Product Sustainability | Product Stewardship

At Leatherhead Food Research, we apply our deep expertise in science and regulation, and extensive experience across the global food and beverage industry, to support companies in developing and delivering more sustainable products. As a Membership-based organization, we help both Members and clients future-proof for both regulatory change and market pressures, and prepare the evidence to support robust claims regarding product sustainability over the entire life cycle.

As part of Science Group | Sustainability, we help the food & beverage industry manage the challenges and realize the opportunities sustainability creates.

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Our services

Auditing your value chain

Sustainability | audit value chain

Evaluating the impact of changes in regulation and new science on the use of chemicals and products, and identifying strategies to effectively manage health, environmental and commercial risk for sustainable outcomes.

Advocacy and dossier development

Future-proofing products for sustainability by developing the evidence base and dossiers needed for regulatory approvals, policy positions and communications with relevant stakeholders.

Safe and sustainable design

Safe and sustainable design | Leatherhead Food Research

Ensuring product design, specification and use are consistent with current and future sustainability imperatives, standards, and practices whilst also aligned to the business ambition for sustainability.

Claims support

Building the evidence base and narrative to enable robust sustainability claims and reporting.

Our experience

Sustainability has been a key part of our business for decades. We have a proven track record of helping food & beverage companies realize their ambitions, ranging from delivering projects that are being influenced by the sustainability agenda, right through to being involved at the very heart of our clients’ sustainability strategies. We provide accurate, nuanced advice to ensure that your product portfolio remains compliant in an ever-changing regulatory landscape, addressing all aspects that are key for a sustainable product, from field to consumer. Client projects include:

  • Ensuring that design was aligned with market-specific regulations where a company was developing a product for its specific sustainability credentials
  • Dossier services to provide an end-to-end solution to enable the pre-market approval of new sustainable ingredients, sustainable technologies and processes in human and pet food
  • Supporting clients’ sustainability strategies, including the verification of multiple associated label claims e.g. vegan, vegetarian, plant-based
  • Ensuring that claims related to sustainability are accurate and valid, underpinning our clients' sustainability credentials and helping offer a competitive advantage now and in the future
  • Helping a multinational client identify substances that may not be available for food contact use in the future. Our experts defined the intrinsic hazards - for example substances with carcinogenic, mutagenic and endocrine disrupting properties - and identified all potential substances of concern

Our markets

Leatherhead Food Research works with companies that manufacture and rely on food packaging, contact materials and additives, as well as the food & beverage sector itself, on all aspects of sustainability. Packaging has been a big focus for this sector, as well as food waste reduction strategies, recycling logos and alternative sources of protein.

Why Leatherhead

We are the scientific and regulatory affairs consultancy of choice for the world's leading food and beverage brands. Our specialist team of food scientists, toxicologists and multi-lingual regulatory affairs professionals help Members get their products to market in multiple jurisdictions. We aim to be our clients’ trusted partner of choice for regulatory compliance and sustainability.

Our professionals

Our sustainability team brings together experts in science and regulation, chemistry and environmental fate, toxicology and ecotoxicology, risk assessment and communication, safety and stewardship. Luke Murphy, VP Key Accounts, Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, is Leatherhead Food Research's sustainability champion, posessing a keen interest in emerging regulations on sustainability, and the challenges and rewards of making businesses more sustainable. With over 20 years’ experience in the food & beverage industry, Luke supports Leatherhead’s global client base, helping Members ensure that their products remain compliant in an ever-changing regulatory landscape. Luke sits on Science Group’s Office for Sustainability, together with Michael Zeitlyn – President Advisory Service, Science Group, Caroline Potter – VP Sustainability, Sagentia Innovation, and Sue Bullock, Head of Product Sustainability and Stewardship, TSG Consulting.

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