Ireland and partnered with The Polish Farm Advisory and Training Centre, Łomża, Poland, the Kaunas Food Industry and Trade Training Centre, Kaunas, Lithuania and the University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus2022-1-IE01-KA220-VET-000087508 Digitalisation of Sustainable Health Education, DiSHEd). Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather insight on current food sustainability practices across the food industry sector in Europe.

2.1. Participants

The maximum variation sampling technique was based on the idea of information power, and a moderate sample size was judged sufficient in light of the study’s general objectives and sample specificity. Researchers aimed to recruit a minimum of 20 participants employed in the food industry across the four countries (Ireland, Cyprus, Poland, and Lithuania). Eligibility criteria included adults over the age of 18 years of age currently working in the food industry sector in a role that includes oversight of, or responsibility for, the sustainability initiatives and practices in their company. Participants were identified through LinkedIn, using direct message invitations to those with ‘sustainable/sustainability’ in their job title, and, additionally, through snowball sampling with previously identified contacts who participated in a previous DiSHEd study exploring employer needs and expectations of graduates. Additionally, promotional posts were also shared across project social media channels including X and LinkedIn, to further support maximum variation. This approach was used to guarantee business diversity and inclusion of participants from various sizes and types of food industry companies. Interested participants were invited to complete a consent form and attend an interview. In-depth, semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews were conducted online by the lead researcher in Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, and Cyprus using Microsoft Teams, and lasted between 20 and 52 min (M = 31.2 min, SD = 9.87 min). Each partner country conducted its own interviews, which were then transcribed and forwarded to the lead research team at Atlantic Technological University for thematic analysis.

Approaching the end of the recruitment process for each partner recruiting in their country, an additional eligible participant replied to the advertisement to express interest in taking part in the study. The interview was conducted, and the data were deemed to provide additional beneficial insights into the area of interest, resulting in their inclusion in the final dataset.

2.2. Procedure

A semi-structured interview schedule was designed based on a literature review and discussion of researchers’ experiences, using a mix of open-ended questions, prompts and follow-up questions to encourage interviewees to reflect on and describe their experiences with the development, implementation, and evaluation of current food sustainability practices. The interview schedule as outlined in Table 1 was broad, covering company’s sustainable priorities, current food sustainability practice development and implementation, how those practices are monitored and evaluated to assess alignment with targets, and future sustainability goals and plans. Data from these questions were separated and thematically analysed. All data were anonymised, and each participant was given a unique identifier code, which can be seen reflected in Table 2.

Table 1. Interview schedule outlining questions asked, and importance of the topics covered.

Question	Importance
Does your industry/company have a sustainability policy for practice?	Identify whether the company has a sustainability policy for practice.
What are your company’s sustainable priorities?	Gather information on the sustainable priorities of the company.
How does your company strive to achieve those sustainable food practice goals?	Explore how the company is trying to meet their sustainability goals/targets.
Can you talk me through how that initiative was developed?	Gather information on how sustainability initiatives are developed and implemented.
How is the initiative monitored and evaluated?	Gather information on how the initiatives are monitored and evaluated for effectiveness.
What future sustainability goals does your company have?	Explore future goals and targets.
How will your company aim to achieve those?	Explore possible solutions and initiatives to meet future goals.

Table 2. Demographic description of participants’ job titles, company, and location.

