The National Association of Flavors and Food-Ingredient Systems (NAFFS) held its 2019 winter meeting on Feb 8, 2019, at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, NJ and featured a panel discussion on the topic of sustainability.
Moderating the discussion was Michael Maggio, president of HM Sustainability, who offered an overview of sustainable efforts available for businesses starting out. Jim Justice, VP of corporate responsibility and resource management for Kalsec, Inc., joined the meeting and shared his company's five pillars of corporate social responsibility. During his talk, Justice emphasized that implementing sustainable changes isn’t like flipping a switch and more like a journey that takes time.
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Elaborating further on the topic of sustainability, Maureen McGeehan, applied sustainability for IFF, went on to discuss IFF’s vision and how the company plans to be “citizens of the world.” During her talk, she stressed the importance of “beginning with the end in mind” and explained that if a company can see its ecological footprint then it can work to reduce it and eliminate bad practices. Recently, IFF has launched its own responsible sourcing goals for 2025. Capping off the discussion, Richard Pisano Jr. provided an update on the ongoing work of the IFRA-IOFI Taskforce on Sustainability.
Commenting on the importance of a sustainable business model, McGeehan said: “Consumers want to know the source of their food products, and ultimately the business will do better by providing it and leading positive, transformational change.”
