Environmental Finance judges singled out Ecotone as the winner of this year's Large enterprise of the year award for the EMEA region, highlighting its commitment to profitable sustainability in the food industry.
With a mission to transform food systems for a healthier planet and people, Ecotone focuses on biodiversity protection, organic practices, and ethical sourcing across its business. It has a corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy that encompasses more than 200 KPIS across its operations,
The B Corp-certified company has taken innovative approaches to sustainability including divestment from junk food brands and its 'Farmtastic' programme which fosters biodiversity through organic and other practices. Furthermore, Ecotone also introduced the Avoided Pesticide Index in 2022, which it says has contributed to the avoidance of 300,000 chemical treatments, safeguarded ecosystems and promoted natural pest control.
In addition, Ecotone has also developed a climate transition plan encompassing five key programmes, that cover energy efficiency and renewable energy, sustainable ingredients, circular packaging, optimisation of logistics and low-carbon transportation, and decarbonising the supply chain.
As a result of its actions, 79% of Ecotone's revenue came from organic products in 2022 and is well on its way to a target of 90% by 2030. In addition, 11% of its turnover was derived from Fairtrade products, which it said underscored its ethical sourcing practices. Ecotone had also reduced its waste to landfill to less than 1.5% in 2022 through recycling and minimising waste generation, with plans to achieve zero waste by 2030.
"Food is instrumental to solving the 'sustainability crisis'," said one judge. "Addressing junk food and pesticide issues and their impact on the environment and people's health is a great action."
Christophe Barnouin, chief executive of Ecotone, said: "CSR is at the core of our DNA, which shows in our products. But we are not doing this to be rewarded. We want to show other companies – whether big corporates or smaller startups – that it is possible to do the right thing.
"We are changing the world through food. We are showing people that with less meat, more plant-based and more organic foods that we can reverse course from the dead-end that the industry was previously headed toward.
