More than one million people in the UK will be offered MSC certified sustainable fish in workplace restaurants, schools, hospitals and defence sites, thanks to leading foodservice provider Sodexo.

In a world-first, Sodexo has had all of its restaurants and cafés certified to serve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified sustainable fish. MSC fish will be available in around a thousand sites ranging from Manchester Royal Infirmary, the Co-operative and Eton College to primary schools in Wiltshire, Colchester Garrison, Blenheim Palace and Chelsea Flower Show.

Hannah Arcaro, UK Foodservice Manager at the MSC, said: “What Sodexo has achieved is nothing less than amazing. Serving MSC certified sustainable fish at nearly a thousand sites will introduce a huge cross-section of British consumers to the issues around overfishing and how they can be part of the solution. By helping to reward the certified fisheries around the world, who have proven that they are fishing sustainably, Sodexo and its customers will be helping to transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis.”

Michelle Hanson, Commercial Director, Sodexo UK & Ireland, said: "This is a landmark achievement for us. MSC certification of our restaurants and cafés was an ambitious target that we set ourselves as part of the Better Tomorrow Plan, our sustainability strategy to 2020.

"Like most people, we were alarmed to hear about declining fish stocks. Through MSC certification, we believe we are making a real difference in helping to protect the world's fish stocks.

"Traceability of our fish from boat to plate has always been very important to us. With the MSC Chain of Custody certification, we have complete assurance that every step of the supply chain has been certified to ensure that we know that every piece of MSC fish that we serve comes from a well managed fishery.

"We are passionate about sustainable sourcing at Sodexo and have really engaged with our staff and customers at each of our sites with training initiatives and promotional material to get everyone working together to support sustainable fishing."

Green Kings

Tough new targets for carbon emissions and water use have been launched by the British Brewing Industry.

The targets, in Brewing Green/Our commitment to a sustainable future for Britain's beer, a new report launched by the British Beer & Pub Association, call for a 17.5% reduction in overall CO2 emissions, and an 11% increase in water efficiency between now and 2020.

Britain's brewing industry already has an impressive record in reducing emissions and water use. These new commitments go well beyond any Government requirement or target. On carbon emissions alone, this means that the industry is committing to almost double the Government's 2020 carbon reduction target; 67% lower than 1990 compared with the UK target of 34%.

Sodexo scoops Springboard Award for Corporate Responsibility

Sodexo was praised for demonstrating "absolute best practice" in building corporate responsibility as an inherent part of its business plan "with demonstrable and remarkable results."

One of the Springboard judges said: "Sodexo's tight strategy is accompanied by sound investment and robust delivery plans and that is reflected throughout the business".

Thomas Jelley, corporate citizenship manager, Sodexo, said: "We are delighted to receive the Springboard Award for Excellence in Corporate Responsibility, it's a thrilling way to mark the first year of Sodexo's 'Better Tomorrow Plan', our sustainability strategy to 2020, and the efforts of colleagues across the UK and Ireland who have helped to bring it to life."

FPA Environment Seminar

The Foodservice Packaging Association has announced its second Environment Seminar, following on from the success of the first Environment Seminar held in January 2010 when more than 100 members debated key environmental issues.

The Seminar is being held at the Chesford Grange Hotel on Thursday January 13 2011 from 2.00pm to 4.45pm. The theme is ‘Foodservice Packaging - Strategies for Waste: Options to meet Changing Legal and Producer Responsibility Requirements’. A panel of high profile speakers has been secured including leading authority James Crick of Nampak Plastics, author of the DEFRA ‘Milkroad Map’ and Dr Peter Shonfield, European Technical Director of PE International, a leading expert in product Life Cycle Assessments (LCA's) and sustainability. The Seminar will be introduced by Mark Pawsey MP, who sits on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Packaging.

The event is followed by the FPA’s annual Business review dinner.

Please contact FPA Secretary Martin Kersh for more information: admin@foodservicepackaging.co.uk

London 2012 to miss its environmental targets?

