China

Reporting on the latest developments from the Chinese food and drink sector

China

Tate & Lyle expands its sustainable stevia programme in China

Tate & Lyle entered the next phase of its sustainability programme for stevia, a plant-derived and in-demand low-calorie sweetener, by enrolling new farmers in China. The programme supports participating farmers to implement best practices identified in its 2019 stevia life-cycle-analysis and verified in its 2021 on-farm pilot.

Aworld leader in ingredient solutions for healthier food and beverages, Tate & Lyle partnered with environmental charity Earthwatch Europe, working with Nanjing Agricultural University in East China, to develop the programme aimed at ensuring the stevia industry grows sustainably.

The expanded programme follows an onfarm pilot undertaken in Dongtai in 2021 that focused on improving the environmental and social impacts of stevia production, based on the results of Tate & Lyle and Earthwatch’s life-cycle-analysis completed in 2019.

In 2022, an expanded cohort of farmers in Dongtai, Jiangsu Province, East China and additional stevia farmers in Linze, Gansu Province, West China will implement the agronomic practice changes piloted last year, and trial additional changes to further minimise their environmental footprint. With the stevia agricultural sector at a relatively early stage in its adoption of more sustainable practices, this science-led programme is helping to build the evidence base and demonstrate the positive environmental, social and economic impacts associated with these changes.

Participating growers will be supported to pursue sustainability-related verification for their stevia through the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment and have been encouraged to sign Tate & Lyle’s Stevia Supplier Sustainability Commitment, a pledge to reduce the environmental impact of stevia farming. Growers signing the Commitment will be helped to understand their environmental impact through sampling, assessments, and participation in workshops with a clear goal of reducing environmental impact and improving productivity and profitability.

Laying the groundwork

“Supporting sustainable agriculture is front and centre of our plans to deliver on our commitment to be carbon net zero by 2050,” said Nick Hampton, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle, “to help our customers deliver on their carbon reduction commitments and to build a thriving farming community. Our stevia programme in China epitomises our purpose in action and is laying the groundwork for the sustainable development of the stevia industry. We are excited to share our lessons and experiences to strengthen sustainability in the stevia supply chain and help farmers to unlock economic benefits for their communities.”

The importance of supply chain resilience

Maria Pontes, Director of Programmes and Partnerships at Earthwatch Europe, commented: “This partnership, through its hands on approach to trialling change and sharing knowledge, has engaged farmers, encouraging them to improve the sustainability of their growing practices. We recognise the importance of supply chain resilience, so supporting growers and building a strong supplier network, while making a real change to the environment, is a priority. We really look forward to continuing to work with Tate & Lyle to develop this programme.”

Professor Luo, project lead from Nanjing Agricultural University in East China, said: “It’s very important to involve farmers in the demonstration of stevia slow-release fertiliser application as it helps them to better understand and believe in the practical technology and its value, improving their trust that this approach will benefit them, which in turn will move the sustainability programme forward. Participating farmers say that the optimised application of slowrelease fertiliser technology, using this fertiliser once a whole growing season instead of multiple applications of different fertilisers, as they were previously, is making stevia farming easier.”

About Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle is a world leader in ingredient solutions for healthier food and beverages. Supported by a 160-year history of ingredient innovation, Tate & Lyle partners with customers to provide consumers with healthier and tastier choices when they eat and drink. Tate & Lyle expertly develops solutions which reduce sugar, calories and fat, add fibre, and provide texture and stability in categories including beverages, dairy, bakery, soups, sauces and dressings.n