Participant ID	Biological Sex	Company Name	Job Role/Title	Location (City, Country)
I1	Female	Kerry Group	Sustainability Lead for Applied Health and Nutrition Function	Kerry, Ireland (working across global teams)
I2	Female	Nutritics	Sustainability Lead	Dublin, Ireland
I3	Female	Ornua	Project Management and Sustainability	Cork, Ireland
I4	Female	Airfield Estate	Director of Education and Research	Dublin, Ireland
I5	Female	Kerry Group	Sustainable Nutrition Manager	Kerry, Ireland (working across global teams)
I6	Female	Kerry Group	Responsible Sourcing Manager	Global
P1	Male	Grupa Agrocentrum	Procurator	Łomża, Poland
P2	Female	Veterinary and Comprehensive School Complex	Food Technology Teacher	Łomża, Poland
P3	Male	GreenVit	Procurator	Łomża, Poland
P4	Male	Ziołowy Zakątek	Owner	Koryciny, Poland
P5	Male	Ideal Bistro	Owner	Łomża, Poland
C1	Male	Fork Food Market	Organiser	Nicosia, Cyprus
C2	Male	Savva Matsi Bakeries LTD	Director	Palaichori, Nicosia, Cyprus
C3	Male	H.S. FOODTECH Laboratories Ltd.	Owner	Nicosia, Cyprus
C4	Male	C. A. Papaellinas Group	Sustainability Manager	Nicosia, Cyprus
C5	Female	A. Zorbas and Sons Ltd.	Quality Manager	All over Cyprus
L2	Female	AB Nordic Sugar Kėdainiai	Process Operator	Kėdainiai, Lithuania
L3	Female	Biržų Duona	Marketing Lead	Vilnius, Lithuania
L4	Female	Kietavišhių Gausa	Sustainability Manager	Kietaviškės Village, Lithuania
L5	Female	Mantinga	Sustainability Project Manager	Marijampole, Lithuania
L2	Female	Vilvi Group	Production Manager	Vilkyškiai, Pagegiai municipality, Lithuania

Our project team consisted of one lead researcher from each of the four partner countries. Ethical approval for the research was granted by the ATU Galway-Mayo Research Ethics Committee after a full board review of the study proposal (RSC_AC_27052023).

2.3. Data Analysis

Following the interview transcription and cleaning, the data were assembled and subjected to a deductive analysis utilising the theme analysis methodology as described by Braun and Clarke [15,16]. This method describes a six-phase thematic analysis, with Phase 1 being familiarisation with the data, which entails transcribing the data from the recordings, going over the interview transcripts again, and making notes on preliminary ideas on the data overall [15,16]. Phase 2 produced preliminary codes by emphasising significant passages from the transcripts, gathering them into a fresh data set pertinent to the study subject, and classifying them according to the intriguing characteristics found in the information. The research team coded the data and discussed discrepancies in interpretation until they reached an agreement. Phase 3 grouped all pertinent data elements associated with each possible theme to search for themes within the data. In Phase 4, the project team convened to assess prospective themes that could emerge. Additionally, a thematic map was created to assess the degree to which the themes accurately reflected the coded extracts. Phase 5 identified the details of each theme and began the overall study by further defining and refining these themes. In Phase 6, the project team convened to go over the refined themes and discuss the comprehensive analysis of the data extracts categorised under each subject that addressed the study questions.

This approach resulted in a comprehensive analysis of the dataset to identify overarching trends, and subsequently categorised the codes into several themes [15]. In order to adopt a more inductive and data-driven approach, we made a conscious effort to avoid being influenced by pre-existing concepts, categories, and definitions from earlier research, whilst also acknowledging our role as researchers in the co-creation of themes. The objective of this study is to enhance the existing knowledge of SPs in the food business. The themes were formulated using the full dataset to ensure their relevance to anyone engaged in work or research in this field. An extensive ‘directory’ consisting of main themes and subthemes was compiled (Table 3) and the corresponding participant quotations organized under each theme or subtheme category. This assisted in modifying the titles, boundaries, and positioning of themes allowing for verification if the themes accurately represented the data. Additionally, it proved to be useful in the practical aspect of producing the analysis.

Table 3. Developed themes, subthemes, sample codes and example quotes.

