GRI Starts Global Food and Beverage Reporting Standard With Expert Call

The Global Reporting Initiative has started developing a dedicated Food and Beverages Sector Standard, creating a new reporting framework intended to cover the industry's impacts across both company operations and global value chains.

The project is the first pilot of GRI's faster, more focused process for developing sector standards. GRI says the format is designed to identify likely material topics, summarize major impacts and direct companies toward relevant existing disclosure requirements.

The scope extends beyond factories and branded food companies. GRI says the project will consider links across agriculture, aquaculture and fishing because many of the sector's largest environmental and social impacts sit upstream in supply chains.

GRI is seeking up to 20 experts from around the world to join a multi stakeholder Peer Review Group, with applications open until October 23.

The standard is expected to address issues that can include climate change, biodiversity, working conditions, public health and other material impacts, although the final disclosure content has not yet been approved.

The initiative matters commercially because sustainability reporting requirements are becoming more detailed across major markets, increasing demand for comparable information from food manufacturers and their suppliers.

GRI's June 2026 research found that 43 percent of listed food and beverage companies in its sample report with GRI, representing about 70 percent of the sector's global market capitalization.

The project is therefore a standards development process rather than a new rule already in force. Its importance will depend on the final content, adoption by companies and how closely the resulting guidance aligns with regulatory reporting requirements in major markets.