Sustainability: The Start line

Marks & Spencer’s Plan A director Richard Gillies admitting that its eco kettle was “bug-ugly” was the unfortunate aside that made the news following the IBM Summit at Start.

But the more serious point that retailers including M&S and Waitrose were trying to make at the event was that they must collaborate to create sustainable retail business models for the future.

The nine-day summit brought together business leaders, the public sector and academics to discuss the economic, societal and environmental impacts of sustainability. Designed to be more than another feel-good talking shop, the objective of the summit was to start conversations that would lead to action.

Sustainable teamwork

The main sessions of the summit were not open to journalists or the general public. But at the event Retail Week spoke with M&S head of sustainable business Mike Barry, and Waitrose head of sustainability and ethical sourcing Quentin Clark. They both took part in the day devoted to sustainable supply chains, and gave their thoughts on the summit and what they hope to achieve.

Clark is clear about why Waitrose is committed to making changes: “We have been trading for more than a hundred years, and we want to be trading in another 100. In the next few years some very significant events will take place and there will be challenges in terms of oil, soil and water.

“We want to sell quality food on an ongoing basis, so we believe that it is in all companies’ interests to act sustainably.”

The recession has created an excuse for why companies to argue why they can’t afford to invest in sustainability initiatives. But Barry adds that sustainability is an issue that shouldn’t be shelved, and in any case good initiatives should help companies to save money. M&S Plan A generated £50m profit last year, and there was no green premium to the consumer. “You could wait for better years but frankly we need to do something now,” he says.

Barry adds that companies will struggle to achieve the best outcomes working alone: “However hard you have worked, you need to collaborate.”

And he says that there are several areas where collaboration will produce a better outcome than competition.

For instance, he says that retailers and manufacturers will have to come together to persuade the producers of food commodities, such as palm oil and sugar, to change the ways they produce their products.

And on the subject of auditing suppliers on sustainability criteria, he added that it doesn’t make sense for different retailers to audit the same suppliers when they could share

the information using a platform such as Sedex - through which many retailers already share labour standards audit information.

Finally, he says retailers must work together on creating the standards they work to for a model of what truly sustainable food systems of the future look like. “We might compete with Waitrose to get to 100% compliance, but we must apply a common platform.”

Broader horizons

But collaboration with other retailers won’t be sufficient to solve all the issues. And this was one of the reasons why the summit brought together businesses from across a variety of industry sectors with the public sector and academics.

Clark says of the event: “What I’ve taken away is that there are a large number of organisations actively engaged with this agenda - for instance Defra. And there is violent agreement about the approach.”

Barry adds that the event has broadened horizons beyond the traditional world of retail. “What’s been great here is meeting people from different businesses who all have part of the answers for the future. In the future we will have to look horizontally.”

Clark adds that Waitrose is committed to a holistic approach, where the company helps consumers change their patterns of consumption too. “Our approach is field to fork. We have very good control over the field end, but we have less control over the fork. A lot of what we are talking about is the engagement of consumers or citizens in that. It will require very significant social changes in the future,” he says.

The way forward

So how can Waitrose, and indeed other retailers, go about this? “We will choice edit our assortment so that we don’t offer less sustainable alternatives,” explains Clark.

He adds that these changes will give enough breathing space for longer-term solutions to be delivered. But retailers must also explain such proactive decisions to customers, so they can understand them. “We have to demonstrate to customers why this is important. The type of approach you need to adopt is also a quality approach.”

And the approach must also be consistent. So, for instance, Waitrose has a channel dedicated to sustainability within its online customer forum, where consumers can air their views, and debate with each other, as well as with the retailer.

M&S has already been active in helping its customers to reduce their carbon footprints. Through its sustainable energy offer, 40% of customers who have been signed up for more than a year have reduced their energy bills by 10% or more.

Barry also believes that retailers will have to do most of the running when it comes to sustainable consumption.

“I think in the developed world consumers think it is 70% the responsibility of big business. Once you are confident you are tackling issues you can give consumers information to make choices for another 20%, and the final 10% is what consumers can do themselves,” he concludes.

Where to Start?

Start, the initiative set up by HRH The Prince of Wales, is designed to promote and celebrate sustainable living. Founding partners for Start include Asda, B&Q, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and IBM, and they all came together with the Prince at the event in September.

At the same time as the IBM Summit took place at Lancaster House, Start held a garden party over 12 days, inviting thousands of visitors to a festival of sustainability. Alongside demonstrations from retailers of sustainable products, performances and talks, an Eco Sustainable Fashion Show also took place. For more information on Start visit www.startuk.org