‘Footprint is the new currency'

The climate policy and CO2 reduction is a hot topic. How do you deal with this as a food producer? Catering and supermarkets are already asking for insight into the CO2 footprints of their suppliers: how are you going to give them that insight?

Especially for its relations, PS in foodservice organised an event regarding CO2 reduction together with Ecochain and ABN AMRO. During a dynamic morning programme, knowledge was shared and various entrepreneurs told their stories. After that, there was room for networking and discussion while enjoying a sustainable and healthy lunch; PS in foodservice had found a number of producers who were actively involved in sustainability, for instance by using ingredients from residual flows.

Scarce resources

Nicole Kleuskens, director at PS in foodservice, says that about 2 years ago, she started frequently receiving questions about the availability of CO2 values in the PS database. She did not waste any time. “The first values, from Ecofields, are already available. Hopefully, more producers will follow soon, because the (catering) market is asking for it.” Rob Morren, Sector Banker Food at ABN AMRO, underlines the importance of the circular economy and the 17 Sustainable Goals. “Not only is the world population growing exponentially, meaning raw materials are becoming scarce, but climate change is also putting the availability of raw materials like grain and soy under pressure”, he argues. “We cannot make it with a linear economy. We have to go to a circular system.”

To measure is to know

“Everyone has to be accountable, including us as a bank”, Rob continues. “The Central Bank asks us to demonstrate that we are making a positive contribution to things like CO2 reduction. Our CO2 footprint is partially the product of what our customers do. The same applies to supermarkets; how sustainable we are is the sum of the footprint of the products on the shelves, so a part of your competitive position. A low footprint adds value to your product. In other words: Footprint is the new currency.” Christian Oudijk, commercial director at Vermaat Catering, already sees that happening in his company: “Mapping your sustainability starts with ‘to measure is to know’. We ask for added salts, sugar and vegetable and animal proteins. We measure every quarter and can actively respond to that. Some figures are easier to generate, such as waste. CO2 reduction is harder to map; we are dependent on the data of our suppliers for that.” Drees Willem van den Bosch, founder of Willem & Drees, recommended putting the raw materials in a matrix and focusing on the quadrant with the greatest environmental impact and the largest volume. “It is important to realise that the footprint only provides limited insight. We find the True Price more ‘honest’; it also takes the ecological and social footprint into account.”

Facts versus framing

Harold Theunissen, manager chain programs at Vion Food, talks about their sustainability goals and how they approached footprinting. That is about making choices. “Extensive systems, for instance, have a smaller footprint. If you opt for more animal-friendliness, for instance by letting animals live longer, then this automatically creates a higher CO2 emission. Other core values also limit our possibilities for energy saving. Ensuring food safety, for instance, always comes first for us. We make absolutely no concessions in this regard. Cooling is a core process in our industry, and that simply costs a lot of energy.” He explains that it is Vion’s ambition to be able to place the CO2 emissions on each meat package as a footprint number, which can actually be traced back to that piece of meat. “The great question is: how do you do that? What do you include in the calculations and what do you leave out? Our tip: ensure reliable data, do not make assumptions and use good tools, software and consultancy”, he advises. “What you get is objective information and quantitative insight. Facts versus framing.” 

New method

Vion didn’t have to start from scratch: Ecochain has developed a method to make circularity measurable. Other companies are also working and experimenting with it. Director of business development EcoChain Boudewijn Mos: “How sustainable you are as a food producer or supplier is increasingly becoming part of government tenders. It will soon determine whether or not your products are included in the ranges of caterers of supermarkets. But you shouldn’t do all that because the retailer or government wants you to, but because you yourself want to know how sustainability relates to your costs. Use the figures as a foundation for action-driven improvement. Reducing your CO2 footprint can result in higher profits and more growth. But you do have to know what knobs to turn.”

Go through that process

Nicole Kleuskens decides: “The CO2 footprint is a new and very complex product content measure. This is only the beginning, and the data we receive from suppliers is still minimal. We expect that this will improve and increase significantly in the coming years”. 

Everyone does agree that we should simply get started! Go through that process of fitting and measuring, trial and error and continuously repeating it; that way, step by step, you receive a higher level of action. Or, as Harold Theunissen describes working on your footprint: ‘It’s a journey!’. Footprint is not only ‘the new currency’; sustainability, according to Boudewijn Mos, will become ‘the new license to operate’.

www.PSinfoodservice.nl

Photo: ©Lukiyanova Natalia Frenta/Shutterstock.com