International Discussion Paper: Exploring the practicalities of benchmarking food industries in different countries and contexts

This short paper aims to stimulate conversations on the role that national benchmarking initiatives can play in accelerating the transition of the food industry towards healthy, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable outcomes. We recognise that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to implementing benchmarking initiatives within different countries, have developed this paper as a precursor to a series of multi-stakeholder dialogues on this topic that we aim to hold this year between national governments, businesses, investors, civil society organisations and other key stakeholders across different national and international contexts.

We use as a starting point the example of the Food Foundation’s Plating Up Progress work in the UK (which assesses major food retailers, caterers and restaurants operating
in the UK)