London 2012 claimed the Games will be the most sustainable in recent history. However, a Going for Green report claims a lack of electric vehicles, air pollution and renewable electricity targets were areas of concern.

The report praised London's 2012's approach to mapping its carbon footprint and its aim to reuse or recycle 90% of temporary materials.

Not securing more electric vehicles for the Olympic fleet was a "missed opportunity", the committee's report concludes.

It is still not clear how carbon emissions from travel to London will be reduced and a target on renewable electricity during the staging phase of the Games is unlikely to be met, the report states.

London's air quality, which has also not improved as hoped since 2005, is also said to be a "particular concern".

Business leaders 'unhappy' about changes to CRC

The government announced changes to the Carbon Reduction Commitment as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.  These changes see the cessation of the process whereby tax revenue generated from the carbon pricing scheme are recycled back in to green projects.  The £1 billion revenue generated each year will now be contributing to reducing the deficit.  Business is concerned as this was not communicated in advance and it was felt that it was more of a “stealth tax” than a contributor to improving upon carbon reduction or energy efficiency schemes.  It is understood that companies will now have to pay £12 per tonne of carbon dioxide they emit and this is likely to increase to £14 from 2013.

Water in Your Supply Chain

Around 100 people attended the IGD “Water in Your Supply Chain” conference on 21 October when IGD launched its new guide to water in grocery supply chains. This new guide is available free and is designed to help food and grocery companies assess the impact of, and better manage the water-related risks they face. It was put together by an industry working group consisting of major grocery retailers, manufacturers and primary producers, many of whom attended the conference.

A number of presentations were made that discussed the challenges and solutions facing businesses today as they try to reduce their water footprint. The panel of speakers agreed that the journey to reduce water risks within business had started but that there was still some way to go. One area touched upon was the interaction between farmers and their clients as well as amongst farmers themselves.

Mike Barry, Head of Sustainable Business for M&S; emphasised the benefits of providing a forum within which farmers are able to discuss their successes and learn from one another. M&S provide such forums with an annual sustainability conference to which their farmers are invited and with six additional events per year at which farmers can discuss the more practical elements of implementing improvements. Annie Graham, Head of Brand Sustainability for Sainsbury’s; provided an example of how one of their potato suppliers, Greenvale, had achieved particular success with their innovative root vegetable washing system, Project Cascade. The changes introduced resulted in a reduction from 55,000 gallons to 10,000 gallons of average daily water use.

Andrew Clark, Head of Policy Services at the NFU, emphasised the need to ensure that the buyers of farmer’s produce cooperated to ensure that a single set of guidelines and a single standard was set for them to follow. This was further supported by Dr David Tickner, Head of Freshwater Programmes for the WWF, who said that he believed that there were two main areas where business could effectively work together; firstly in the construction of industry wide metrics and the definition of certain standards and secondly by cooperating at specific locations where there is water scarcity or water risk, Lake Naivasha for example.

The Ethical Landscape – Preparing for change

In recent months there have been various trends emerging in food ethics:

· Accreditations organisations have broadened their reach to include many more parts the supply chain and are beginning to compete
· Consumers are beginning to question the validity of ethical marques (e.g. Free Range, Organic etc.)
· More businesses are creating greater competitive advantage through use of ethical marques
· Differentiation for “value” brands is more difficult in the current economic climate.
· Ethics in food has become subject to greater media scrutiny and government attention
· Many Foodservice businesses have developed sophisticated strategies around ethics in their supply chain
· New accreditation schemes for ethical food are emerging and existing accreditation schemes are developing

Our Objective is to provide the foodservice operators with an update of the ethical debate in foodservice and greater clarity around legislative and consumer trends ethical trading and to help the foodservice supply chain develop their strategy towards ethics in foodservice

The proposed content of the event will be:

Ethical Marques update; Ethical Sourcing update; Consumer and customer attitudes and trends; Ethical and cultural issues across the supply chain; accreditation for small producers and operators

