Sustainability Reporting for Food Companies under VSME or ESRS

Whether driven by legal requirements, customer expectations, or internal sustainability goals, standardized sustainability reporting strengthens credibility and helps identify the most important strategic priorities. RISE offers support at different levels of sustainability reporting for food companies, depending on size, customer requirements, and external factors, through the standards VSME and ESRS. With knowledge of the entire food value chain, we aim to help you contribute to both business and societal value.

A great deal has happened in recent years regarding sustainability reporting in the EU. Following the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), together with the associated reporting standards European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) in 2022, the scope of companies subject to mandatory reporting changed. This meant that many companies were no longer covered by statutory sustainability reporting requirements. The EU has instead communicated that reporting for companies outside the scope is increasingly driven by demand from customers and financiers that are still subject to CSRD. For companies below the CSRD thresholds, the voluntary standard VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) was developed.

Regardless of the size of your company or organization, we can support you in developing a sustainability report, both in accordance with the mandatory ESRS and the voluntary VSME standard. Sustainability data is a cornerstone of a company’s sustainability work—not only to comply with legal requirements and meet expectations from customers and investors, but also to identify improvement opportunities and strengthen long-term sustainability.

What does RISE offer?

RISE provides support throughout the entire process of developing your sustainability report—from preparatory and educational efforts to double materiality analysis, data collection, and report development, as well as the creation of goals, action plans, and strategic communication. We specialize in small and medium-sized food companies, which make up the majority of the food sector in Sweden, but we also support larger companies covered by CSRD. With deep knowledge of the entire food value chain and research-based methods, we provide practical support and guidance throughout the process.

We deliver roadmaps, workshops, methodology reports, and result documentation tailored to your needs. For companies that want to strengthen internal capabilities and carry out the work themselves, RISE can act as an expert partner and provide coaching when needed.

We help you to:

• choose the appropriate reporting standard
• carry out a double materiality assessment in line with the selected standard, for example through workshops, to identify and prioritize material topics
• develop methodologies for identifying material topics (if needed, according to the selected standard)
• conduct gap analyses of existing sustainability data or reports
• develop a roadmap with short- and long-term plans for sustainability reporting and data collection
• structure and design your first sustainability report
• formulate report content

Contact us below and we will tailor an approach to match your needs and level of ambition!