In the Asia-Pacific region, women entrepreneurs are powerful catalysts of innovation, economic resilience and inclusive growth. With visionary leadership, they foster cross-border partnerships, promote digital transformation, and empower the next generation of talent. By combining cultural intelligence with entrepreneurial grit, these women are redefining success, strengthening Hong Kong’s global competitiveness, and driving sustainable progress across regional and global markets.
As the Founder and CEO of Future Green Global, Heidi Spurrell stands at the intersection of food system transformation, sustainability strategy, and purpose-driven leadership. With a background in food policy and a commitment to making sustainability accessible, she empowers businesses to take measurable, impactful action, combining academic depth with practical tools to reshape how the food and beverage sector approaches environmental and social responsibility.
A Resilient Journey
15 years ago, on a routine grocery trip, Heidi discovered how harmful the food system can be for young children, namely antibiotics in meat, hormones in milk, hidden sugars, and processed foods. This led her to pursue a Master’s in Food Policy to strengthen her professional expertise.
As a trailing spouse with children born across continents, she witnessed firsthand the stark differences in food systems around the world, highlighting critical gaps in both health and environmental sustainability. Motivated by these insights, she founded Future Green Global to address a clear need in the market: the lack of accessible, practical, and strategic support for businesses seeking to operate more sustainably. Today, Future Green Global is a growing B Corp dedicated to helping the food and beverage sector lead in sustainability through actionable, impactful solutions.
Overcoming Impending Challenges
Being a woman entrepreneur in Hong Kong, Heidi faced several pressing issues while building a sustainability-driven startup. Food sustainability was a new concept in 2019, and it took time to build awareness and find footing in a disorganized market. Though similar companies existed, Future Green Global uniquely adopted a holistic seed-to-waste approach. Furthermore, the business was completely bootstrapped, with early fundraising efforts dropped for organic growth. Team-building hurdles led to a shift toward a small, efficient team. She also highlighted how Network-building was vital yet challenging to convince businesses to prove sustainability’s strategic value.
Heidi views Hong Kong’s support ecosystem for women entrepreneurs as strong, with accessible funding, mentorship and networks like the British Chamber aiding her early journey. She stresses the importance of continuous learning and global mentorship. Despite progress, gender bias persists, requiring women to navigate perceptions alongside their male peers, but as a British-born Chinese, Heidi found local acceptance. “I do believe if you work hard, find the right people and get yourself out there, you don't worry about the naysayers, you will find a way if you're very passionate about what you do”, states Heidi Spurrell.
In 2022, Future Green Global left its franchise to operate independently, marking a redefining point. It shifted from audits to strategic design thinking workshops, blending academic depth with practical tools. This made sustainability more accessible and proved its real, measurable impact for both multinationals and local female-led businesses.
Carving a Niche for Itself
Future Green Global has two core services. First, is its membership program, which is an accessible entry for food and drink businesses, including restaurants, caterers, hotels, cafes and food vendors at events. It includes mini audits, toolkits, certified training courses and expert-led events to build awareness around key issues like food waste, reduction in packaging and carbon emissions.
The second one is its sustainability Strategy Sprints, or Smart Food Visioning. These time-limited 2-3 day workshops assist companies in articulating their sustainability objectives across supply chain operations, waste management, emissions and employee training. In a matter of weeks, companies have an easily communicable sustainability vision to share with their employees.
In addition, the company leverages design-thinking tools, process workshops and behavioral science to apply knowledge into application. An innovation in this area is the integration of its AI-supported, multilingual chatbots (for training and internal communications) to help convert complicated sustainability concepts and organizational policies into manageable actions.
Furthermore, Future Green Global customizes services for each company, looking to set realistic goals, speak about sustainability authentically and not engage in greenwashing. The company's comprehensive framework touches on sourcing, environmental and societal impacts, and ultimately helps the client to implement long-term change.
In addition to its corporate clients, Future Green Global works with communities by directly training NGO leaders and refugees on carbon literacy in Hong Kong. It works on the food system more than the rest, as it is a sector that is responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. “Ultimately, we're here to make sustainability feel doable, relevant, and inspiring, especially for those in food service, where the potential for positive change is huge”, states Heidi.
Charting a Robust Path for the Future
Future Green Global plans to expand globally while continuing to focus on Hong Kong and Asia-Pacific, where sustainability awareness is still growing. In the short term, it aims to deepen stakeholder engagement, increase off-site programs and enhance training through ongoing learning. In the long term, it aspires to become Asia’s leading food sustainability consultancy, influence policy through the British Chamber of Commerce, and contribute to the UN SDGs, while remaining mission-driven and independent of investor pressure.
For budding entrepreneurs, Heidi concludes by stating “Entrepreneurship is about resilience and adaptability. Setbacks are part of the journey and often valuable in hindsight. But, with a clear purpose, a strong team and the right network, growth will follow”.
Heidi Spurrell, Founder & CEO
Heidi Spurrell is a food sustainability consultant with over a decade of experience spanning foodservice, FMCG, NGOs, and education across cities like London, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam. She is the Founder and CEO of Future Green, a certified B Corp that helps food businesses embed sustainability through Strategy Sprints, workshops, and team training. A certified AJ&Smart Sprint facilitator, Heidi has led over 5,000 hours of workshops. Her work has earned her a British Empire Medal (BEM) and recognition from Tatler Asia and the Rockefeller Foundation.
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