How industry leaders battle environmental crisis with revolutionary climate-smart innovations

As climate change disrupts global trade and agricultural systems, companies like Unibar, FrieslandCampina, and Bioiberica are pioneering sustainable solutions. From geographical diversification and renewable energy to regenerative agriculture and AI-driven innovations, businesses are transforming supply chains to address environmental challenges while maintaining cost-effectiveness. 

Diversification and shifting resources

Unibar Corporation is addressing climate threats by geographically diversifying its sourcing, reducing its dependency on freshwater and fossil fuels, and implementing sustainable energy solutions.

“According to Economist Impact, climate change-related disruptions to global trade are projected to cost US$81 billion, with extreme weather events posing ongoing risks to supply chains. One key strategy for building supply chain resilience is geographical diversification of sourcing,” says Sevanti Mehta, president of Unibar Corporation.

“For example, our branded lutein, UniGold, used in vision health products, is derived from marigolds sourced in India and Africa. This multi-location harvesting approach ensures a year-round, reliable supply of marigold flowers, supporting consistent delivery of lutein and zeaxanthin for finished product brands.”

Mehta says that Unibar is also reducing dependency on freshwater and fossil fuels since the resources are under strain from climate change.

“Agriculture consumes nearly 70% of global freshwater, and rising drought conditions pose a significant threat. To address this, our supply chain partners utilize precision farming techniques, such as pivot irrigation, reducing water usage by 40–60% and conserving approximately 133.7 million liters annually.”

Unibar Corporation diversifies sourcing and reduces water and fossil fuel dependency, utilizing sustainable energy solutions (Image credit: Unibar).“Additionally, to cut fossil fuel reliance, we’ve implemented hybrid furnace technology that converts spent marigolds, coffee husks, and rice husks into biofuels. This sustainable energy solution helps power our production facilities while reducing our carbon footprint.”

Solutions to climate challenges 

FrieslandCampina Ingredients’ team prioritizes climate factors, while Bioiberica uses the Carbon Disclosure Project to measure and manage environmental impact.

Kyle Brookmeyer, head of Sustainability at FrieslandCampina Ingredients, believes regenerative agriculture can provide a solution to “higher temperatures and extreme weather events like droughts and floods that can damage pastures, reducing the availability of feed crops for dairy cows, making yields vulnerable to climate change.”

“By building more resilient ecosystems, regenerative agriculture reduces the risk of crop failures and supply chain disruptions caused by climate change, as well as pests and diseases. Importantly, improving supply chain reliability can also stabilize the prices of key commodities, potentially reducing downstream costs for manufacturers.”

Luis Solera, CEO at Bioiberica, says the company set up a Sustainability Steering Committee and developed a Climate Strategy plan to address the climate change challenges and support supply chain resilience.

“When it comes to deciding which climate factors we should prioritize, we evaluate this every year based on risk analysis and data provided by our integrated management system. This system evaluates our environmental impact and identifies areas of improvement year on year —  assessing key factors such as energy consumption, water, waste, and more to help us make informed decisions about which area we need to focus on the most.”

“Thanks to this approach, we have recently been able to set out two new commitments. The adherence to short- and medium-term objectives of achieving climate neutrality through the SBTi initiative. The Carbon Disclosure Project is an essential tool to measure and manage our environmental impact disclosure system.”

Climate-smart innovations

“At times, the climate crisis can feel overwhelming. However, technological innovations such as geotagging, AI, and drone technology are making many climate-related challenges more attainable,” comments Unibar’s Mehta.

FrieslandCampina Ingredients embraces regenerative agriculture to build resilient ecosystems, stabilize supply chains, and reduce climate-related disruptions.“Take, for example, the issue of food waste. In the US, food accounts for the single largest source of waste in local municipality landfills. Technology companies such as Afresh are utilizing AI to help grocers better forecast demand and reduce food waste at the retail level. We are working with farmers to minimize waste during the harvesting phase.”

According to Mehta, farmers can reduce waste and act quickly by putting into practice techniques like geotagging particular areas of the farm and using AI-based monitoring — “creating a smart and sustainable supply chain.”

Brookmeyer adds that for eco-conscious consumers, climate-smart is becoming non-negotiable in nutrition. “Shoppers are increasingly scrutinizing labels and choosing products that put the planet first, from dairy brands that they know and trust.”

“In fact, the number of food and beverage launches with an ethical or environmental claim rose by nearly 14% between 2018 and 2023, with dairy the leading category. Consumer awareness of regenerative agriculture is growing too, which means we’re seeing more claims like ‘regenerative,’ ‘nature-friendly,’ and ‘sustainable’ on packaging labels.”

Solera explains that Bioiberica’s climate-smart nutrition focuses on two areas. Raw materials from byproducts are used to produce our nutraceutical ingredients based on the circular economy model. Second, the production process is EU standards-compliant.

“Going forward, we are continuing to work on diverse aspects of climate-smart production, including reusing water, improving energy efficiency, and minimizing waste. We’re currently increasing our use of regenerated water with the latest equipment, harnessing new advancements in technology, and we’re looking to increase our efficiency when it comes to energy usage and consumption.”

He adds: “We’re always looking at moving toward green electricity sources to further reduce our carbon footprint, and we’re very conscious of sending waste to appropriate valorization or treatment plants to ensure it is correctly managed. This goes hand in hand with our ongoing efforts to reduce the amount of waste we produce.” 

Balance sustainability with cost-effectiveness

Mehta says that sustainability has become table stakes for many brand manufacturers. “The days of sustainability, transparency, and traceability as a premium feature in dietary supplements, functional foods, and beverages are long gone.”

Bioiberica focuses on circular economy models, reducing waste and enhancing energy efficiency to minimize its environmental impact while ensuring sustainable nutrition.“According to ‘The State of Regenerative CPG’ by ReGen Brands, the top 100 CPG companies have committed more than US$3.2 billion toward shifting 40.5 million acres of farmland under regenerative production. These changes are driven by the purchasing behaviors of shoppers globally. According to the Nutrition Business Journal, 17% of Gen Z and 18% of millennials purchase products based on messaging around sustainability.”

Even though consumers are calling for more sustainable products for their health and well-being, Mehta says he is aware of the financial strain that many brands experience when creating products using premium, sustainable ingredients. “Our approach focuses on resource efficiency, innovative processing, and strategic sourcing, allowing manufacturers to meet sustainability goals without compromising profitability.”

“From diversifying our sourcing to avoid supply chain constraints and pricing pressures to incorporating precise extraction techniques to maximize yield per unit of raw material, our sustainability efforts have actually helped us reduce our operational costs.”

For instance, Mehta points to soil management practices first piloted by Unibar’s partners on farms in Africa. To retain more soil moisture, increase soil fertility, and promote long-term soil health, crop diversification, reliance on more natural pest control methods, and effective irrigation systems like drip and rainwater harvesting were all implemented. 

“In turn, our partners saw a 66% increase in quantities of marigold flowers produced per hectare compared to farms that had yet to implement these sustainable farming practices,” adds Mehta.

Meanwhile, Solera believes that “investing in sustainability means being more competitive in the nutraceuticals market.”