This is 8 minutes a podcast helping you understand the energy and climate challenge in just a few minutes . I'm your host , paul Schuster . It's easy enough to look at a wind turbine or a solar farm and think about the impact on climate , but it may be a bit more of a stretch when it comes to your morning latte .
But the reality is that our food system is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions , and the dairy portion of that food ecosystem is particularly important .
In this episode I sit down with Ashley Allen , chief Sustainability Officer at Oatly , to discuss not only what they're doing to decarbonize their products , but how they're encouraging their customers to think about food choices and the handprint that each consumer has on the planet . 8 minutes it's how long it takes the sun's race to earth .
We're about twice as long as it takes my local Starbucks barista to load me up with a venti quad iced white mocha without milk . Hold the whip , let's get it on . Not all climate action comes in the form of shiny solar panels or Tesla vehicles . Something as ordinary as your food choice can have an outsized impact on the planet .
Oatly is bent on educating consumers on how their food choices can affect climate change . Ashley explains a bit more about the company and their sustainability ethos .
Oatly is a plant-based company I would say an oat-based company , as our name suggests based in Sweden , but with a presence all over the world , with a mission to really bring people oat-based products that can replace dairy products in their everyday diets . Sustainability really is embedded within our mission and is the core value .
We really look at our existence and our purpose as a company as the ability to really help change the food system , change the way people think about food and reduce the impact that traditional dairy has on the world .
The food system is a huge contributor to climate change . Everything from the food production to processing , to retail , to the consumption , the chain of actions required to get that morning latte into your hands . Well , it contributes a lot to climate .
The food system actually drives around one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions . And then , diving a little bit deeper when you think not just about climate change , but also about air quality and the like the food system actually drives around one-third of global methane emissions , which is considered a super climate pollutant .
Hey , food occupies an interesting space in the climate discussion , for one , as Ashley alluded to , it plays an outsized role in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions .
In the first place , not only do the physical operations of farming and processing food create carbon , but the methane created by livestock can be up to six times as potent as a carbon molecule in warming potential . And then there's the impact that changing climate patterns is having on the food chain itself .
Farmers are having to contend with increased risks of drought , of scorching temperatures , of late frosts that can kill off an entire harvest .
I often say that , when it comes down to it , farmers are really on the front lines of climate change . Their day-to-day livelihoods are dependent on , you know , the weather , on water availability , on the heat and cooling cycle and things like that , and we've spoken to so many farmers that we work with that are actually experiencing this in real time .
As Oatly's Chief Sustainability Officer , ashley is tasked with some enormous challenges , both in how the company operates and ensuring that the carbon footprint of Oatly's operations is minimized as much as possible , but also in how to educate and be transparent enough with consumers such that they feel comfortable with how their switch to an Oat-based dairy product can
positively affect the planet . Regarding the company's operations , oatly has leaned into partnering with their farmer community to enact meaningful change .
So really working with our mills and the farmers that supply them to identify what opportunities do they see , whether it's cover cropping , whether it's precision input of fertilizers , whether it's reductants and fertilizers or pesticides a number of different changes that they can make , and we want to support them in that effort .
Oatly is stepping in to both help their supply chain adapt to changing climate conditions , while also doing their part to mitigate their impact on emissions in the first place . But Oatly's brand purpose goes beyond simply the activities needed to get their product to the market . Their carbon footprint is only part of the equation .
And it's through that look across the value chain that a company can really understand both how can they improve their own footprint whether it's climate footprint or other environmental issues but also how can you have a better handprint on the world .
A planetary handprint , an indication as to how our consumer choices affect the environment .
I really look at handprint as what is the impact that a company can have outside of its direct value chain ?
Oatly's brand and company ethos is perhaps rooted in this concept of handprint . The company engages with their customers and potential customers to help them make informed decisions , not just on the taste or cost or the traditional benefits of their products , but also on how the decision to purchase Oatly products helps to support the environment .
And if sustainability is now a buying criteria , well , Ashley and her team are learning just how to communicate those sustainability benefits to potential buyers .
Well , Oatly's approach has always been to be as transparent and direct as possible .
Oatly does this in a number of ways through transparent reporting of their GHG emissions or the life cycle impact of the different products , through to labeling their carton directly with a climate impact number , even to the point of challenging other companies and competitors to step up to the plate .
This is an area that we all need to understand much more . What is the impact of what we eat ? And the only way that we can do that is by companies being more transparent around what that impact is .
Sustainability is embedded in everything that Oatly does , from their support of farmers to adapt to climate change , to mitigating the impact that the company's operations have on the environment , all the way through to how Oatly is helping customers reduce their handprint through the consumption choices that they're making .
And that third leg of the stool may be the most interesting aspect of what they're trying to do .
What is the environmental impact of this food or this technology or this transportation choice ? To me , that helps at least start guiding us in the right direction .
I'm Paul Shuster , and this has been your 8 Minutes .