HowGood adds to its sustainability platform
HowGood, a data platform that assesses food and personal care product sustainability through its database, has announced an expansion to its intelligence software. The software, Latis, will now include a procurement module designed for food CPG sourcing and sustainability teams, including those working with private brands, to assess their current sourcing.
The Latis procurement module initiates the sourcing research process in a way that is "simple, fast, and effective," allowing buyers to analyze any supplier’s ESG metric performance alongside price and material specifications. It also helps predict and strategize on the sustainability implications of any sourcing change in a brand's portfolios.
"Retailers & brands often partner with co-manufacturers to produce their private label products,” Ethan Soloviev, chief innovation officer at HowGood, told Store Brands. “Historically, co-manufacturers have not necessarily focused on sustainability efforts and eco-labeling products, which leaves a significant amount of unclaimed value on the table. With the launch of HowGood’s new procurement module and sustainability intelligence platform, private label brands can identify and promote more sustainable products, assess co-manufacturer strengths, and identify areas for improvement. This ultimately will further help private label brands in meeting consumer demand for sustainable products and keep retailers at the leading edge."
The Latis procurement module offers the same set of comprehensive, ingredient-level impact insights as the original Latis module being used by R&D teams at Danone, Applegate, and other global CPGs, including metrics like greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, biodiversity impact, labor risk, and animal welfare, among others. HowGood, based in High Falls, NY, says that by fostering connectivity between teams and throughout organizations, this comprehensive solution provides brands with a “shared language around sustainability goals and performance in a way that has never been possible.”
“Our goal with the procurement module is to help food brands evaluate the sustainability of their products on a foundational level by providing instant insights on where and how to improve their sourcing portfolio – and then giving them the tools to go do it,” said Soloviev. “As the food industry grapples with calls to improve transparency and reduce its footprint, the procurement module boosts the efficacy of procurement teams by providing an easy-to-use platform for buyers to identify the ingredients most negatively impacting their portfolios, discover and compare new suppliers offering more sustainably-sourced ingredients, and demonstrate the impact of any supplier change through an advanced scenario-planning interface.