TraceGains Partners with DitchCarbon, Sustained

WESTMINSTER, Colo. — TraceGains, a provider of networked compliance, quality and innovation solutions in the food and beverage industry, recently announced two strategic partnerships.

The first is with DitchCarbon, a provider of climate intelligence. The addition of DitchCarbon to TraceGains’ networked ecosystem helps customers elevate the visibility and manageability of their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts with a solution that integrates into existing sourcing, compliance and product development workflows.

The second partnership is with Sustained, a platform for sustainable product development through detailed life cycle analysis.

DITCHCARBON. According to TraceGains R&D and Product Innovation in the Food and Beverage Industry research, 26% of global food and beverage leaders plan to fast-track their carbon-neutral strategies this year. In an industry where nearly half of F&B companies feel they're falling short on ESG initiatives despite good intentions, and 64% acknowledge the critical importance of ESG, this partnership is timely. As it relates specifically to carbon by integrating DitchCarbon's comprehensive carbon intelligence solutions with TraceGains' supplier management and new product development offerings, this collaboration empowers companies to build truly sustainable supply chains from the ground up, said TraceGains.

“Most environmental impacts originate in supply chains,” said Marc Munier, CEO and founder of DitchCarbon. “To accelerate global emission reductions, climate-conscious decision making must be embedded in daily operations. TraceGains is leading the way in this approach making this vision a reality.”

DitchCarbon's environmental intelligence tools provide a comprehensive picture of supplier sustainability, offering scoring and evaluation based on globally accepted frameworks. This integration allows brands to incorporate supplier sustainability performance data into their sourcing strategies early in the product life cycle, driving environmental intelligence and reducing risk from the outset, said the company.

Key features of this partnership include:

• Supplier Sustainability Rankings: Evaluate supplier participation in initiatives like CDP, UN Global Compact and SBTI.
• Emission Measurements: Detailed breakdowns of total emissions, Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and greenhouse gas data.
• Regional Impact Scores: Compare the carbon intensity of energy grids globally.
  

“Our customers understand that integrating sustainability into products from the start is far more efficient than trying to retrofit climate goals later,” said Greg Heartman, vice president of product at TraceGains. “By partnering with DitchCarbon, we're placing sustainability where it belongs, and where it’s most useful: at the heart of sourcing and supplier qualification.”

This partnership enables brands to develop precise supplier sustainability dashboards and reports, facilitating long-term improvement against climate objectives. The integration of DitchCarbon's capabilities into TraceGains' platform provides brands with tools to manage environmental impacts and meet growing consumer and retail demands for sustainable products.

SUSTAINED. TraceGains’ collaboration with Sustained merges Sustained's product and ingredient lifecycle analysis tools with TraceGains' comprehensive solutions suite, enabling transparency, efficiency and sustainability, the company said. In a market where 50% of F&B companies are willing to halt production on new products that don't meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) guidelines, this partnership sets a new standard for compliance and innovation, helping companies avert disruptions to their product launches and go-to-market motions.

“TraceGains is renowned for helping customers manage and leverage supplier information for critical decision making,” said Carl Olivier, CEO and co-founder of Sustained. “With this partnership, we’re integrating unmatched environmental intelligence into that proven model, making high-resolution lifecycle analysis a natural part of product development.”

Sustained's insights and actionable data provide businesses with a comprehensive view of the environmental impact of their products and ingredients. This supports efforts to reduce carbon footprints, pollution, water and land use, while optimizing resource consumption and ensuring corporate alignment with global sustainability goals. Integrated with TraceGains Networked Ingredients Marketplace, brands can make informed, sustainable sourcing decisions early in the product life cycle, enhancing product formulation, specification development and supplier performance management.

Together, TraceGains and Sustained offer an exclusive perspective on item-level climate impact data, empowering companies to measure the environmental footprint of individual ingredients and products, said the companies. This collaboration brings climate impact data to the forefront of the R&D process, facilitating material evaluation, sustainability score comparison and innovative product development.

Gary Iles, senior vice president of marketing for TraceGains, said, “The industry demands streamlined sustainability decision-making. TraceGains has always excelled at consolidating global data into a powerful platform. This partnership with Sustained extends that capability, delivering against industry demands of streamlined decision making and transforming sustainability into a seamless, everyday practice.”

This news follows TraceGains’ recent expansion of its networked ecosystem, which established a new benchmark in ESG readiness and compliance.