Operational efficiency

Throughout their factory operations, food and beverage companies are employing technological innovations to drive down GHG emissions. The buzz words behind their efforts are reduced energy consumption, increased efficiency, and circularity.

A first imperative for manufacturers is to cut out all excess energy use from their production plants. This means investing in modern equipment, sometimes incorporating artificial intelligence to ensure smooth running and avoid down-time, such as using sensors to tell operators when the kit needs cleaning.

They are also looking to remove coal from their energy mix and replace it with greener, alternative sources like biomass, hydropower, wind and solar energy. Sometimes they can produce their own green energy on-site, for instance by installing solar panels on factor roofs, or building wastewater treatment plants that take a waste side stream from one part of operations and convert it into biomass to power another.

And when they can't produce it themselves, some food companies are investing in energy suppliers to enable them to build and scale up renewable energy infrastructure, such as wind farms in locations whose energy needs are poorly served.

Reducing energy consumption

One way to significantly reduce GHG emissions is to reduce energy consumption in factories. This means up-grading equipment to energy efficient models, ensuring that operations run at optimum efficiency, and reducing down-time — both planned and unplanned — to a minimum.

New technologies have been introduced for production plants to be cleaned more quickly, thoroughly,

in situ, and at the right moment to maintain productivity and avoid outages. A partnership between the

University of Nottingham in the UK and equipment supplier Martec of Whitwell led to development of

artificial intelligence sensors embedded in machinery, which inform operatives when a cleaning cycle is

needed. 50

In a similar vein, in 2018 Coca Cola Europe invested €900,000 in electro chemical activation cleaning at its

plant in Ploiești, Romania, resulting in an annual reduction of 2,730 MWh in energy used and a 870 tonne

reduction in carbon emissions — as well as savings of 18,000 m3 of water and 100 tonnes of chemicals

each year. 51

Another way of reducing energy consumption is to use the waste outputs from one part of operations to

power another. For instance, Unilever installed an anaerobic flotation reactor at its Ben & Jerry's factory in

the Netherlands, using waste from ice cream production and wastewater from cleaning to create biogas,

which is then used in the factory’s GreEnergy project for insulating water during the production process. 52

A similar installation at Mars' factory in Veghel, the Netherlands, results in in a reduction of 25,4 TJ in energy

consumption each year and 1 .5 kton of carbon emissions. 53

At Kellogg's UK factories in Manchester and Wrexham, energy is recovered from the wastewater treatment

systems and exhaust systems on cookers respectively; in both cases it is used to (pre) heat water, resulting

in combined energy reductions of over 3,700 MWh. 54

Clean energy

Food manufacturers can also slash their carbon emissions by removing coal from their energy mix and replacing it with greener alternatives, such as biomass, hydropower, wind and solar energy. This calls for investment in renewable energy infrastructures in areas where access to electricity is limited and working with energy suppliers to enable scale up of technological innovations.

For example Unilever, which is aiming at carbon neutrality by 2030, has entered into power purchase

agreements (PPAs) with renewable energy producers and purchases national renewable electricity

certificates (RECs) in individual countries from a dedicated renewable electricity source. As a result, all its

locations in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America are powered by 100% renewable grid

electricity; and 16 manufacturing sites are completely carbon neutral in their energy use. 55

The energy needs of Mars' 70 production sites in the US are covered by a 25,000 acre wind farm in Texas

called Mesquite Creek, with a similar project for its 6 sites in Mexico. 56 Similarly, General Mills signed a 15-

year PPA with Roaring Fork Wind, LLC, a joint venture partnership between Renewable Energy Systems and

Steelhead Americas, for 200 megawatts (MW) of its Maverick Creek wind project in central Texas. Together

with the company’s previous wind power agreement, General Mills now has energy credits equal to 100%

of the electricity used annually at its domestic facilities. 57

Kellogg, meanwhile, has conducted a global renewable energy assessment with a third party to determine

the technical and financial feasibility of renewable power in each of its markets. Amongst the innovations

realised, its plant in Taloja, India has installed solar panels, which are already delivering 10 percent of the

facility’s power requirements. 58

Visit Fi Global Insights to read more on: Greener food manufacturing: a round-up of innovations bit.ly/greener-food-manufacturing

Palsgaard reaps benefits of carbon-neutral production

Sustainable business practices are increasingly the norm, with companies ahead of the curve setting an example for the rest of the industry to follow.

Informa spoke with Jakob Thøisen, CEO of Danish emulsifier and stabiliser manufacturer Palsgaard, to find out how his company achieved carbon neutrality two years ahead of schedule, and what benefits this has brought the business.

Jakob Thøisen, CEO, Palsgaard

When did Palsgaard set its goal of carbon-neutral production - what were the key factors behind this decision?

“In the 2000s, we became seriously concerned about climate change. In fact, the head of the foundation that owns Palsgaard visited Greenland and saw some of the devastating effects for himself. At the same time, we realised many of our customers shared our fears too.”