Themes	No.	Subthemes	Sample Codes	Exemplar Quote
1. Sustainable Practice Challenges	1	Cost—investment in sustainability	Cost of renewable energy upgrades	“we are buying green electricity in our factories, and in fact the electricity in the factories is where most of our electricity consumption is, and it is responsible for about 50% of our overall electricity consumption. So 50% of energy from green resources is already a big enough step. That is the biggest issue here, or the place that we will have to work on in order to achieve those targets, and that is our gas use. Because we still cannot give up on gas furnaces and other features, because it is extremely expensive, if we wanted to switch to electric furnaces, it is just too expensive for the time being.” (L4)
	2	Embracing new procedures	Employee convenience	“evaluation is in principle a behavioural thing, isn’t it. It’s me as a person who is interested in getting that data. I go to the departments that manage this or that data, and we have common tables. We put them together and we analyse them. Because we are manufacturers, that was also a kind of challenge here. You come with sustainability indicators and you ask us to look into them. So you are actually coming to people with extra work, extra headaches, where they don’t even understand what you want at first, because it is just a ‘nice-sounding thing’, and it doesn’t seem to create value. It is like that here, but it is monitoring. In general we manage our data on some, how to say, lean principles, because the data walks in a similar way, but in reality—the challenge is to find, to gather the right ones, to make sure they keep getting that flow. It’s still in this place for the time being in that purge, to make everything, everything convenient.” (L4)
	3	Time required	Timely process of developing an initiative	“Okay, so actually there would be a lot about each initiative here and I can’t say everything so broadly right now, because some of the objectives are actually, as I said in the course of the process, with a lot of those criteria. So this is maybe more of a general comment. With a number of those criteria, we are now at that initial stage, that is to say that we have identified a need, that this is an issue that is important to us. That is the second thing, we are looking at, where are we now and what can we do? It is, well, because we are a large company, as I said, various branches of production, many employees. It will take us a year or even more just to assess some of these things, to assess them properly. This is so general about the objectives that I cannot tell you so much about everything.” (L4)
	4	Accuracy of monitoring procedures	Measuring and reporting accuracy	“There are some challenges with particular food waste because you know you’re relying on bills that come in sometimes, you know, every two months. Unless you really weigh and micromanage a bit your waste and weigh it as it comes from the process line, which I know one site is doing but that’s just an outlier and the other sites are still you know only relying on bills so. Then also when it comes to sludge so when you have you know, food manufacturing, often food waste, goes down the drain so the sludge hasn’t been measured, so you need to kind of, first of all look at what are we measuring and is it accurate? Can we improve it? Sometimes you need to put in additional metering to improve the accuracy of your metrics and then obviously bring it down to the actionable level, the product line level or the process level.” (I3)
	5	Data collection delays	Delay with data	“So the monitoring and evaluation is at the moment, as I said, it’s either bills and I would imagine…it depends again between the food business and the non-food business, the ingredients business. So there is more monitoring going on and better monitoring going on the food waste. The way I think it is monitored, for example in [COMPANY] is based on reading of sludge being produced. That still means there is a delay. So it’s still not, you know sort of in time or, you know with a lag, but it’s better than you know when you only have your monitoring based on seeing how the bins are filling up. The case where there’s very little monitoring you’re only see the waste you produce you have produced when you get the bill you know there’s no weighing or no relating it to the process so that there are both worlds in our facilities. We need to try more attention…that one needs resources and that’s the biggest challenge.” (I3)
	6	Multiple metrics focus to achieve sustainability	Focusing on one metric at a time	“It can’t just be one metric all the time. And I imagine we’ll have very ambitious targets on water. When you look at what’s happening with temperatures even in Europe this year, and I think what’s gonna change in terms of uh, climate and climate in different geographies will change our sourcing practices and regulation is changing rapidly and you see that with the EU due diligence regulation.” (I6)
	7	Shared understanding	Understanding of sustainability	“we realised that companies don’t really have the internal resources to use it to the best of its ability. And you know staff or, not making mistakes, but they didn’t really understand what they were doing. In the area of sustainability as well, there’s just no knowledge there. I would say there’s no baseline knowledge across companies”. (I2)
2. Facilitators of Green Practice	1	Education and promotion	Employees and stakeholders understanding	“I think people maybe not understanding why we’re doing it. I’m always trying to, you know, remind people what’s the benefit of doing this and you know. So if they have different targets around maybe like our supply chain guys are like you know it’s on time and full, that’s all they’re thinking about like get the product out the door. You know, asking me why do you questions about what our packaging is, how we’re processing it. We’ve been doing this all the time. But then it it’s getting better and better because we have lots of people coming at it from different ways, we have our climate action team that are doing workshops on a site level. There’s targets there that they have to meet at a site level. So it’s not just say me that they’ll hear. They’ll hear it coming from lots of different places. But definitely I think getting people to see the importance of it because it takes a bit more time, doesn’t it? They’ve got so many things to do. I think that’s the biggest challenge, everybody’s so caught for time and there’s just so many things to do and then this feels like another thing. So it’s trying to make it as easy as possible for people for them to understand like engaging with this is really, really important.” (I1) “a very big part of my job is the education internally and you know with our procurement teams to develop the knowledge that they need to have to have these conversations around what we want to achieve with our own suppliers. Obviously then we’ll have the measuring and monitoring against those targets, but developing the strategy and then the communication of what it is we need to achieve and why. In all the roles I’ve had in sustainability over the years in other companies as well, that piece around educating teams internally about the why this is happening and what we’re doing is huge.” (I6)
