This sector guide defines the food and beverage sector to encompass all businesses operating in the production, processing, or retailing of food and beverage products, excluding the hospitality/foodservice sector which is beyond the scope of this guide. Farmers, traders, wholesalers, food manufacturing companies, and retailers together make up the world’s largest sector, generating an approximate global value of around USD 12.5 trillion based on revenue, or 17% of world GDP in 2013 (KPMG 2013; calculated from MarketLine 2013a,b,c,d,e). These businesses also span different tiers of production, and are reliant on international trade and complex supply chains. Though industry participants have differing degrees of vertical integration into agricultural products, with some companies operating farms, processing facilities, and storage and distribution networks.
The Food and Beverage Sector Guide supports the Natural Capital Protocol by providing additional guidance and sector-specific business insights on the food and beverage sector. The sector guides have been developed for business, aimed primarily at managers from sustainability, environmental, health and safety, and operations departments to help them integrate natural capital into existing business processes.
The Natural Capital Protocol framework includes: Natural Capital Protocol, Natural Capital Protocol Toolkit, Apparel Sector Guide, Food and Beverage Sector Guide, and Finance Sector Guide.