Scanning the Horizon
Hear from a global firm that helps food and beverage companies navigate the ever-shifting currents of regulatory change.
Whether it’s maintaining food traceability records, meeting requirements for short-form labeling, or removing synthetic chemicals from packaging, food and beverage companies must constantly track and comply with new and changing regulations. Yet as government organizations work to ensure that foods and beverages are safe and adequately labeled, it can be overwhelming for companies to keep up with the constantly changing landscape.
“To stay compliant, food companies must be proactive, not reactive,” says Mark Moss, head of regulatory and scientific affairs – Europe at Leatherhead Food Research, a UK-based global company serving food and beverage manufacturers in more than 150 countries. “Rather than waiting for new regulations to go into effect, the savviest food companies aim to stay informed about new potential rules in advance.”
One important way Moss helps clients do just that is through Leatherhead’s regulatory horizon scanning services. Below, he explains how scanning works—and why it’s important.
What is regulatory horizon scanning?
Regulatory horizon scanning is a business tool that enables food companies to future-proof their portfolios by providing them with visibility to changes in the regulatory environment that will affect them. By being aware of such changes in advance, businesses can make changes to formulas and labels in a resource efficient way. Horizon scanning can focus on the short horizon or the far horizon, depending on how far into the future the business wants to look.
Why is it essential for companies to take advantage of regulatory horizon scanning?
Horizon scanning gives visibility to impactful changes and allows agile businesses to adapt. Early identification of regulatory proposals that are being considered by governments allows companies to project an industry viewpoint on the impact that the changes will have. For example, they can deploy lobbying and advocacy efforts to encourage governments to consider the negative impacts of their proposals and secure modifications. In the past, business lobbying efforts have secured things like more favorable transitional arrangements.
Can you share more detail about the horizon scanning services Leatherhead provides?
We work with international food businesses in the UK, EU, and US that carry out horizon scans, usually on a quarterly basis. We have experts who speak the local language in all our key markets and closely follow and track regulatory developments. Our service is bespoke to the client’s need and portfolio, which enables us to provide good ‘signal to noise ratio’ horizon scanning. In other words, our reporting identifies relevant developments and filters out peripheral developments. This enables the business to focus its resources on the areas that are truly impactful.
What are the biggest regulatory challenges for the companies you work with?
One of the biggest challenges is the constant change and increasing complexity of regulations impacting food businesses. At the moment, this is particularly evident in the environmental sustainability space, particularly with packaging.
In the EU, for example, the new Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is very complex, very broad, and very challenging for businesses. Under the PPWR, all packaging must be recyclable by 2030, but the criteria for what is considered recyclable packaging will not be agreed upon until 2028. That leaves only a small window to make changes. It is increasingly difficult to stay informed about these and other changes so that compliance strategies can be put in place. This is where horizon scanning can help and, in particular, scanning specifically designed for the individual business need and product portfolio.
In addition to the PPWR, what other regulatory changes are on the horizon that companies should watch out for?
The PPWR is a game changer, but the EU has other environmental sustainability measures in the pipeline that food businesses should be tracking. Some of the biggest ones include:
- EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)
- Green Claims Directive (GCD)
- Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD or CS3D)
- Waste Framework Directive (WFD)
A number of these require businesses to set up detailed due diligence and traceability systems across the length of their supply chains. These will take many months, or even years, to implement. It is essential that businesses track these measures so that they have enough time to design and implement new systems before the regulations go into effect.