How sustainability can affect the world 

by Adwright, 09 June, 2020

In recent years, sustainability has evolved from being a term associated with eco-friendliness to an overarching corporate narrative. Organisations are starting to implement different sustainability strategies to align with their stakeholder’s perspective of the society and world around them.

From environmental to business continuity sustainability, these efforts are put in place to ensure stakeholders of an organisation is grounded yet adaptable to changes. Here are two types of sustainability that an organisation can work towards and benefit from:

Environmental Sustainability 

In 2018, KFC Singapore was amongst the first quick-serving food chains to announce the stop of providing straws and lids for their drinks. The company acknowledged the strain of such single-use plastics put on the environment and took steps to do their part in endeavouring a change. Although this action caused some inconvenience for consumers, the overall feedback by the public was positive.

This movement was even ahead of the PACT (Plastic ACTion) initiative by WWF supported by the National Environment Agency and Zero Waste SG.

Eco and environmental sustainability has now becoming a priority to businesses. Brands have begun to harness sustainability core messages as part of their brand values. More companies are embracing the change by rolling out more initiatives to remove unnecessary plastics, reviewing product design or switching to sustainable alternatives.

Food Security and Sustainability 

The government announced the 30 by 30 strategy to raise Singapore’s food self-production level from the current 10 per cent to 30 per cent of total food needs by 2030 since last April. Most recently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the important of strengthening Singapore’s food security.

The Apollo Aquaculture Group (AAG) uses modern vertical aquaculture systemintegrated innovative technologies to reduce reliance in resources. Technologies has enabled the farm to monitor the health of their fish and crustacean via remote monitoring and control programming to improve productivity while cutting down unnecessary labour. They also make use of multi-level water treatment system to ensure their farm has less impact on the environment.

The group is now playing its part in developing and upgrading its urban farm landscapes to continuously produce certified environmentally and socially responsible seafood for Singapore first before exporting world-wide. By 2023, Apollo’s new eight-storey vertical fish farm at Neo Tiew Crescent will be completed — and will be able to produce an estimated 2,700 tonnes of fish per year. Maximising its land space, the group estimates that this single farm will be able to meet roughly five percent of Singapore’s demand for fish.

Business Succession Sustainability

When organisations grow more prominent, active succession measures would have to be incorporated to ensure constant growth and operation. Some of these business succession measures stem from having open communication channels between senior and junior staff members. The benefits of open communication channels lie most commonly in enabling senior staff to equip junior staff members with day-to-day operations-specifics.

YiKoWei is a Singapore heritage confectionary brand. Founded in 1983, YiKoWei’s founder has transformed YiKowei from a coffee shop stall into a brand with a presence in shopping malls. Today, YiKoWei specialises in local favourites such as pineapple tarts, cashew nut cookies, and other goodies commonly consumed during Chinese New Year. Besides confectionaries, the YiKoWei brand has also expanded its product line to include homemade herbal tea.

The brand has transitioned from handmade creation to factory production – effectively improving productivity, supply output while ensuring consistency. Alongside technological innovation, YiKoWei’s management is made up of family members and close relatives. However, they have a structured business succession plan that is aligned to the skillset of the founder’s family members. This purposeful business succession plan has enabled the second generation to bring about further product innovation. The new generation also expanded the product range to include trends and interesting ingredients into traditional flavours. Due to YiKoWei’s business succession planning, their legacy will continue to be relevant with time even when the brand is passed down to future generations.

Conclusion

Brands are now playing a more significant role in the society. They can influence change by advocating positive social narratives. From eco-friendly, food sustainability, to even cultural sustainability, brands that have harnessed core sustainability narratives are more inclined to operate meaningfully with a well-defined purpose. In the near future, enacted policies may not be the defining thing that influences our society – it may just be in the hands of brands. To find out more about the services that Adwright provides, call us today on +65 6227 7227 or email enquiry@adwright.com

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