15 Aug, 2011
At apetito we’re well aware of how much the supply chain matters not only for the continuity of supply that is so critical in our sector, but for managing the environmental and social impacts of the food we supply.
That’s why each year we carry out a lifecycle analysis project, where we map and cost the carbon impacts of our business and the supply sources we use. In carbon terms (the fuel and energy we use), apetito represents about 12% of all the emissions it takes to get food on the plate for the patient. Most of the impact we see is back up the supply chain often in the agriculture and primary processing of food.
A great deal of sustainability advantage can be gained from making the right food choices, and from working with our suppliers and encouraging them to work with us to have the most environmentally-effective sourcing.
How do we do this? We simply get out and talk to them about our sustainability aims. They teach us a thing or two as well. On a recent sustainability visit to one of our frozen vegetable suppliers, we saw really great practice in water recycling (they are effectively ‘offwater- grid’ for part of the year). They’ve also just installed photovoltaic cells across every inch of roof space they have – cutting the carbon cost of refrigeration. We also talked through with them how they support their farmers. They work close to their suppliers with minimal transport links (crops nearly all come in by tractor) and provide a great deal of support on agronomy and the efficient use of fertilizers and pesticides.
One of the key issues we wanted to focus on was how they prevented farm food waste – and it seems as though they do this very well. It’s all about the ability to handle, process and capture the crop as soon as it's ready for harvest. Investment in equipment availability to ensure no crop is left in the fields is critical. For example, if the cauliflower can’t be processed in the week or two that it’s ready to harvest, it’s lost with substantial environmental and cost implications. Their processing capacity and close relationship with farmers pretty-well eliminates any lost and degraded crops, which is otherwise all too common.
Last month we went to see one of our main sea fish suppliers up in Grimsby. We rely on them quite a bit for their expertise and fish market knowledge to make sure we are sourcing only sustainable fish (fish not flagged by the Marine Conservation Society as being a ‘worry’). It’s a real down-on-the-industrial-estate-behind-the-docks kind of business and there is the ever-present Grimsby smell of fish (!), but they are well organised, and able to track for us and work with suppliers to ensure the fish is from viable fisheries. The chain of custardy documentation that has to be managed to prove fish comes from where it is stated and is within quota, etc., is formidable – but it gives us all the guarantee that it’s caught where and when it is supposed to be.
Keeping talking, exchanging ideas, setting out our expectations, and avoiding waste at every point in the food chain - that's how to make sustainability happen.
- This article appeared in Issue 5 of the Healthcare News Bites which you can download here