Last night, Zero Carbon Forum, the not-for-profit that supports the hospitality and brewing sector on its net zero journey, hosted their bi-annual CEO/CFO Roundtable in London to discuss what action the sector can take individually and collectively to build resilience across the supply chain in the face of new climate-related risks.

25 C-suite executives attended the event to hear from Andrew Selley, CEO of Bidcorp UK, Pete Statham, Head of Sustainability and Government relations at Sysco GB, and regenerative farmer Andy Cato, co-founder of Wildfarmed alongside forum director Bob Gordon, and climate change expert Mike Berners-Lee.

Forum members shared their challenges and heard about solutions shaping the industry’s response to the impact of extreme weather events on their daily operations.

Mark Chapman, forum founder and CEO, said, “Our data shows that members are taking positive steps to reduce the carbon emissions within their direct control – scopes 1 and 2. However, 78% of the sector’s emissions are in the food and drink we serve. These scope 3 emissions are found within the supply chain. They cannot be tackled individually and the only way we will see meaningful reductions is to ensure the supply chain and our members work together. The first step is to bring them into the room to learn what is happening and what we need from each other. We’ve also shared our plans to lead the

development of a common set of standards and expectations for operators to use with their suppliers. We’ve asked for feedback from suppliers on their barriers and what’s needed to meet the sector’s expectations.”

Extreme weather plays havoc on supply chains – crop failures from heat or flooding affect the availability of core commodities and can often lead to lower-quality ingredients and increased costs.

Wet weather caused sugar beet failures in Europe and the UK, and droughts and floods impacted sugar cane production in Brazil and India leading to an 8.2% price increase of sugar-related products in 2024*.

Andy Cato from Wildfarmed shared his experience of developing farms that shun industrialised models and focus on regenerative principles. This approach encourages more carbon to be captured, the soil to be replenished, and biodiversity to thrive. In turn, the farms are more resilient.

Steve Holmes, CEO of Azzurri was recently interviewed by Bob Gordon, director of Zero Carbon Forum as part of a hospitality sustainability webinar series, where he confirmed their pizzas now taste better since using Wildfarmed flour.

As well as affecting supply chain reliability, new data from CGA commissioned by the forum shows the effects of extreme weather on hospitality sales.

On 18 February 2022, Storm Eunice hit the UK and sales were 25.7% lower than on the same day in 2023.

On 19 July 2022, the UK recorded 40-degree temperatures and sales were 8.2% lower than on the same day in 2023.

Mark Chapman says, “The data makes it clear that it’s critical for hospitality and brewing businesses that want to survive now and thrive in the future to join forces and urgently support actions that reduce carbon and support regeneration in order to build resilience. We've asked our members to support initiatives that prioritise supplier engagement so that we can rapidly reduce the negative impact of the sector and ensure we maintain a planet that we can eat, drink and brew beer on.”