When speaking about the carbon footprint of food, its entire life cycle must be taken into account. Different stages in food production have a different impact on the environment. The final carbon footprint is a sum of the different stages of the whole life cycle.
Fazer encourages all actors in the value chain to increasingly responsible operations. It is important that consumers know what the carbon footprint of food consists of and what the impact of the different life cycle stages is on it.
Fazer’s bakeries conduct systematic environmental work in production and the supply chain
Finding out what the carbon footprint of any given food product is not all that simple. Growing conditions of primary production and the long production chains of raw materials make it challenging to get information and ensure that the information is extensive. However, studying the supply chain from a carbon footprint point of view provides a good deal of valuable information and creates new opportunities for improving operations.
Energy
The main factor affecting a bakery’s carbon load is energy consumption. Fazer is constantly improving its bakeries’ energy efficiency, for example, by conducting a systematic analysis of the efficiency of production lines. The energy analyses of bakeries, which will be finalized in 2011, are part of this efficiency improvement programme.
The carbon footprint calculation of Fazer Puikula Täysjyväruis bread covers all emissions of energy used by the bakery. In 2011, over half of the electricity used by the production units of Fazer Bakeries & Confectionery in Finland will be generated with renewable energy. The stated targets are 50 % for hydroelectric power and 10 % for wind power. In accordance with the LCA model, however, we do not compensate emissions caused by renewable energy in our carbon footprint calculations.
Waste
Reducing the amount of production waste and so-called zero waste are an important goal for us. We have worked with our partners for a long period of time in order to be able to utilise production waste in an efficient and environmentally friendly way.
Most of the production waste is used as animal feed, mostly to pigs. Production waste which is not suitable for animal feed, e.g. wrapped products, is used as raw material of bio ethanol and landfill gas. This way, we have managed to reduce the amount of food waste ending up as landfill waste.
Sourcing
Sourcing applies a process in which information about suppliers is systematically gathered before selection and approval. Auditing potential suppliers is part of the process, and the purpose of the audit is to assess the level of the supplier’s performance regarding production, quality and environmental issues. Especially carbon footprint related questions and suggestions for cooperation have now been added to the pre-selection process. Equipment investment and tender related processes take into account environmental considerations, climate impact issues in particular.