For any comments of any input, please email events@footprint-forum.com

Low carbon is on the menu at launch of Otarian restaurant

The first global restaurant chain to carbon footprint every menu item to international standards has opened its doors in London. Vegetarian restaurant Otarian opened two locations this month (August) in Shaftesbury Avenue and Wardour Street following the opening of two restaurants in New York earlier this year. The carbon footprints of each menu item were measured by carbon reduction company Sustain and they appear alongside the footprint of a comparable meat dish. Working with food sustainability consultancy Eat England, Sustain carried out comprehensive ‘cradle to grave’ carbon footprinting, which calculates greenhouse gas emissions from each stage of the products’ lifecycles. This includes sourcing the raw materials for each ingredient, manufacturing, packing, transporting, cooking and disposal of the product. The calculations were performed according to PAS 2050 – the UK Government’s widely accepted carbon footprint specification. Jean-Yves Cherruault, environmental accounting manager at Sustain, said: “It’s a privilege to be involved in such a pioneering project and, judging from the success of the New York restaurants, the footprint is really helping customers get a better understanding of the environmental impact of each dish. It will be interesting to monitor how this impacts customers’ choices in the coming months.”

Price of bread to soar in global wheat shortage!

A quarter of the world's total wheat exports will be withdrawn from the market after Russia suffers from its worst drought in over a century. The move instigated by Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, could cause the price of bread to soar globally.

Though the British foodservice industry buys little wheat directly from Russia, most loaves contain a large proportion of imported flour. According to the Daily Telegraph, Premier Foods commented that the price of a loaf could possibly rise by as much as 10p.

Intelligent move to benchmark sustainability in foodservice

In a far reaching move, the publishers of Foodservice Footprint assembled a number of senior foodservice industry executives to discuss the groundbreaking environmental research and benchmarking programme, Footprint Intelligence. Having piloted the Beta version with Brakes, the roundtable discussion was held at Pret A Manger’s Victoria offices before the Footprint Forum general meeting on Thursday May 27th and involved representatives from Pret A Manger, Sodexo, Reynolds, Brakes and Llanllyr Source Water.

“For years the industry has been crying out for its current environmental impact to be measured,” Charles Miers, Managing Director of Foodservice Footprint commented. “With Footprint Intelligence the industry can work together towards improving standards year on year ”

Footprint Intelligence is working inclusively with the foodservice industry to benchmark the supply chain from farm and factory to fork. Nick Fenwicke-Clennell CEO of Footprint Media Group concluded: “Suppliers will be able to monitor their own improvements and our team will be able to guide them through the data capture process. The industry is diverse and so we will be working closely with businesses to analyse the impact by sector with the aim of improving environmental performance across all sectors of the foodservice industry.”

“This is not about accreditation but about industry benchmarking”, said Miers. “As the project develops, suppliers will be able to assess their performance against a sector mean and will be able to focus resources on those areas needing attention. The net result we hope will be a steady improvement to the industry’s environmental credentials”, he said.

For further information about Footprint Intelligence please contact james@foodservicefootprint.com

ARAMARK AIMS HIGH WITH BITC

ARAMARK, the award-winning managed food service company, achieves Bronze for the second year-running in the Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index 2009.

Designed to benchmark responsible business practice, the report is used by industry leading companies at the forefront of corporate responsibility to lead change. The CR Index supports companies to improve their social and environmental performance through a targeted and systematic approach.

Val Carter, Corporate Responsibility Director, ARAMARK, said, “Taking the key learnings from last year, when we also achieved Bronze status, ARAMARK has concentrated efforts on reducing its environmental impact and stepping up momentum in core strategic areas. These include the workplace with the implementation of the employee benefits programme; the marketplace with a commitment to local food sourcing; and environment management with the completion of the company’s two-year carbon footprint analysis report.

“Working with BITC to achieve certification solidified our commitment to corporate responsibility and further demonstrates the company’s credentials in this area; it’s a true mark of our leadership in the food service industry. Thanks to our dedicated team and customers we are already working hard on all areas to ensure 2010 will be another step towards a Gold Class CR programme.”

Further results of the Index have been featured within the Responsible Business supplement of the Financial Times today.

