Less is more. And less is better. During 2023, Greenfood managed to lower the CO2 emissions per ton sold food from own operation with a stirring 60 percent. That means that we’re well on the way to our 2025 goal. Obviously, we’re happy, but we’re far from done.
Being responsible, looking to the future and working towards a more sustainable business is challenging. However, being in the business of sustainable foodtech and all things green and healthy, reducing our climate footprint is an obvious to-do for us.
As part of our footprint-reducing ambitions, we tied our efforts to a bond, a bond linked to our sustainability framework. One of the goals stated – in our Scope 1 and 2 – was to reduce emissions from our own operation by 55 percent by 2025.
Said and done. We invested in new cooling systems. We upped the energy efficiency by improving working methods and consolidation of production facilities. And we invested in a higher share of renewable energy. On top of that, we started replacing our diesel-powered vehicles with pure electric cars or plug-in hybrid cars.
The results speak for themselves. In 2023, the climate impact per ton sold food was a staggering 60.2% lower than baseline year 2020.
"By 2025, the goal is to achieve a 55 percent reduction in climate impact."
But this is just a start. Lisa Isakson, Head of Sustainability at Greenfood, has more improvements up her sleeve.
"The reduction is mainly due to a comprehensive approach to climate and energy issues and investing in heat recovery and renewable energy. Going forward, we expect the reduction to accelerate further with the upcoming installation of solar panels at our 44,000 square meter facility in Helsingborg."
Solar energy, indeed. And there’s plenty more. Continued work with Scope 1 and 2 will join hands with Scope 3 where we focus on reduction to the carbon footprint. This requires continuous improvements to the product range, for example, by replacing products produced in greenhouses heated by fossil energy, with products from greenhouses heated by renewable energy or using surplus heat.
We are also looking into replacing fish, chicken, and cheese with vegetarian or vegan alternatives. Furthermore, we will reduce the share of products transported by air and increase the share of locally grown products, and actively choose suppliers with a lower climate impact than their competitors.
To minimise the climate footprint of our transports, we will set higher requirements for renewable fuels when buying transport from external suppliers and explore the possibilities of changing the transport method from air and truck to boat or train.
Additionally, we’ve initiated a collaboration with Elonroad, Öresundskraft and the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University, which has received funding from Vinnova, to develop charging of electrified freight transport. This initiative will increase knowledge regarding the charging of heavy vehicles at logistics terminals, and result in a scalable concept that can be rolled out at Greenfood’s various facilities in the country, as well as to other logistics terminals.
You see, we’re dedicated in our work, using every single ounce of our power of innovation to find new ways to lower our impact. Now, all we can hope for is that we can inspire our entire business to follow suit. Onwards and forwards.
We measure our climate impact according to the GHG protocol's guidelines in Scopes 1, 2 and 3. Scope 1 includes direct emissions of greenhouse gases from sources owned or controlled by Greenfood. Scope 2 includes indirect greenhouse gas emissions from purchased energy. Here we have included consumption of purchased electricity, district heating and district cooling. Scope 3 includes indirect greenhouse gas emissions from our value chain such as incoming and outgoing transports, production of goods we buy, business travel and waste management.