More than half of respondents to a global survey assessing how the supplement industry regards and approaches environmental sustainability said the issue is of high relevance to their company, but many said the costs associated with sustainable change, coupled with a lack of government support, were holding them back from doing more. The results provide a glimpse not just of how much progress is being made but also how much progress could be made.
Simon Pettman, executive director at the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplements Associations (IADSA), which conducted the survey, said it was intended to establish a “global benchmark,” telling Vitafood Insights, “This is about the global picture. This is about us all making sure that, as a sector, we are properly engaged in sustainability and doing what we can, within the resources available, to keep making progress.”
The survey, which was conducted by IPSOS on behalf of IADSA, targeted companies and member associations in more than 25 countries around the world; 335 took part.
More than half (56%) of respondents said environmental sustainability was already of high relevance to their company; 17% said the issue would become more relevant over the next one or two years, and 18% said it would become relevant in the medium to longer term. However, responses uncovered differences between the approaches of multinational corporations (MNCs) and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