TerraCycle UK

We are always looking for new programmes that help us reduce the environmental footprint in the food services industry – and we’ve found a new one in the UK.

TerraCycle UK is a recently established entity. In September 2009 they launched a program in partnership with coffee giants Kenco and Tassimo – collecting difficult-to-recycle packaging via the brands consumers. Once the waste is returned it is upcycled into products such as coffee coasters, tote bags, and you guessed it… garbage bins.

In 8 months TerraCycle UK has collected over 3.5 million units of pre and post consumer waste packaging and have over 25,000 consumers collecting for them – this is seven times the success rate of the first TerraCycle campaign in the USA - which after four years has close to 10 million people collecting.

The UK company head Chris Baker plans on expanding waste streams and collection locations throughout Europe by end 2010.

Through the upcycling initiative foodservice businesses can easily commit to take action and help reduce UK landfill (which currently stands at 85% of household waste).

A better tomorrow outlined in Sodexo’s new corporate citizenship report

Sodexo has announced the publication of its fifth annual corporate citizenship report - this year focussing on the company’s newly introduced ‘Better Tomorrow Plan’.

The report demonstrates the role that corporate citizenship plays in the company’s culture and performance and higlights some key achievements of Sodexo employees over the last year.

A significant development in Sodexo’s approach over the past year is the launch of the Better Tomorrow Plan, the company’s sustainability strategy to 2020. The plan aims to consolidate corporate citizenship efforts across operations by combining values and ethical principles, specific sustainability commitments and an assurance to engage with stakeholders.

Sodexo has continued to embed sustainability into its products and services during the challenging economic climate in line with its clients’ and customers’ growing expectations.

The report provides an insight into the commitments to sustainable development that underpin the ‘Better Tomorrow Plan’ and covers health, nutrition and well-being, local community development including through Sodexo’s worldwide STOP Hunger campaign, and commitments to environmental performance in the supply chain and at Sodexo sites.

The report also highlights Sodexo’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace through its award-winning Spirit of Inclusion training programme.

Thomas Jelley, Sodexo corporate citizenship manager, said: “Throughout the business, I see examples of our people going the extra mile every day and much of what they have achieved this year is featured in this report. My hope is that everyone we serve can recognise Sodexo as a company whose commitment to corporate citizenship is demonstrated through continuous improvement.”

‘Culture of food’ to be part of the Olympic legacy

The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, the independent body established to assure and monitor the sustainability of the London 2012 Games, has today published its review of food and catering across the London 2012 programme. The food review, titled On your marks, get set, grow, praises the work done by London 2012 in linking food and sustainability. This is the first Summer Games to make such a connection.

The Commission has identified a number of positive food achievements such as LOCOG’s Food Vision, which sets out plans to provide healthy, affordable and sustainable food during the Games and to celebrate of the diversity of British cuisine through on-site catering. In the review, the Commission now sets LOCOG the challenge of ensuring that these aspirations are delivered.

The ODA is also commended for improving catering standards for the Olympic construction and infrastructure workers, including the promotion of seasonal fruit and vegetables, Fairtrade products and meat from welfare-conscious sources. The Commission calls for this success to be translated into a template that can be used on any large UK construction site.

The Commission recommends exploring greater opportunities for growing food on the Olympic Park after the Games end. The OPLC should follow the example set by the Athletes Village by implementing a food strategy that would enable the Park to be ‘retrofitted’ for food-growing, making it easy for residents and businesses to access healthy and sustainable food.

Shaun McCarthy, Chair of the Commission, said: “During the London Games, around 14 million meals will be served. The challenge is not just one of scale. We must foster a culture of food that embeds sustainable practices into every link of the supply chain, thinking about health, employment and welfare, not just whether food is ‘green’. Needless to say, the food should taste great too. The ODA has already successfully tackled the ‘burgers or nothing’ option at their construction sites, and this is the kind of progress that will create a sustainable food culture that lives on after the Games come to an end.”

