Eating good food shouldn’t cost the earth
“Aubrey Allen are committed to reducing our carbon emissions year on year. We feel it is our responsibility not only as a business but for our industry as a whole to show environmental commitment now and for the future. We look at all aspects of our business and how we can make constant improvements ensuring sustainable change occurs. We already have in place many systems and new projects to ensure we always have environmental wellbeing at the forefront of our work. Improving our sustainability is not just a sole business goal – we aim to be industry leaders to ensure we are setting high standards for all companies to follow.” – Russell Allen.
We have achieved our second year of accreditation with Planet Mark. A sustainability certification measuring all areas of the business which has given a total carbon footprint of 746.1tCO2e p.a. with an absolute carbon reduction of -5.1% equating to -40.2% per employee.
By working with Planet Mark we have committed to continually reducing our carbon footprint through some of the projects mentioned below.
Packaging
We work continuously to improve our packaging, from the external packaging we use to send orders via courier to how our products are packed. The food industry understandably has high standards for new products entering the market with our goods perishable, this makes it a lengthy process for us to adopt change. We have been pleased to introduce the following changes so far:
- FSC sustainable paper pulp compostable gastro trays, which are kerbside recyclable and compostable.
- Crate system on our fleet vans to eliminate the use of external packaging.
- RPET burger and cheese trays, made out of recycled content and recyclable in kerbside schemes.
- Purchasing whole carcasses that arrive with no packaging and are broken down on site by our butchers.
- All labels and peach paper is FSC approved and recyclable.
We continuously work with our suppliers to source more sustainable packaging where possible, and our aim is to ensure all packaging we use is kerbside recyclable in the future.
Transport
We have our own fleet of Aubrey Allen vehicles that deliver to our customers nationwide. We use intelligent software that allows us to plan routes, use the minimum mileage, reduce carbon emissions and improve efficiency. We use courier partners to areas that are not viable for our fleet and work closely with them to provide us with statistics and update information on their sustainability processes.
We currently have two electric vans which service our closest routes, which has reduced our transport emissions further. We hope to grow our electric fleet in the future as technology develops for an increased mileage range.
We have invested in five electric company cars with EV points on site. We hold meetings via video where possible or travel using public transport.
Energy Usage
Energy usage is a huge expenditure for us, due to our carcass and maturation fridges running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Our butchery unit runs 20 hours per day, so there is an almost continual workforce in flow.
We have installed 640 solar panels through Ineco Energy which will provide us with 25% of our annual energy needs, helping to reduce energy cost and carbon emissions.
Our buildings has sensored lighting throughout so areas and offices are not lit unnecessarily.
When our current energy contract is up for renewal our aim is to tender with renewable energy providers.
Paper
One area of focus for this year is to reduce our paper use, with small changes making a big impact already!
With a drive on thinking before you print, we have managed to reduce our black and white prints by 73% and have reduced our colour prints by 77%. This in just two months alone has saved almost 24,000 pieces of paper.
60% of our office staff are now using a reusable whiteboard style jotter or rocket book rather than a notepad or paper.
One of our sales managers are using a reusable bamboo business card with built in NFC technology that transfers their contact details directly over to the persons smart phone when held next to it, eliminating the need to order business cards.
