Assessing ecotone's impacts on nature to develop a holistic, relevant and effective biodiversity strategy
Recognizing the critical role of biodiversity in maintaining the health of our food system and the planet, Ecotone (formerly Wessanen) teamed up with Quantis to assess its impacts on nature and develop a holistic, relevant and effective biodiversity strategy.
Objective
A leader in the European market for organic and vegetarian food and Europe’s first multinational B Corp food business, Ecotone is on a mission to use its business to protect and enhance biodiversity. To support this mission and set a new standard for industry sustainability action, the company partnered with Quantis to identify the biodiversity hotspots in its value chain and develop a strategy and action plan to address its impacts on nature.
Insights
Biodiversity is fundamental to long-term business continuity and resilience, for agri-food businesses and beyond. More than half of global GDP depends on high-functioning biodiversity and ecosystem services (e.g. pollinators make crop production possible, while soil microorganisms are critical for soil fertility).
Companies that work to protect nature seize opportunities to address supply chain risks, while fostering trust with consumers and investors. What’s more, addressing biodiversity loss helps companies make progress on their climate goals, as well as other sustainability priorities, such as deforestation and land-use change.
Actions
To provide Ecotone with a strong foundation on which to build a holistic, relevant and effective biodiversity strategy, Quantis used an innovative biodiversity assessment to evaluate the company’s value chain and map its impacts.
The assessment, based on a peer-reviewed methodology developed by Quantis and other experts, harnesses a life-cycle approach enriched with local considerations addressing climate change, water depletion, pollutant emission, land use and soil biodiversity.
Impact
The assessment results provided Ecotone with a clear view of its biodiversity hotspots and the activities that have the greatest impact on nature. These insights enabled the company to define the priorities that would underpin its biodiversity strategy and rebrand to strengthen the focus on its commitment to biodiversity.
Ecotone is currently working with Quantis to determine which levers of change to prioritize in its strategy, such as organic regenerative agriculture, shade grown coffee, avoided deforestation, and more.
Services provided
Areas of expertise
Sector
Project Manager
Edith Martin
Group Biodiversity Lead
“Understanding our impact on nature throughout our value chain is fundamental to our biodiversity strategy. Working with Quantis to conduct a nature assessment provided us with a valuable overview of our impacts and highlighted the key levers to reduce them.”
Emilie Lowenbach, Sustainability Director
Ecotone
