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Food is integral to life. It’s not just something we need, it’s something we love. It’s part of who we are —our favourite meals, our family identity, our culture. It sustains us, but what sustains it?

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Healthy nature is vital for food production in Australia. From clean air and water to a liveable climate, our food system and nature are intrinsically linked. But Australia’s food system is failing nature.

Agriculture for food is one of the largest drivers of nature destruction in Australia, contributing to the collapse of 19 ecosystems and our position as a global deforestation hotspot. It accounts for approximately three quarters of freshwater withdrawals and contributes up to 17% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Put simply, the modern food system is a key contributor to the climate and nature crises. But it’s also a critical part of the solution. With a rapidly changing climate and growing global population to feed, it has never been more important to address the health of nature and the food system’s impact and reliance on it.

Key findings

The Future of Food Benchmark was born out of the urgency to address this impending and complex intersection of crises that affects us all. In an Australian first, the Australian Conservation Foundation assessed how 20 of Australia’s largest and most influential food companies are managing their impacts on nature and supporting the changes needed to halt and reverse nature destruction.

Company scores are out of 100, with higher scores being better than lower scores.

Check out the scores of six big food companies, including our supermarkets, below. To see the scores for all 20 companies, download the full report.

Header image: Lush green forest scene, sunlight, text "Nature Outreach".

Our food companies rely on nature. They must protect it.

We’ve assessed the policies and systems that major food companies have in place to protect nature. Explore our research:

What did the benchmark assess? 

The benchmark assessed thirty-seven indicators of sustainable practice across four sections. It also examined companies’ transparency as a standalone score against those indicators. 

Risk assessment & disclosure 

The Risk Assessment and Disclosure section assesses the company’s efforts to identify, prioritise, monitor, and disclose nature-related risks, opportunities, impacts and dependencies in their agricultural value chains.  

Nature targets 

The Nature Targets section assesses the adoption of targets and commitments in place to address nature-related impacts, and the company’s progress towards target reporting and delivery. Ten targets were assessed across five sub-sections including land, freshwater, biodiversity, climate, and food waste.  

Strategy & action 

The Strategy and Action section assesses the policies and actions the company has in place to address nature risks and impacts, and delivery on targets and commitments. 

Governance 

The Governance section evaluates the governance structures the company has in place to inform and execute its strategies to manage nature related risks and impacts, and to embed nature as a key consideration throughout the company. 

Transparency  

The Transparency score measures the public transparency of the company’s reporting against the preceding four sections by awarding additional points where the company had disclosed information publicly.  

We looked at 20 of Australia's most loved food companies

We've chosen six companies to focus on, but our research explored 20 food companies covering hundreds of brands. Do you see some of your favourites below? Download the full report to learn how each of these companies' policies on nature protection compare.

How to read the scores

On this web page, the score in the circle is the company’s total weighted score as a percentage. The 5 scores underneath are the weighted scores for each section which add up to the top score. The total weighting and maximum % available for each section is as follows: 

Risk Assessment and Disclosure 30% 

Nature Targets 33% 

Strategy and Action 16% 

Governance 11% 

Transparency 10% 

Please note that some section scores do not add up to the company’s total score due to rounding.  

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