The UK frozen food sector has teamed up with The Carbon Trust to outline how companies in the category can slash their carbon dioxide emissions.
The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has issued a report it claims identifies energy savings equivalent to 4,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
The report, dubbed Improving The Energy Efficiency of The Cold Chain, investigated the potential to reduce energy usage and cut carbon dioxide emissions by managing operating temperatures without reducing food quality or food safety.
The reports claimed some frozen food manufacturers and cold store operators keep their cold stores at a lower temperature than necessary due to concerns that products will be exposed to warmer temperatures later in the supply chain.
Eight key opportunities to improve cold chain efficiency were identified through the project. One example is raising cold store air temperature and suction pressure control by about 6ºC to give energy savings of over 15%.
Brian Young, director-general of the BFFF, said: “BFFF wanted to not only emphasise the importance of energy savings and carbon reductions within the frozen food industry, but also to create cost saving opportunities for our membership. Together with the Carbon Trust, we believe this report is an important start to this process.”
