As companies in the food and ag sectors work to meet increasing expectations for sustainability reporting, they often encounter significant hurdles in managing the data required.

“We often see outdated systems, fragmented processes, and structures that weren’t built for today’s complex non-financial data,” says Pinion sustainability advisor Lisa Becker.

“Unfortunately, this makes reporting more challenging and can hinder a company’s sustainability performance.” 

3 Common Barriers Organizations Face–and Tips on How to Overcome Them

Challenge #1 – Data Silos

One of the biggest roadblocks is the presence of data silos, where sustainability information lives in multiple systems and departments.

This fragmentation creates several issues:

  • Difficulty in data aggregation — pulling reports together becomes a manual, time-consuming task.
  • Collaboration challenges — without a central hub, data exchange and review are inefficient, impacting accuracy.
  • Inconsistent data handling — lack of standard processes increases the risk of errors and complicates audits.
  • Underutilized insights — with so much effort spent on collecting, companies miss opportunities to analyze data for strategy.

Best Practices

1.   Create one central system to store all sustainability data so everyone works from the same version. This could be as simple as an Excel sheet or as powerful as a cloud database. Creating this “single source of truth” makes it easier to review data collection progress and share consistent updates across the organization.

2.   Identify where each dataset comes from and who is responsible for updating it. Making responsibilities clear reduces the chance of missing or incorrect details.

3.   Set up a regular routine for moving information into your central system so it stays current and complete. This helps maintain quality by avoiding outdated details and ensures decisions are based on reliable information.

4.   Provide shared reports and summaries so teams can see the same information and use it to make informed decisions. This helps your company identify trends and plan ahead instead of being reactive.

Challenge #2 – Poor Data Quality

When sustainability data is collected sporadically and stored in disconnected spreadsheets or systems, quality suffers. Inconsistent review processes mean leaders can’t fully trust the information they’re working with. This undermines both external reporting and the ability to use insights for decision-making. Ultimately, poor data quality erodes confidence in sustainability metrics and limits their business value.

Best Practices

1.   Collect the right data at the right time and level of detail by matching what you gather to the needs of the business, such as meeting regulations, answering stakeholder questions, or tracking company goals. This ensures that your sustainability data is sufficient to meet business requirements while avoiding unnecessary complexity.

2.   Assign responsibility for checking the accuracy and completeness of each dataset to the people who are closest to its source and know it best. After the information has been reviewed, lock it so it cannot be changed without approval. This ensures reports and decisions are based on accurate data.

3.   Organize and clean all information so it follows the same rules for names, units, and time periods. This makes analysis much easier because information from different sources can be directly combined and compared.

4.   Document all calculations and assumptions so everyone understands the logic behind the results. This builds trust in your data and prepares your company for potential audits or assurance requirements.

Challenge #3 – Inadequate Analytics

Even with data in hand, many companies lack the tools to analyze it effectively. Without robust analytics, it’s difficult to identify trends, spot outliers, or forecast performance. As a result, companies remain reactive — meeting requests from regulators or stakeholders — rather than using historical data to proactively shape sustainability strategy. With the right analytics, organizations can unlock more value, moving from compliance-driven to insight-driven reporting.

Best Practices

1.    Choose a single, reliable business intelligence software like Microsoft’s Power BI or Salesforce’s Tableau to provide summaries and visuals throughout your company. This ensures the same logic is applied to all reports and creates a common view of performance.

2.    Focus on business needs by identifying the decisions each group must make and designing reports to provide the information they need. This is essential for clarifying which details matter most and avoiding confusion.

3.    Train everyone who uses reports so they understand how to interpret and act on the results. This helps you get the most value from your data by encouraging its use in making key business decisions.

4.    Set a regular schedule for reviewing key performance metrics, looking at trends and unusual changes, and deciding on next steps. This supports a shared understanding of performance across teams and drives consistent, data-driven improvement.

 

Keeping Pace Offers a Strategic Advantage

Together, these challenges highlight why traditional approaches to data management are no longer enough.

“To keep pace with evolving sustainability expectations, companies need to ensure that their systems can centralize, validate, and analyze data — transforming it from a reporting burden into a strategic advantage,” advises Becker.

Reach out to a Pinion sustainability advisor to explore best practices for managing sustainability data or learn more and view the white paper.

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