	2	Embedding across the business	Sustainability across all aspects	“The sustainability initiative at the [COMPANY] was born out of our deep belief in responsible business. We wanted to create a place that would harmonize with nature and have a positive impact on the local community. The pursuit of sustainability was an integral part of our vision from the very beginning”. (P4)
	3	Auditing	External audits	“we’re pushing them then to be SMETA audited. So that means they’ve actually, yeah, the site has been audited it’s not just self-reporting data and so that that’s really important.” (I1)
	4	Agreement and understanding amongst employees	Employees following procedure	“employee engagement plays a crucial role in our continuous improvement process”. (C3)
	5	Sustainable policies for practice	National and global policies and benchmarks	“we have science-based targets and they were approved and we are part of the United Nations Global Compact, which is companies sign up and they commit to releasing SG reports publicly every year. And as part of that, we’ve completed a lot of courses, we’ve done the SDG ambition programme and also the climate Ambition Accelerator programme, which I’m currently completing and a few of us in [COMPANY] are doing. Under the SBTI we have committed to net 0 by 2050 and we have a benchmark to our emissions from 2022 to use as a baseline.” (I2)
	6	Investing benefits	Long-term benefits of sustainability investments	“where the investments are highest, probably energy. These always seem to be such grandiose projects. In a way, it’s one thing. We have a solar power plant at the bakery, which provides about a third of our annual demand. Since we also work at night, the sun simply cannot meet our full demand and we are planning to expand it. This has been going on for about three and a half years now. The very beginning was actually, how shall I put it, not a nice idea, not for the sake of environmental friendliness, but it turned out to be very worthwhile. And last year, when energy prices went up a lot, it helped to save money too. Because the highest electricity prices were around August, while it was still summer and our plant was generating a lot of electricity, we were able to make some savings because of that, and that allowed us not to raise the price of our products.” (L2) “[bio digester] it’s getting quite close I think to to paying for itself, which is brilliant and which is really, really good. We’re very proud of it. I mean we hide it away in the back, but it’s like, it’s like a little gem on the estate.” (I4)
	7	Company working groups	Sustainability working groups	“we have a global sustainability team. They look after kind of global strategy, there’s a section of them that will look after solely look after our reporting. Our CDP reporting…and then obviously our actual sustainability report that is part of our annual report on an annual basis. There’s also a team around responsible sourcing. So they’re looking at meeting our targets around responsibly sourcing our raw materials, our net 0 progress on that road map and how we’re going to get there. There’s a whole team that is there looking after the sites and how they report on their targets every year” (I1) “The sustainable practice initiative was the result of a commitment from our management team. We began by analyzing our operations and understanding how we impact the environment and the local community. We consulted with sustainability experts and listened to our customers’ feedback, which is extremely valuable to us. Based on this, we developed a personalized action plan.” (P5)
3. Thinking to the Future	1	Business improvements	Improving infrastructure	“continue to invest in technologies and innovations that will allow us to operate more sustainably”. (P3)
	2	Inter-collaboration of companies	Sharing raw data and metrics	“a more collaborative approach in the whole supply chain and data being stronger and more accurate and data being absolute gold like you know and so that that’s what I see. Yeah, based on data moving forward. So I think digitalization, automisation of data will play a massive role and I see it being very powerful already, but it’s gonna be critical for properly assessing the impact of food on the environment.” (I5)
	3	Sustainable goals	Renewable energy	“we would like to invest in renewable energy like solar panels and buy electrical kitchen equipment to avoid using gas.” (C1)
	4	Collaboration—community	Community outreach	“plan to expand our educational programs to raise awareness in our community”. (P5)
	5	Multi-pronged approach	Implementing many strategies together	“We are pursuing our sustainability goals by investing in environmentally friendly technologies, training farmers in sustainable cultivation, promoting local sources of raw materials and producers, and working with NGOs and research institutions to continuously improve our practices.” (P1)
	6	Proliferation of environmental labels	Product labelling	So look, I think what we’re seeing is this proliferation of environmental labels on the market at the moment. OK, so things like eco scores. Umm, but they’re not as evolved or as easy to assess as nutrition labels…for an Ecolabel, you’ll need to know the carbon intensity, the water use, the land use and many different metrics. So a proper environmental footprint would have 14 different metrics and often what happens is people/Companies don’t have primary data on these metrics. They’re using assumptions and they’re using like secondary data, so those environmental labels are going to be really difficult to be accurate. So products that have them, I would take it with a pinch of salt if you’re reading an Ecolabel right, but what I do see over the next 10 years is that those eco labels becoming more accurate in terms of the data that we would put into them and then us being able to as a food industry look at our look at our ingredients, look at the foods that our customers provide and be able to really compare the environmental impact of those products so that consumers can make the right choices”. (I5)

