Sustainability initiatives and digital integrity in the food industry

TRUEdig focuses on digital integrity and how businesses that develop privacy-enhancing services can increase the user’s security and sense of empowerment. Elvenite is one of the partner companies within the project.

– The purpose of the research is to widen the scope of sustainability work in the food industry. We intend to identify and share good examples of operational initiatives and approaches, says Siri Jagstedt, CTF researcher and lecturer in Business Administration. Together with Elvenite, we look at how companies manage digital integrity in various sustainability initiatives. For example, what strategies that are used and what kinds of data that are considered relevant.

The collaboration between CTF and Elvenite is characterised by open, continuous and creative dialogue.

– As a consultancy organisation, we can provide with our expertise in the field, and a vast network, says Agnes Lindell, business owner at Elvenite. We are currently in the process of data collection and here we can facilitate contact with relevant interviewees from the sphere surrounding the food industry.

Both CTF and Elvenite hope that results from their work can be used to facilitate and promote sustainability initiatives within food companies and in the industry.

– The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are closely linked with the food industry. To be able to achieve the SDGs we need both general and specific efforts and competencies, says Siri Jagsted. Sustainability work has traditionally focused on large-scale initiatives based on technological advances. We want to widen the scope of sustainability work throughout the organisation
and value chain, in order to scale up and spread good initiatives that sometimes are identified at a grassroots level. Responsiveness and support within the organisation are required, as well as cooperation with other actors in the value chain in which data sharing sometimes is required. This is where digital integrity issues come into play.

Elevenite has a strong focus on sustainability and the food industry and are happy to be involved in research within these areas.

– We believe that collaboration between industry and academia is important. We want to learn more from research while also helping progress along, says Agnes Lindell. Elvenite’s mission is to make the food industry smarter with the help of data and technology, and we work with Scandinavia’s largest and most influential food companies. In order to secure a sustainable food industry, it is important to share new knowledge throughout the entire industry. We hope that results from TRUEdig can be used as guidance that can easily be embraced in the industry, and that we can use to support this development.