As an International Olympic Committee sponsor, McDonalds will provide around 20% of Games-time meals for the general public in the Olympic Park. Coca Cola and Cadbury, as sponsors, will also have a major presence at the London 2012 venues. All three companies have made considerable efforts to reduce the social and environmental impacts of their products and all three have also signed up to the LOCOG Food Vision. Given the link between sport and health, during the Games, the sponsors, along with LOCOG, will need to consider how best to address popular perception of their products.

The Commission will continue to monitor food as part of its remit and looks forward to seeing evidence of the Food Vision being delivered through the procurement process for caterers, continued activity of LOCOG’s Food Advisory Group in supporting delivery of the Food Vision, and the development and launch of the London 2012 Food Charter.

Put farmers at heart of adapting EU agriculture to climate change, says Lords Committee

The House of Lords EU Committee today publishes its report on adapting agriculture and forestry to climate change. The Committee’s inquiry has focused on the European Commission White Paper, Adapting to Climate Change: Towards a European framework for action from April 2009.

 

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is important to any drive by the EU in adapting the agricultural sector to climate change, and the report sees the need for the CAP in future to support the sustainable intensification of agriculture.  Debate within the EU on the future of the CAP after 2013 is now underway, and the Committee calls on the Government to participate constructively in that debate.

 

Currently, the greatest need for adaptation lies in the southern parts of the EU, where some Member States are already facing severe problems caused by droughts and heat waves. The White Paper recognises that, while most adaptation measures will be taken at national, regional or local levels, such measures could be strengthened by co-ordination at EU level. The Committee feels that between now and 2013 the EU needs to direct its efforts towards delivering change where it is needed most urgently.

 

The inquiry has highlighted the need to promote R&D into science and technology that will improve responses to climate change: the Committee stresses concern that, although the UK has continuing strengths in these areas, there has been a decline in the UK's research capacity over the last 20 or more years.

 

The report calls for better and more practical communication of knowledge gained from research to farmers and land managers. The European Commission has proposed a Clearing House mechanism for knowledge dissemination, but the Committee considers that this will only work if the knowledge is incorporated into practical advice for farmers; otherwise the take-up levels of adaptation measures will remain low. 

 

Further recommendations from the report include:

 

· EU co-ordination of the process of identifying gaps in scientific and technological research on subjects such as the resilience of different varieties to projected climate changes

· Strengthening the UK’s research capacity so that it can inform policy on adaptation to climate change effectively

· The production by the Commission of a short annual report assessing Member States’ approaches to using rural development programmes to promote adaptation to climate change

 

Commenting on the report, Lord Carter, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Environment and Agriculture, said:

 

“We see an important role, for the EU and for individual Member States, in driving research forward, both into the science of climate change and its impacts, and into the technology that can help farmers and foresters with mitigation and adaptation.  A strong EU research and development capacity related to climate change will provide a basis to transfer knowledge to other countries.  The UK has historic strengths in relevant research areas which it needs to reinforce.

 

“But, while better research is needed, and EU funding can be better targeted, we are quite clear that governments must turn policies into specific help and guidance to farmers and foresters. Otherwise, EU proposals may never move from aspiration into reality.” 

Corporate carbon reduction efforts put at risk by climate scepticism, finds new report

The past year has seen an upsurge in public scepticism about climate change, following the perceived failures of December’s Copenhagen summit and rising concerns about the accuracy of climate science. This is one of several factors that has stalled corporate progress on carbon reduction over the past year, as highlighted in After Copenhagen: Business and climate change, the latest in an annual sustainability research series from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The report was sponsored by the Carbon Trust, Hitachi and IBM, with supporting sponsorship from 1E.

This new report shows that the rise in scepticism is strongly echoed in the business world. More than one-half (52%) of executives agree that conflicting evidence on climate change means the jury is still out on how serious this issue is. Just 31% disagree.

Roughly as many "sceptics" (those who doubt the science on climate change) as "believers" say their companies have implemented energy efficiency initiatives—not surprising given the potential cost benefits to businesses. But far more companies with believers have actually developed new “green” products and services—and more than twice as many have improved the environmental footprint of existing products and services.

