Sustainability is not just a “feel good” movement but a process that can lead to increased and more profits. At least that was one of the overarching viewpoints that came out of an educational session on the topic at the Produce Marketing Association convention during the workshop day on Friday, Oct. 26.

Tim York, president of Markon Cooperative Inc., Salinas, CA, served as moderator of the session and set the stage with several illuminating opening comments. He revealed that in one survey 69 percent of consumers listed sustainability as an important element in their purchasing decision. Largely because of that, he said the produce industry needs to be “part of the conversation around sustainability.”

At one point in time, Mr. York said a CEO of any company defined the stakeholders as the board of directors and that is who he was concerned with making happy. Today, he argues, the stakeholders are many and varied. Consumers are clearly a stakeholder and meeting their needs and expectations is very important. And that means listening to their concerns about a firm’s value proposition. He listed many examples but perhaps the most topical concerned Chick-fil-A, the fast food firm that found themselves on the wrong side of a social issues debate with many of their customers. “They learned it’s not just about serving chicken sandwiches; their perspective matters as well.”

Joe Pezzini, chief operating officer of Ocean Mist Farms, Castroville, CA, explained many of the sustainability efforts his firm has taken and the justifications for them. In the first place, he said there has to be a business reason for every effort the company takes. The company has to pay close attention to the bottom line if it wants to stay in business. But he added that Ocean Mist’s many efforts do pass both tests: they are good for the environment and good for the company’s business.On the farming side of the business, Ocean Mist has concentrated its sustainability efforts on soil management, water quality and integrated pest management. In post-harvest, increasing recycling, reducing its carbon footprint and using more reusable plastic containers have been the most visible sustainability efforts.For example, in soil management, he said the company has used beneficial cover crops which are good for the land and the environment. Though it costs an additional $300-$400 per acre for this program “we believe we get it back.” He said the effort results in better soil and better yields.

The firm’s drip irrigation program saves 13.2 million gallons of water annually, which is a tremendous cost savings. One of the ways it has reduced its carbon footprint is by initiating direct store delivery for some of the supermarkets within close radius. Rather than shipping product to a distribution center many miles away, Ocean Mist ships to these local stores. “It’s a win, win for everyone,” he said.

To get started down this path, Mr. Pezzini urged companies to start measuring everything they do, even it is small. Secondly, they should create benchmarks to have goals and measure their progress. And lastly, and just as important, they should share their story with their customers and consumers.

Giving a buyer’s viewpoint was Ron McCormick, who is director of Walmart’s sustainable produce sourcing. The mere fact that Walmart has a person in this position speaks to the company’s commitment along these lines. Mr. McCormick said the company is committed to work with produce partners who make a commitment to be better stewards of the land. In fact, he said Walmart is instituting its own internal scorecard that will rate its suppliers on a sustainability scorecard using best practices as the measuring tool. He said hopefully this scorecard will reveal that there is a relationship between the cost the firm pays for products and how sustainable the company is. In a perfect world, the retailer would discover that the companies who score better need to charge more for their product.

Ultimately, he said Walmart’s goal is to create zero waste and have 100 percent of the products it sells produced by renewable energy sources.

The session had a lively question and answer segment showing great interest in the sustainability conversation. Audience members seemed very interested in knowing if Walmart would back up its commitment with P.O.’s or other seller rewards. Mr. McCormick reiterated that there is a “whole menu of rewards” for sustainable sellers. He said the company is looking for success stories and indicated it will choose the most sustainable supplier given the choice. He also said the firm knows going down the sustainability path is often a multi-year commitment by the supplier and he indicated that Walmart will respond with a multi-year commitment to buy those resulting products.

Mr. Pezzini seemed to sum up the tone of the session near its conclusion by declaring that the concern about sustainability isn’t going away and the supplier community will be held more and more accountable as time marches on. So getting involved on the front end of this movement seems to be a prudent business decision.