Circular Economy Initiatives in Food Manufacturing Industry

The case company is an European food manufacturer, building a plant-based meals product family, which is the focus of this thesis. With sustainability as a guiding concept, the company uses cutting-edge tactics to minimize its environmental impact and satisfy the growing demand for environmentally friendly eating options. The case company introduces an internship program with an emphasis on sustainability and environmental impact assessment to achieve more sustainability targets. To assess the company's carbon footprint, pinpoint opportunities for improvement, and carry out significant environmental projects, this effort seeks to leverage the experience of aspiring environmentalists. The company aims to foster an inventive and enduring corporate culture by working together with both internal and external stakeholders and promoting constructive transformation within the food industry. Performing thorough life cycle assessments (LCAs) of the company’s product line, with an emphasis on particular goods, is a top priority for the internship program. This allows participants to learn important information about the environmental impact of each stage of the product life cycle - manufacturing, distribution, usage, and disposal. The company will also be positioned as a pioneer in sustainable product creation, providing benchmarks and best practices, through industry reviews and comparative studies. A dashboard that will visualize key results and data in an understandable way is being worked on. Decision-makers in the organization will find this dashboard to be a useful tool as it will help them monitor developments, pinpoint areas for development, and effectively convey sustainability accomplishments. Moreover, sentiment analysis is essential for understanding customer perspective. Through the examination of reviews, social media comments, and other digital feedback, the organization can obtain profound insights into the opinions and emotional responses of its customers through sentiment analysis. With this knowledge, the company is better able to improve customer happiness overall, customize marketing techniques to better connect with their audience, and improve their products based on consumer preferences and problem issues. In the end, the company’s data-driven strategy helps it maintain its competitiveness in the market, strengthening client loyalty and accelerating long-term company growth.