“There’s essentially a divide in the marketplace,” says James Watson, the editor of the report. “One group of companies is actively moving further along the carbon journey we outlined, while another group is unsure whether this should be a key focus. This rise in scepticism means a tougher sell when trying to make the case for environmental projects within a business.”

Other key findings include:

Efforts on climate change have stalled over the past year, neither advancing nor retreating. One in two companies (49%) globally has a coherent strategy to address issues related to climate change, slightly down on the proportion from a year ago (54%). However, the proportion of firms that are also engaging both their external partners and their supply chains in this strategy shows a starker decline, at 10% in 2010 compared with 17% the previous year. Those acting on climate change tend to be larger, publicly-listed firms.

Executives remain convinced, however, that there are significant business benefits to be gained. Nearly half (45%) of executives agree that their companies see carbon emission reduction as a way to gain competitive advantage by cutting costs. The economic downturn has not materially damaged these efforts: of those who made a change to their existing focus (if any) on carbon reduction, 26% are doing more, especially in terms of energy efficiency, compared with 11% that are doing less. Fifty-nine per cent say their companies see carbon reduction as a way to obtain advantage through new products and services.

Business has less confidence than ever in the ability of governments to deliver a level regulatory playing field. Nearly one-half (46%) of those polled are now more pessimistic about the ability of their government to deal with climate change, especially in an international context.

PR considerations are still the most common driver of carbon reduction efforts. More than one-third (35%) of executives say that climate change is always taken into account in public relations (PR) efforts.

In addition, highlighted within the report are a set of scenarios that explore potential policy and economic outcomes over the medium term. Rather than seeking to predict where carbon policy is going, they aim to provide business leaders with a set of potential environments they might find themselves operating in and some associated implications.

Convotherm wins Gulfood Award for best Ecological Initiative

The new Convotherm EcoCooking mode, which was launched in the UK at Hotelympia, has won the Gulfood Award for the best ecological initiative. Manitowoc launched their new eco friendly Convotherm ovens at this years Hotelympia with great success, and this award is a testament to the significant energy savings that can now  be achieved.

The new EcoCooking Mode has been designed to reduce energy usage by up to 25% and will be added as a standard to all models from 2010. With increased energy prices continuing to burden commercial kitchens, the idea of saving 25% on energy consumption is a highly attractive prospect and an something that should not be ignored.

The operation system is quite simple as it is both easy and brilliant; the integrated Advanced Closed Systems keeps almost all the heat inside the chamber and does not allow it to escape while cooking. This new feature uses pre-programmed pulses of energy to maintain the required temperature, rather than keeping the power going throughout cooking. The food itself continues to cook by using the residual heat to prolong cooking and achieve the perfect result, even in the shortest amount of time.

This new feature not only saves energy, but actually improves the quality of many cooked food products such as roast meats, making them much more tender and reducing waste loss.

Silent Running

On the subject of transport savings, Footprint attended the launch of an electric vehicle initiative on Friday.

A joint venture between foodservice operators Bunzl Catering Supplies and Sodexo sees the launch of the CO2 emissions-free and noise-free vehicle as part of continued sustainable distribution initiatives developed by the two businesses. Seeing it run, one could whistfully imagine the difference to noise levels if all vehicles were similar.

The 7.5 tonne light-goods vehicle, which will make its first official delivery on March 1st 2010, will have a range of up to 130 miles and a top speed of around 50mph. Drivers will be able to ‘refuel’ by recharging the vehicle at any standard three-phase socket. A day’s usage will cost ten per cent of the cost of fuel used by a conventional vehicle coveringthe same distance.

The vehicle was officially launched by Jim Haywood, Director of Environment Impact at Business in the Community (BITC), alongside Michelle Hanson, Commercial Director Sodexo UK and Ireland, and Max Harris, Operations & Regional Sales Director at Bunzl Catering Supplies. Both Sodexo and Bunzl are members of the BITC’s Mayday Network on Climate Change, the UK’s largest coalition of businesses that have committed to take action on climate change.

