Developing an ESG-led best practice approach to attract investment for a dairy exporter
By developing a business plan demonstrating strong ESG credentials and strategic positioning, we were able to help attract new investment for an expanding dairy export business.
The Brief
Our dairy industry customer focuses almost exclusively on export business in emerging markets. It was looking for additional international investors to help finance new processing capacity for a partnership with a key customer. In order to facilitate this, it required a robust business plan to demonstrate its strategic positioning and its commitment to high operating standards.
In addition to the usual elements in such an exercise, it was key to address the company’s environmental credentials. Sustainability is a much over-used term in marketing communications and is often understood very differently in different parts of the world. However, it is clear that Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) issues are becoming more and more central to international businesses.
For instance, recent IFCN research shows that all the world’s top 20 dairy processors have publicly announced sustainability or climate monitoring. Half of them are also targeting carbon neutrality by 2050, with the other half believed to be working on similar lines. However, these are no longer subjects which only the majors set out to address – they are essential components in the planning of SMEs nowadays.
Our Approach
We sought to “future proof” the business by providing practical steps to ensure ESG aspects were explicitly addressed in the business plan.
Our approach recognised that measuring performance in ESG is complex – for example across direct and indirect emissions. Long-term goals are easy to declare as attractive soundbites, but tough to deliver. How to achieve this in an internationally agreed, best practice approach is challenging and demands diverse skillsets. This is why it remains work in progress for many large companies. Our business plan approach had ESG considerations at its heart, with clear action plans to ensure these objectives are met.
Result
This work allowed the customer to appreciate a clear and structured way forward on its ESG good practice.
The benefits of doing so are multiple:
- Ensuring compliance with investors’ expectations/requirements and helping to ensure continued access to capital
- Avoiding reputational issues from poor environmental compliance which may impact future investment
- Enhancing reputational profile
- Achieving competitive differential advantage
- Improving efficiency of environmental inputs and outputs and reducing resource demand and cost
At these benefits’ core are the reduction of business risk and increasing opportunities in the market.
If you’d like assistance in addressing such topics in your business, either in the context of a full business plan or for specific initiatives, please get in touch and we can arrange a discussion session to determine the best way forward.
Client Testimonials
Orrani Consulting is unique in combining genuinely global experience in the dairy industry, exceptionally strong insight into local markets and business cultures and a determination to deliver high quality, practical results.
This has accelerated and enabled our business development decision, and I fully recommend them to other international marketers.
Orrani have delivered a number of high quality research projects covering the European and Russian dairy sectors. Their strong 'in-market' experience combined with an ability to clearly articulate and interpret developments have helped provide excellent outputs that are of direct benefit to our client companies.
We would have no hesitation about recommending Orrani Consulting to companies seeking to carry out research into the dairy sector.
We have used Orrani's services for developing detailed industry reports and found them excellent - they were clear up front about project timelines, scope and costs, and delivered a quality product that met all of their promises, while being easy to work with.
We retained Orrani Consulting first in late 2006 because of their extensive experience in providing strategic insight into the world dairy industry and developing markets.
The CMAB found that the Orrani team took a very proactive approach to our projects and is now helping our organisation and industry to develop distribution in key international markets.
They have approached our projects with only the highest level of integrity and commitment and are always working to go the extra mile to produce world class results.
Our organisation has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the team at Orrani Consulting since the mid-1990s. We have engaged them upon a wide variety of research consultancy assignments assessing business opportunities and strategic issues in key markets such as the US and in developing regions such as Asia, Latin America and Africa.
We value their expertise in the international food industry and particularly the dairy sector very highly and expect to continue to work in partnership with Orrani Consulting.
Orrani Consulting provided expert advice to a tight deadline to enable us to make an informed appraisal of a potential investment target in a specialized sector of the food industry.
We would strongly recommend them as an insightful, flexible, honest and cost-effective support to strategic and financial decision-making on food industry issues.
Orrani have a real understanding of the global dairy industry because they roll their sleeves up and get out there in the market to find the real insights that make the difference. This means they really try to understand what we're looking for. I read Orrani's reports from cover to cover and I can't say that about all reports that I see.
Annette Brune and her team of experts at Orrani conducted a review of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s (ASMI) Southern Europe Marketing Program – funded in part by USDA MAP funds – in 2011-12.
The evaluation they produced exceeded expectations by providing incisive and actionable recommendations for Program Managers as well as a cost/benefit analysis that demonstrated the merit of the program to USDA. While it is common to get well-written evaluations, they frequently wind up only being read by program managers.
A testament to the quality of the work that was done was that many seasoned Alaska seafood industry members requested the report for the in-depth seafood market research and it continues to be used as a reference today. Excellent work!
The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council has utilized the services of Orrani Consulting on a number of projects including research studies in the Caribbean, Oceania, Asia and Africa. The work carried out by Orrani is always top-notch and really gives us a detailed look into potential export markets for our industry. Without their assistance, we would not be able to effectively carry out the programs we do in over 75 markets worldwide.
Orrani Consulting is second-to-none in its understanding of the global dairy markets. Their ability to use this knowledge to provide clear and actionable counsel to industry players at all levels and from many different angles is a key strength. The Orrani team has many years of experience in analyzing and communicating the dynamics of the business. Clients and the industry in general benefit immeasurably from the phenomenal network that Richard and Annette have developed and nurtured over their many years in the industry.
We have retained Orrani Consulting to support us on a number of projects relating to global dairy ingredient markets. Each time Orrani has delivered high quality, in depth expert advice and insight on quite specialised topics. We would strongly recommend Orrani to organisations seeking insight into the global dairy sector.