3. Results

A total of 21 employees with direct responsibility for, or extensive knowledge of, their company’s current food sustainable practices participated in the interviews across the four countries Ireland (n = 6), Poland (n = 5), Cyprus (n = 5), and Lithuania (n = 5). Both male and female participants were included (n = 8 and n = 13, respectively). As displayed in Table 2, a range of companies across the food industry sector were represented, from small, local companies to larger companies with a global reach.

Thematic analysis of the data identified three main themes relating to food sustainability practices and initiatives in the food industry sector: SP Challenges; Facilitators of Green Practice; and Thinking to the Future. These were further broken down into relative subthemes, and example quotes to support the analysis can be seen in Table 3.

3.1. SP Challenges

The theme SP challenges was further broken down into seven subthemes: cost—investment in sustainability; embracing new procedures; time required; accuracy of monitoring procedures; data collection delays; multiple metrics focus to achieve sustainability; and shared understanding. All participating companies represented in this study confirmed that the company had a sustainability policy for practice, except for one. This company however, in the absence of an official policy, were taking steps towards sustainability and aiming to achieve certain sustainability goals.

Across all four countries, challenges were reported when developing and implementing sustainable initiatives. These challenges included cost, employee engagement and understanding, time required, accuracy of monitoring procedures, delayed data collection, and a narrow sustainability focus. Investment in SP requires time and money. The cost of upgrading existing or purchasing new environmentally friendly technologies or equipment was reported as a major challenge when developing an initiative. Improvements and updates are expensive and sometimes outside the scope of a company’s financial potential. Time required to dedicate staff to the development, implementation, and evaluation of new practices was reported as a secondary financial and staff management challenge (see Table 3, 1.3). The process from initial research and planning, to developing the concept, to implementation, is timely, and can pull staff away from other vital tasks.

Participants felt that encouraging employees to embrace new procedures and practices can be challenging, as employees were perceived to desire convenience and favoured minimal changes to day-to-day tasks and responsibilities. Employees perceived the new practice as an added workload. Employers face a challenge in invigorating employees to embrace the new practice and see the value in its implementation from a personal and external consumer perspective. A lack of understanding on sustainability was highlighted as a contributing factor, with employees not really understanding the purpose of what they were doing (see Table 3, 1.2 and 1.7).

When discussing monitoring and evaluation of SPs, the accuracy of data collected was often queried by participants. For example, when measuring food waste, bin-lift weights are recorded and companies may rely on the weight measurement reported on these bills to monitor their waste production. However, not all waste may make it to the bin, and it may be lost down drains. A delay in data collection was also mentioned as a barrier to accurate measuring, as some procedures will only allow data collection at certain points or bills may not be issued on the same day (see Table 3, 1.5).

3.2. Facilitators of Green Practice

This theme was composed of seven subthemes, including education and promotion; embedding across the business; auditing; agreement and understanding amongst employees; sustainable policies for practice; investing benefits; and company working groups. Creating SPs within a company requires research and a foundation of knowledge. Every participant mentioned the importance of reflecting on, or aligning to, national, European or global policies and benchmarks as an integral part of initiative design. These policies, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), provide companies with guidance for setting targets, establishing policies for practice and developing appropriate reporting structures for monitoring and evaluation (see Table 3, 2.5). Alongside this consideration, the use of external auditing was promoted by participants to verify SP outputs and compliance and identify gaps or potential issues that self-reporting may miss.

