#SustyTalk: Purina’s Jeff Hamilton on alternative proteins and regenerative agriculture

With edie readers working remotely or on furlough, this brand new series of video interviews keeps you connected to the inspirational business leaders who are continuing to drive sustainability and champion climate action from their own homes.

#SustyTalk is all about keeping edie’s loyal readers connected to sustainable business leaders across the world, whilst reminding us all that sustainability and climate action must go on through the current Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. 

The latest episode sees edie’s senior reporter Sarah George speaking with Purina EMEA’s chief executive Jeff Hamilton, who recently stepped into the role.

With pet ownership in the UK at a record high, with many deciding to adopt a cat or dog due to working from home, the pet food sector is grappling with the challenges and opportunities of scaling up sustainably.

Hamilton outlines Purina’s sustainability priorities at present before exploring, in more depth, its work on sustainable packaging and alternative proteins with a lower environmental footprint than meat. He also explains how Purina is striving to support suppliers to adopt regenerative agricultural practices. Such an approach is becoming increasingly more common in the fashion and food sectors as well as for pet products.

To Hamilton’s points on packaging, this week, retailer Pets at Home has installed in-store recycling boxes for flexible pet food packaging at 40 stores. The scheme is the result of a collaboration between Pets at Home, Purina, Mars, Enval and Hubbub. 

Please note: When discussing regenerative agriculture, Hamilton said that Purina is helping farmers transition from cultural to regenerative practices. The converse is true; he actually meant to say from traditional to regenerative practices.  

Click here to see our catalogue of #SustyTalk video interviews.

Want to be featured on a future episode of #SustyTalk? Email newsdesk@fav-house.com. Please bear in mind that our interview calendar is typically booked several weeks in advance. 

edie Staff