Meat Business Women and Cande Group renew partnership to support next phase of growth beyond 2026
Business
Meat Business Women (MBW), the global community for women working across the meat and food industry, and creative agency Cande Group have renewed their strategic partnership for a further two years, to drive continued growth for both organisations.
The partnership builds on two years of shared growth across the businesses. Meat Business Women’s global membership has expanded to 57 Corporate Partners & 2500 members worldwide, while Cande Group has strengthened its offer with the launch of its dedicated studio, enabling enhanced content production and livestream delivery.
To date the organisations have worked closely to deliver global creative campaigns that aim to drive equality in the meat sector, working with MBW’s partners across the UK, Ireland and Australia.
Recent collaboration highlights include the launch of The Food Business Charter at the House of Lords in 2025, and International Women’s Day at Tesco HQ.
Cande’s role as a specialist in the agri-food sector continues to underpin the partnership. The agency was selected as video partner for the World Meat Congress 2025 with International Meat Secretariat and Farmers Guardian, and works with organisations across the supply chain including Red Tractor, NFU Mutual and Defra’s Livestock Information Service.
Meat Business Women’s focus is to continue working closely with Partners to deliver on the ambition of the Food Business Charter, which set out the aim of reaching 40% female representation by 2035. They’ll continue to work with businesses to build sustainable talent pipelines as well as delivering on the ground benefits for individuals, such as mentoring, strategic networking, conferences & personal development.
Ben Coates, Founder and Director of Cande Group, said:
“We’re incredibly proud to continue our partnership with Meat Business Women as we look ahead to 2026 and beyond. Alongside our shared focus on the agriculture and food supply chain, there’s a real alignment in values and culture that makes this collaboration work so well. We’re excited to build on that momentum and support the next phase of growth together.”
Joanna Parnell, Managing Director of Meat Business Women, added:
“It’s really important for us to have trusted partners that understand the sector, but also understand what we’re trying to achieve, and Cande are exactly that. There’s a lot of exciting things to come over the next 12 months as we look to continue raising awareness and infl uence through our campaign work with Cande.”
Meat Business Women is the global professional network for women working across the meat industry. It is aligned to the United National’s Sustainable Goal 5. It was created to improve the sustainability of the meat sector and grow the pipeline of female talent in this male dominated arena.
Smarter Production Through Better Systems
Business
How Clear Processes Support More Sustainable Creative Work
Creative production involves many moving parts, people, ideas, timelines, and assets. What’s changed is how we manage that complexity. For us, improving systems hasn’t just been about efficiency; it’s also been about responsibility.
Becoming Carbon Literate has encouraged us to consider everyday working practices, not just big decisions, but the small, repeated actions that add up across projects.
Carbon Literacy You Say?
Carbon Literacy training has given us the awareness and understanding of the carbon costs of everyday decisions and how to take practical action to reduce them.
For us, it’s about more than high-level pledges, we’re looking for a positive impact. It’s about embedding sustainability into how we work day-to-day:
- Choosing digital over paper wherever possible
- Streamlining workflows to reduce wasted time and resources
- Making smarter decisions in production, from location choice to asset sharing
Centralised Tools, Clearer Communication
Information often lives across emails, folders, and message threads, leading to things being duplicated, and sometimes a mystery to solve about the original source of the data.
Using a central platform like Monday.com helps us to manage projects in one place. Timelines, responsibilities, and updates are visible to everyone involved, providing an overview at a glance for anyone who needs it.
That clarity doesn’t just save time, it reduces inefficiency, which is a core part of working more sustainably.
Less Paper, Lower Impact
Utilising Google Drive has significantly reduced our reliance on printed materials. Treatments, scripts, recce notes, floor plans, and decks all live in a shared digital space, accessible from anywhere (with the right permissions of course!)
This means:
- Fewer printouts
- Fewer outdated versions
- Fewer duplicated documents
Reducing paper is a practical outcome, but the wider benefit is consistency and accountability across teams and departments.
Streamlined Sharing, Smarter Feedback
Creative projects often generate large files, an unavoidable compromise for quality. What matters most is how those files are stored, shared and reviewed.
Tools like WeTransfer allow us to move assets quickly without unnecessary storage or inbox overload. Platforms like Frame allows our clients to provide feedback based on timecodes and centralised, avoiding long email chains and repeated uploads.
Adopting clear feedback loops means faster decisions and fewer revisions, keeping projects on track.
The Daily Practice of Carbon Awareness
Achieving Carbon Literacy status isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about building awareness into everyday decisions.
Our digital workflows help ensure that sustainability isn’t an afterthought. When recce notes, approvals, and updates are shared instantly and clearly, our teams can plan better, adapt faster, and avoid waste, whether that’s time, resources, or energy.
Systems That Support People and the Planet
Technology alone doesn’t make a production sustainable. But thoughtful systems, used well, create the conditions for more responsible working.
By reducing friction, repetition, and unnecessary materials, we give teams the space to focus on what matters, being creative and delivering work in a way that’s considered, efficient, and forward-thinking.
That balance is something we’re continuing to build on our journey as a Carbon Literate creative agency.
