At Tate & Lyle, a leading global provider of ingredient solutions for healthier food and drink, we are working to meet stretching environmental commitments, including science-based carbon reduction targets for 2028 and a net zero by 2050 goal. Through our sustainability program and partnerships, we are also supporting customers, global food and beverage producers, from start-ups to multi-nationals, to meet their own environmental commitments goals.
Our focus on sustainable agriculture
We believe that supporting sustainable agriculture must be front and centre in how we at Tate & Lyle help feed a growing population better, while relieving the pressure on natural resources. That’s why we have programs for our two main agricultural raw materials: corn and stevia. Our long-standing corn program in the US is run through Truterra LLC and helps to accelerate the adoption of regenerative agronomic practices, supporting farmers across the Midwest. Our more recently launched sustainable stevia program is based in China, where most of the world’s stevia is grown and where much of the stevia we buy is sourced from, and this is the program that Tate & Lyle has been recognised for in this year’s Energy + Environment Leader Awards.
Why is sustainable stevia so important?
Stevia, a plant-based sugar alternative, is one of the world’s fastest growing low-calorie sweeteners, and Tate & Lyle is committed to ensuring the sector grows sustainably. At a time when obesity and type 2 diabetes rates are high and growing in most countries, food and drink companies, governments and health bodies are searching for tools to help make food and drink healthier, which is why low- and no-calorie sweeteners are in high demand.
In China, Tate & Lyle operates a sustainable stevia program with Earthwatch Europe and Nanjing Agricultural University. Launched in 2021 to support small holder famers – family owned and mainly family run farms - in Dongtai, Jiangsu Province, it has clear goals: reducing growers’ environmental impact; improving productivity; and supporting their livelihoods through greater profitability.
Introducing regenerative agronomic practices
Improving soil health and increasing the amount of carbon it captures from the atmosphere through regenerative agricultural practices is critical to combating climate change. It also improves watershed quality, enables increased biodiversity and improves crops resiliency. Our program is helping to build a more resilient supply chain by mitigating the potential impacts of increasing seasonal variability in weather.
Informed by a life-cycle-analysis to ensure recommendations meet local needs, the program has taught participating growers how to take and analyse soil samples, as they receive hands-on support to make agronomic changes to improve soil health.
Protecting the planet while supporting livelihoods
Now in its fourth full year, the program continues to focus on optimizing fertilizer use, due to its significant environmental impact, particularly on greenhouse gas emissions and local watershed quality.
Our most recent program results for the 2023 growing season show that farmers participating in Tate & Lyle’s sustainable stevia program have been helped to achieve1:
* 74% decrease in fertiliser use driven by fertiliser optimisation and the use of organic fertiliser.
* 56% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
* 90% decrease in terrestrial acidification showing improved soil health, biodiversity, and improved availability of nutrients to the stevia plant.
* 76% decrease in terrestrial ecotoxicity; a measurement of the impact that farming inputs, such as fertiliser, have on land-dependent organisms and their environment.
* 77% decrease in freshwater ecotoxicity; a measurement of the impact that farming inputs have on freshwater-dependent organisms and their environment.
Securing buy-in to a new approach
Demonstrating impact by taking a science driven, step-by-step approach, has helped buy our farmer partners into the program. They can see the results for themselves, including reporting that their fields have fared noticeable better during the two years of heavy flooding locally than neighbouring farmers as a result of better soil management.
Anna Pierce, Director of Sustainability at Tate & Lyle, explained: “This program is a great example of Tate & Lyle caring for our planet, building thriving communities, and supporting healthy diets, as we work to fulfil our purpose of transforming lives through the science of food. With land clearing and conventional farming responsible for around 20% of greenhouse gas2 emissions, soil management has a huge role to play in how society tackles the climate crisis. And, as our farmer partners attest to, healthier, better managed soil has been shown to bring direct benefits: higher yields, greater resilience from weather extremes, and a healthier environment for surrounding communities.”
1 Per pound of stevia rebaudioside A produced, compared to a 2019 baseline
2 Source: United Nations
