Sector Standard Project for Food and Beverages
Applications to join the Peer Review Group - open until 23 October 2026
The importance of this Standard
Food and Beverages is the next Standard to be developed under the Sector Program, and the pilot for our new streamlined Sector approach. This standard will cover food processing, manufacturing of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, as well as tobacco products.
Food and beverages respond to some of the most basic human needs. However, these industries are also responsible for around one third of global emissions, have a direct impact on people’s health, and present safety risks for their workers. Expectations also fall on these sectors to understand and contribute to managing sustainability impacts in their supply chains, particularly in the agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing sectors.
The purpose of this Sector Standard is to help food, beverage, and tobacco manufacturing companies enhance their sustainability reporting, making impact reporting more complete and consistent across the sector.
Read the Project Proposal for more information.
Project update
Application for Food and Beverage Peer Review Group now open
GRI is now accepting applications to join the Food and Beverages Peer Review Group. The Peer Review Group will be part of GRIs multistakeholder approach to developing standards and will be instrumental in providing their insight and expertise to the development of the Food and Beverages Sector Standard.
Further information on timelines, the capacity needed to participate and how the peer review group will input into the development of the sector standard can all be found in the terms of reference.
If you would like to participate in the Peer Review Group, you can submit your application via this form.
The deadline for applications is open until Friday 23 October 2026. Successful applicants will be notified shortly after.
For further information, please contact us via: [email protected]
Background information
The GRI Sector Program commenced in 2019. Sector Standards are designed to help identify a sector's most significant impacts and reflect stakeholder expectations for sustainability reporting. They outline organizations' likely material topics and list disclosures that are relevant for the sector to report on.
Food and Beverages has been approved by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) to be the next sector for which a Standard will be developed, as part of priority group one. GRI 13: Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing Sectors - which applies to organizations undertaking crop cultivation, animal production, aquaculture or fishing - was published in July 2022.
Sectors are prioritized based on the seriousness and the likelihood of their impacts and consider the overall size of the sector, their distribution around the world, and the number of organizations that are in a position to use the GRI Standards.
Related Documents
| GRI Sector Program Description 2026 | file | 28 Jul 2026 | English | 118 KB | |
| GRI Food And Beverages PRG Terms Of Reference | file | 22 Sep 2026 | English | 213 KB |
Never miss an update
Subscribe to receive updates on our Standards projects. Also, keep an eye on this project page for information and events on this Standard.
Sign up