The approach to the introduction of a sustainability initiative and the acceptance by employees and stakeholders within the company was a recurring point of consideration for the larger companies represented in the interviews. Sustainability initiatives developed by management are an integral part of corporate culture, aiming to promote responsible business practices and environmental awareness. Education, both internally and externally, with consumers or end-users, was stressed as an important aspect of developing and implementing SPs and must be integrated into the design plan from the beginning. Education on the initiative was mentioned as important for communicating the reasons behind sustainability efforts and ensuring compliance and acceptance of the practice by all involved (see Table 3, 2.1).

Dedicated sustainability working groups or staff members was discussed as a positive influence on SPs within a company. Establishing internal sustainability working groups or sustainability leads was reported to improve focus, initiative outcome and company-wide engagement. Teams dedicated to meeting specific sustainable goals were responsible for researching and development, educating staff and stakeholders, and reporting on target achievement progress (see Table 3, 2.7). Creating these opportunities for greater employee engagement in SPs was believed to improve the outcome and allow employees to see the value and purpose behind the initiative.

3.3. Thinking to the Future

This theme was broken down into six subthemes: business improvements; inter-collaboration of companies; sustainable goals; collaboration—community; a multi-pronged approach; and proliferation of environmental labels. Future sustainability goals and targets mentioned by participants expanded on original priorities and included aiming for further reductions in emissions and implementation of sustainable procurement and production practices. Sustainable production process goals were mentioned by many participants as expanding research to explore environmentally friendly food-safe packaging. By 2030, one company is aiming to eliminate plastic in packaging by 90%, due to its lack of development. This company is exploring alternatives like corn films, which are self-degrading but expensive. However, they noted that a future challenge with this approach is the added cost this will place on the consumer. The representative stated that “people are not yet willing to pay for them, so progress is slow”. Other goals revolved around improving existing infrastructure and equipment utilised for environmentally friendly choices, with a focus on choosing renewable energy options for reducing emissions.

Upgrading of infrastructure, equipment and technology to improve current working facilities and move towards becoming more environmentally friendly was mentioned by employees as a future goal when financial funds are available. Plans included switching to renewable energy sources such as solar panels and switching to electrical kitchen equipment to avoid using gas and reduce fuel consumption. Investment in new technology and equipment designed with sustainability at its core was a key goal of participants to ensure they are operating sustainably. Cost was mentioned in conjunction with these desires. Participants reported that grants will be sought, or in some cases they will wait for profits to increase to allow for upgrading or structural improvements to commence (see Table 3, 3.1).

The dairy industry participants reported working towards aligning their science-based targets with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree-warming goal. Scopes one and two aim to reduce emissions by 42% by 2020, while scope three aims for a 30/33% reduction. The industry is also focusing on carbon sequestration on land and farms. The plan includes 100% recycled materials on sites, with a focus on the food business. The industry has not set net-zero targets, but aims to drive towards climate neutrality by producing nutritious food while sequestering carbon. The goal mentioned by the larger factory-based companies is to have all factories either carbon neutral or on renewable energy/fossil fuels by 2030.

Future areas for research and improvement included the proliferation of environmental labels, such as eco scores, as they are not as advanced or easy to assess as nutrition labels (see Table 3, 3.6). They require data on various metrics, such as carbon intensity, water use, and land use. However, it is often difficult for these labels to be accurate, due to the lack of primary data. One participant believed that over the next decade, eco labels will become more accurate, allowing food industry professionals to compare ingredients and customers’ food to make informed choices, meaning consumers’ choices based on eco labels are subjective and data are not strong enough. However, they foresee that over the next 5–10 years, companies will collaborate in the supply chain, providing carbon numbers to customers and suppliers, and identifying gaps within the label. Moving towards a shared database centre for sustainability metrics was highlighted as an important future development to further improve SPs through sharing of raw data and best practices.

4. Discussion

This study focused on exploring the current sustainability priorities across the food industry in Europe and how initiatives are developed, implemented and evaluated to achieve food sustainability targets. The sustainability priorities identified within the companies in Poland, Ireland, Lithuania and Cyprus included compliance with the Science-Based Targets initiative, setting emissions targets, minimizing waste generation, optimizing resources and raw materials, switching to recyclable packaging, and sustainable procurement and production.

