UK Retailer Pledges 100% Sustainable Soy

Convenience retailer The Co-op is taking fresh steps to tackle the deforestation and biodiversity loss caused by “ever expanding” soy cultivation with a fresh commitment to source 100% sustainable physical soy in its supply chain by 2025, reports the FoodNavigator on April 15.  As part of this effort, the member-owned c-store operator has funded Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) credits to offset the soy used in its own brand products through to 2020.  These credits support sustainable soy producers and The Co-op is not asking its suppliers to foot the bill for the credits, sustainability manager Sarah Wakefield explained.  

Brazil, Argentina and the US together produce 80% of the world’s soybeans.  Growing global demand fueled a jump in production.  The Yale University’s Global Forest Atlas reports an increase of 123% between 1996 and 2004 across the whole of South America, resulting into high rates of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. 

However, soya production has not garnered the same level of engagement in Europe as hot topics like palm oil, the report said.  Partly, this was because of the fact that most of soy consumption is not “visible”, it was explained. While some soy is used in products like tofu and meat substitutes, much of it is used as soybean meal for animal feed.  The Co-op believes that by targeting soy, it can have a big impact on the sustainability of its supply chain.