Food & Grocery Companies exceed four year target in three years

International food and grocery expert, IGD has announced today that 124million HGV miles have been taken off UK roads as part of its Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) UK Sustainable Distribution initiative.

The miles saved initiative has exceeded its four year target of removing 120million road miles by the end of 2010, a year early – the equivalent of removing 2000 lorries from Britain’s roads – and conserving 60 million litres of diesel fuel per year.

Originally spearheaded by companies involved in ECR UK under the auspices of the IGD, the activities have been extended across the industry and now includes 40 of the UK’s leading household retailer and manufacturer brands. Engaging in initiatives such as the use of double-deck vehicles and the sharing of lorries to deliver grocery products, these companies are significantly reducing the environmental impact of transporting food and groceries in the UK.

Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive, IGD comments: “This is an outstanding achievement. Sustainability remains top of the agenda for both the food industry and the Government. This successful initiative demonstrates that even in a highly competitive industry, companies remain committed to minimising environmental impact, meeting consumer demands, and at the same time reducing costs.

“This innovative and efficient way of working could shape the way we transport food and grocery items in the future. “

Chris Tyas, Business Services & Group Supply Chain Director, UK & Ireland, Nestlé comments: “One quarter of lorries on our roads are still estimated to be running empty on their way back from delivering goods. This offers huge scope for more companies of all sizes to implement similar activities, potentially saving millions more road miles in the UK.

“ECR UK continues to be the collaborative forum helping companies to secure high performance from its operations. Despite the recessionary environment we have seen companies come together to collaborate and make a real difference to the environment.”

The road miles saved have been generated through a mix of best practice internal projects and external partnerships between retailers and suppliers. IGD has helped to contribute towards the miles saved by providing the industry with a suite of online resources designed to capture and share best practice across the supply chain. These resources can be found at www.igd.com/ecr.

Global tea brand Tetley adds Rainforest Alliance certification

Tetley, the world’s second largest manufacturer and distributor of tea, has today announced its decision to obtain Rainforest Alliance certification for the Tetley brand globally.

Tetley has committed to purchasing all of the tea for its branded teabag and loose tea products from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM farms. All Tetley branded black, green and red (Rooibos) tea, including flavoured and decaffeinated varieties, will be part of the certification programme, which is scheduled for completion by 2016.

The first certified products will be available for the UK foodservice channel from April 2010. Tetley products sourced from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM farms will then become more widely available in the UK and Canada early in 2011, followed by launches in other key markets including the US, Australia and mainland Europe from 2012.

Given its presence in 70 countries around the world, Tetley’s commitment to Rainforest Alliance certification is a significant move for the global tea industry that will have a wide-reaching and positive impact across the brand’s global supply chains. The collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance will empower and support growers to proactively address and manage the social and environmental challenges they face. Tea producers in all the major tea-growing regions will benefit.

All farms that are Rainforest Alliance Certified™ have met the environmental, social, and economic standards of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN). The SAN standards cover ecosystem conservation, worker rights and safety, wildlife protection, water and soil conservation, agrochemical reduction, decent housing, and legal wages and contracts for workers.

Tetley is one of the brands of the Tata Beverage Group. CEO, Peter Unsworth, said, “Our consumers will be able to enjoy their favourite Tetley blend knowing it has been produced in a way that respects the environment and the tea growers and pickers. We are delighted to be working with the Rainforest Alliance and Sustainable Agriculture Network who are well positioned to support a brand with the scale and reach of Tetley”.

Responding to Tetley’s announcement, Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance said, “We welcome this commitment from Tetley wholeheartedly. Tea farmers have faced many challenges, but working together we can make industry-wide changes to ensure positive environmental and social practices, and give consumers what they really want – reassurance that their cup of tea benefits both farmers and the land.”

Tetley remain active members of the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), whose existing programme and collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance will help facilitate the launch of Tetley certified products.

