Registrar Corp, a Paine Schwartz Partners company that provides regulatory and compliance software, recently acquired Foodsteps, a London-based firm that helps food businesses reduce the environmental impact of their products.
Launched in 2018 by Cambridge University graduate Anya Doherty, Foodsteps now is used by over 150 food businesses worldwide, including Compass Group, Sky, and Albert Heijn, to accurately measure, understand, reduce, and communicate their environmental impacts from farm to fork, the companies reported.
The acquisition comes as the food industry, a contributor to emissions and biodiversity loss, faces accelerating global requirements and mounting pressure to demonstrate progress against near-term sustainability targets.
“This acquisition represents a significant milestone not just for our team but also for the future of food sustainability,” Doherty, Foodsteps CEO and founder, said in a news release. “By combining Foodsteps’ software, data, and expertise in sustainable food with Registrar’s global leadership in regulation and compliance, we are poised to deliver the next generation of sustainability solutions that the food industry needs.”
The EU introduced the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) last year, with other major governments seeking to implement similar reporting requirements. Sustainability targets are also under scrutiny. In March, the Science-Based Targets Initiatives (SBTi) identified major food businesses that had failed to meet the deadline to set targets and meet decarbonization commitments.
Foodsteps’ platform analyzes data across company supply chains, incorporating sustainability metrics across farming, packaging, processing, and transport, and providing automated Life Cycle Assessments on products. It gives organizations a level of supply chain transparency the industry historically has lacked, enabling companies to meet burgeoning reporting requirements, as well as set and monitor targets.
The acquisition of Foodsteps by Registrar will give the platform access to a global market of over 32,000 companies in 190 countries, including 28,000 food businesses, as well as sustainability expertise from Paine Schwartz Partners, the largest private equity firm dedicated to sustainable food chain investing.
“Foodsteps’ data platform is like no other. With industry leading data that is recognized through partnerships with the University of Oxford, WWF and WRAP, the company has a track-record of helping procurement, sustainability, and marketing teams meet reporting standards and net zero goals,” said Brian Thies, Registrar senior vice president of corporate development. “By joining forces, we hope to help businesses comply with sustainability and compliance regulations and facilitate the transition to net zero, by enabling the growth of transparent and sustainable global supply chains.”