For effective development and implementation of initiatives, collaboration among stakeholders was mentioned as highly important [4]. Collaboration among stakeholders is crucial for advancing sustainable food practices, as it involves the coordination of efforts and resources across various sectors to address complex challenges in the food system. Multi-stakeholder partnerships are an important factor in achieving sustainable agriculture and food security goals [8,17]. These collaborations bring together actors from government, industry, academia, and civil society to collectively develop and implement strategies that promote environmentally friendly farming practices, reduce food waste, and enhance the resilience of food supply chains [18,19]. Moreover, a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) highlights the need for inclusive and participatory approaches involving diverse stakeholders to ensure the success of sustainable food systems [20]. By fostering collaboration, stakeholders can pool their expertise and resources, leading to more effective and holistic solutions for the challenges posed by food production and consumption. A study by Hoolohan et al. on the water–energy–food nexus challenge further showcases the value of stakeholder engagement to drive learning opportunities and capacity building. The study highlighted the importance of stakeholder engagement in nexus research to deal with sustainable development challenges, arguing that a transdisciplinary approach can enhance research quality [21].

The introduction of sustainability initiatives and their acceptance by employees and stakeholders are crucial for larger companies. Education is essential for communicating the reasons behind sustainability efforts and ensuring compliance and acceptance. The successful integration of sustainability initiatives within large companies hinges on effective communication and education to garner acceptance from employees and stakeholders alike [22]. A 2021 review by Graves et al. underscored the significance of education in fostering awareness and understanding of sustainability concepts, asserting that informed individuals are more likely to support and participate in environmental initiatives [23]. Furthermore, a 2020 systematic review on the phenomenon of greenwashing highlighted the fact that companies engaging in transparent communication about the motives behind sustainability efforts are more likely to gain stakeholder trust and commitment [24]. This aligns with the idea that comprehensive education not only imparts knowledge but also instils a sense of purpose, making employees and stakeholders more receptive to the long-term goals of sustainability [25]. Therefore, companies aiming to implement and sustain meaningful sustainability practices should prioritize educational strategies to ensure alignment, compliance, and enthusiastic support from their workforce and the broader stakeholder community.

Future sustainability goals include further reductions in emissions and sustainable procurement and production practices. Packaging is an expanding research area, with many companies aiming to eliminate plastic in packaging by 2030. The development of national systems for packaging recycling and recovery in Europe has improved waste management, but there is still a growing increase in packaging-waste generation. Prevention and innovation are key drivers for reducing packaging waste at the source and minimizing environmental impacts throughout its life cycle. The adoption of measures aiming at improving packaging design and minimizing the environmental impact according to a life-cycle perspective is of growing importance [26,27]. Another goal is to switch to renewable energy sources like solar panels and electrical kitchen equipment to reduce fuel consumption. In Ireland, the dairy industry is aligning its science-based targets with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree-warming goal, aiming to reduce emissions to 30% by 2030 [28]. The industry also focuses on carbon sequestration on land and farms, with a focus on producing nutritious food while sequestering carbon [29].

The small study sample captured across the four countries may not be transferable to other European countries’ food industry sectors. However, the participants’ expertise on their company’s policies and current SPs ensures richness of data. The use of existing theory and literature to guide the line of inquiry and the rigorous process of data analysis strengthens the credibility and dependability of these findings. Future research should look at replicating this study across additional European countries to further expand on and strengthen these findings. Additionally, future areas for research should include the proliferation of environmental labels, such as eco scores, which require data on various metrics but are often difficult to assess, due to lack of primary data [30]. Over the next 5–10 years, companies will collaborate in the supply chain, providing carbon numbers to customers and suppliers and identifying gaps within the label.

5. Conclusions

SPs were at the centre of innovation and future proofing for all participating companies, with plans to develop new or further enhance current policies to continue producing quality food in a sustainable way. A key consideration was the importance of education and collaboration for raising awareness and strengthening the implementation and long-term impacts of food sustainability practices within industry. Stakeholders and employees’ understanding of and embracing new food SPs ensures successful integration of the innovation. Additionally, future research into a policy for the sharing of sustainability data between companies to share raw sustainability-metric and evaluation data could strengthen initiative outcomes and direct future research on sustainable policies and practices.