Sally Uren, Deputy CEO of Forum for the Future commented, “We have worked with Tetley for eight years, helping them bring sustainability to the heart of their business. Their plans with the Rainforest Alliance are evidence of a deep commitment to delivering a great product in a sustainable way. By doing the right thing for growers, pickers and the environment, Tetley is signalling its long term vision of helping create a sustainable global tea industry”.

Northern Ireland vs. Northern Italy

Whilst locked in emergency talks at the Stormont Assembly, I was surprised to see Gordon Brown, in a natural-resource rich region like Northern Ireland help himself to an Italian water brand in a cabinet office.

Pig Business!

Marchioness ‘Tracy’ of Worcester invited MP’s at Westminster to see her hard-hitting film Pig Business, which challenges the pork industry and campaigns for pig welfare, with the support of Zac Goldsmith, Tom Parker Bowles and actress Miranda Richardson.

Worcester told the Evening Standard ‘Until there is a mandatory country of origin and welfare label on pork, I believe we must ban the import of animals that are produced to a lower standard’.

Foodservice Footprint awaits eagerly to hear whether Pig Business has a similar impact to The End of The Line and makes a true measurable difference.

Unilever embracing the principles of sustainability?

Foodservice Footprint recently suggested that business leaders should be aware of the bigger picture and not succumb to ‘path dependency’. We were thus delighted to hear Paul Polman, the chief executive of Unilever, argue along similar lines, by making an impassioned plea at a session in Davos to ignore demands of short-term shareholders and lead from the front on sustainability and climate change.

Mr Polman joined Unilever a year ago and has had an eye on the long-term success of the business and not merely on shareholder value. According to The Times ‘this required him to take costly actions to ensure it had a sustainable business, for example in terms of palm oil supplies’. Mr. Polman commented ‘We want to be in business for the next 500 years’. Has Unilever grasped the principles of sustainability?

Oh to be a forecaster…

When I was young our summer seaside holiday was spent on the east Northumbrian coast. The weather was generally iffy to say the least and our method of forecasting was to hang seaweed outside the door which was remarkably accurate.

Today our weather forecasts are the result of rather more sophisticated, highly intricate and extremely expensive computer models, so we should perhaps expect even higher levels of accuracy.

Not so. ‘Barbeque summer’, the Met Office said, winter ‘milder and wetter than average’. Poor chaps – they just can’t get it right can they. Where do they get their data from? Surprise surprise … the same computer models as are used to predict climate change … the one’s recently discredited as being manipulated to suit certain vested interest. Funny that…

Another ‘Dodgy Dossier’?

With the Sunday papers full of the news that the IPCC has begrudgingly withdrawn another of its wilder claims – that of the disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 -the rumble of climate change ‘deniers’ grows louder by the minute.

The story here is that the 2035 claim was made originally in a paper by a Dr.Syed Hasnain who works for The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of which IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri happens to be Director General. It now turns out, according to Dr Murari Lal, the co-ordinating lead author on the asian section of the IPCC 2007 report, that the authors were aware the statement was unsound, but kept it in because ‘We thought that if we can highlight it, it will impact policy makers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action’.

Does anyone see a parallel with the 45 minutes scenario currently under discussion in the Iraq enquiry?

That aside, this is yet another own goal by the IPCC following the manipulated data scenario in the autumn. What is worrying is that the more these stories emerge, the more they will enflame public cynicism towards the whole environmental issue and that, in many minds, includes the very real issues of sustainability facing the world at large and the food industry in particular.

Initial thoughts on Food 2030

A couple of points that need to be addressed regarding DEFRA’s campaign Food 2030 announced today:

One of the aims is to reduce greenhouse gas in the food chain and another is to cut food waste and use technologies that allow us to create energy from the waste we can’t avoid.

As far as I am aware most of the bigger businesses in foodservice have taken gigantic leaps in this direction already, with very little or no help from the current government. To that extent the smaller foodservice businesses cannot afford to do so. So I wonder what the government is proposing to assist smaller businesses?

Furthermore, Hilary Benn is still banging the 5 A Day drum, although it is common knowledge that if the entire population were to actually follow this directive, the environmental impact would be disastrous.