Mar 7, 2023

Beverage company launches sustainability impact tracker

Tractor Beverage Co. has launched a sustainability impact tracker developed to quantify the benefit of sourcing organic ingredients versus their conventional counterparts.

The Organic Impact Tracker, developed in partnership with sustainability research company HowGood, will track and disclose impact data about its ingredients. The company said in a news release that the tracker will support its commitment to transparency and sustainable sourcing while helping it respond to consumer demand for clean ingredients and environmental responsibility.

A white paper published on HowGood’s website details a 2023 online survey of 1,093 U.S. adults in which 63% of consumers expressed concerns about synthetic pesticides in the food supply. In addition, 69% of consumers are interested in seeing how their beverage choice has an impact on the planet.

The Organic Impact Tracker uses five key metrics: synthetic pesticides avoided, organic land supported, carbon emissions avoided, water saved, and improved soil health.

“While Tractor is working to make better-for-you craft beverages accessible to all, we are equally dedicated to supporting farming practices that benefit the environment,” Travis Potter, company co-founder, said in the release. “We partnered with the best scientists and data analysts in the business to develop a tool that will allow us to measure what matters to us most. Our intent is to encourage farming practices that prevent synthetic pesticides from entering the food system, degrading land, and contaminating water by making this data widely available to the food and beverage industry.”

While four of the key metrics are proprietary to HowGood, synthetic pesticides avoided is Tractor’s proprietary algorithm designed to determine the total amount of conventional pesticides offset as a result of using organically grown ingredients to produce its certified organic, non-GMO beverages. Tractor has effectively eliminated 35 tons of synthetic pesticides since 2020 by sourcing organic ingredients, with a goal to eliminate 1,034 tons by 2033, according to the company.

“We’re excited to partner with Tractor on such industry-leading work to quantify and communicate their commitment to responsibly grown ingredients,” said João Rafael Brites, director of growth and innovation at HowGood. “Our impact modeling system assesses each ingredient used by Tractor Beverages, pulling from our database of over 600 data sources and 33,000 ingredients, in order to help their customers fully understand the positive impact of choosing a Tractor beverage and play a part in transforming the beverage industry as a whole.”

Metrics for the Organic Impact Tracker are provided by HowGood, an independent research company and SaaS platform with the world’s largest food ingredient sustainability database. HowGood aggregates information from Kerry, a global leader in taste and nutrition.

To develop the Organic Impact Tracker, HowGood worked with Kerry to evaluate ingredients from 25 beverages in Tractor’s portfolio.

The Organic Impact Tracker will debut at the Natural Products Expo West 2023, being held this week in Anaheim, California.