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.