When researching our biggest supermarkets across the UK, you will find that current headlines all have a similar theme. ‘Asda to add plastic-free refill stations to more UK stores’, ‘Co-op targets carbon neutrality across own-brand food and drink by 2025’ and ‘Morrisons to source exclusively from net-zero British farms by 2030’. There seems to be a battle for the most environmental supermarket and who can release the most ambitious targets. So how meaningful are these statements?
One of the major challenges is the sheer number of issues supermarkets must tackle. Strong public opinion drives incentives on plastic waste, renewable energy, slave labour in supply chains and strong human rights. Yet, more complex issues like the effect on biodiversity, carbon footprints of products and palm oil are harder for the public to embrace. Modern supply chains are undeniably complex, constantly shifting and adapting to multiple stressors. In the West we are privileged to enjoy a regular and consistent supply of high quality goods, even during pandemics and severe weather. Yes, even for single metrics the quantity of data to collect and collate can be overwhelming. If you wished to examine the water use for a single product such as an orange, you could be dealing with hundreds of farmers; many small growers within co-operatives. Then the actual water quantity figure used by these growers is meaningless, unless we place it in the context of questions such as what the water availability is, how is this likely to change with a growing local population, whether there are current issues with over water abstraction and how that might affect local biodiversity and how this might change in the ongoing climate crisis?
What begins as a relatively simple single metric question: how to reduce water use, then becomes a complex data management issue, where you must place the current supermarket supply chain within the best available data sets for current, short term and long term visibility. How does extreme heat effect our tomato supply chain? What is the effect of an event over 40oc on availability and quality? How can we mitigate this? Where should we target our resources? Kate Fox our Sustainable Food professional is a specialist in this area working with Professor Tim Benton of Chatham house for 7 years prior to joining Thomson Consultants/ District Eating. (Here is the link to Kate’s case study).
Excitingly, Foundation Earth in collaboration with Oxford University and Mondra have embraced this complexity, and in Autumn 2021 are due to release a pilot launch of the eco impact of food products. Using life cycle analysis (published Poore and Nemecek (2018) (Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science) of the farming, processing, packaging, transport, carbon, water usage, water pollution and impact on biodiversity involved in producing the product. They have a raft of significant partners including Sainsbury’s, the Co-op, M&S, Nestle, Greencore, Abel+Cole and Naked etc.
We look forward to seeing this scheme implemented as well as helping businesses assess and reduce their environmental impact. For more information please get in touch – pip@districteating.com
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