“There were a lot of discussions about what we could do as a company, and in 2010 we set ourselves the goal of completely carbon-neutral production by 2020. It’s a matter of great pride that we achieved that target in 2018 – two years ahead of schedule. Over that period, we reduced our net carbon emissions from 12 029 tonnes to zero, achieving reductions totalling 56 175 tonnes, which is the amount produced by 4 885 European households in a year.”

Emulsifier production is energy intensive. What sort of changes – operational and technological - did you need to put in place to succeed?

“It’s true that the manufacture of emulsifiers requires very high temperatures, high pressure, and high levels of energy. Achieving our goal therefore required a culture shift across the whole company, but primarily we worked to change the energy sources used by our factories and reduce energy consumption. We adopted new heat recovery and insulation techniques, switched from heavy fuel oil to certified biogas, and increased our use of renewables.”

“At our main site in Denmark, all electricity is now sourced from hydro power, and our buildings are heated by burning straw from our own fields rather than oil. Our Dutch factory has over 800 solar panels and has run off only renewable energy (solar, wind and biogas) since the start of 2018.”

What were some of the key challenges you encountered as you sought to achieve your goals?

“There were a lot of practical challenges, for example investment in insulation, which required a large financial outlay. However, once it was done, we started seeing the benefits and savings straight away.”

“There was also a bigger organisational challenge. When we started, we didn’t know about all the measures we were going to have to put in place in the years to come. In other words, we set ourselves the goal without knowing exactly how to reach it. But along the way we became more and more confident and ultimately, we succeeded two years ahead of schedule.”

What impact has going carbon-neutral had on your business – both operationally, but also culturally?

“Sustainability has been a major concern for our customers, and their consumers, for many years. We knew the announcement that we’d achieved carbonneutral production would go down well, but the response has been even more enthusiastic than we’d imagined. There’s been growing interest in our products, and we’ve been invited to tell our story at numerous conferences and events, as well as getting a fantastic reaction in the media and social media.”

“It's also a source of pride for our employees and something that helps us attract talent. Many young people expect companies to behave responsibly and demonstrate purpose in what they do. They can find this at Palsgaard, which makes it easier for us to attract the talent we need to drive our company forward.”

What can the ingredients industry as a whole learn from Palsgaard’s carbon-neutral journey?

“They can learn a lot from the practical steps we’ve taken, but the most important thing we’ve done is shown it’s possible. If companies want to go down the same route, the example is now there.”

“It’s great that we’re getting so much interest, but what we ultimately want is for carbon-neutrality to stop being a differentiator for us, and instead to become the norm. That will inevitably happen at some point, because consumers will demand it, and competition will force companies to take action.”

What role do the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) play in your strategic decision-making?

“We wholeheartedly support the SDGs, and the goals around sustainable production were an important driver for us.”

“We’ve actually had direct involvement with the UN after they invited us to take part in their SDG Accelerator Programme. In addition to emulsifiers, we produce food-grade solutions for the polymer industry, and the result of our participation in the project was Einar® 1122 – a new antifog coating for industrial packaging, which keeps food looking fresh at low temperatures.”

“As consumers tend to choose visually appealing products – leaving those with foggy packaging to decay – it helps reduce food waste, contributing to SDG2 (end world hunger) and SDG12 (sustainable consumption and production).”

What does Palsgaard have in the pipeline, in terms of consolidating its sustainable practices?

“We’re committed to reducing our carbon footprint even further. A key element of that is the creation of a solar energy park at our main facility, which we hope will meet all the electricity needs of our factory in Denmark, both now and as we expand in the coming years.”

“Another important focus is plant-based foods, which are obviously an important element in the drive for carbon neutrality. We offer vegan solutions for a wide range of plant-based categories, including emulsifier and stabiliser blends for vegan drinks. We’ll soon be showcasing some new emulsifier concepts for plantbased products.”

Alternative food processing technologies

Professor Anet Režek Jambrak, from the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Her main area of expertise lies in advanced thermal and nonthermal food processing techniques (ultrasound, microwaves, high pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, plasma, AOP).

Professor Anet Režek Jambrak, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia

“The aim of using alternative food processing technologies is to achieve the desired inactivation of microorganisms, reduce energy consumption, optimise time-consuming processes, and satisfy consumer requests. Nowadays, one of the biggest challenges is to scale up the readiness level of these novel technologies to an industrial level. The food industry should also focus on zerowaste processing, waste management and the sustainability of food packaging.”

“While thermal techniques have been used for decades, high-temperature processing can be responsible for the deterioration of nutritive, functional, and organoleptic properties. Therefore, several nonthermal techniques had been evaluated for their potential in food preservation. So far, only high-pressure processing has satisfied requirements in terms of microbial inactivation, when used alone in food preservation. The use of other nonthermal processing techniques is industrially viable only in combination with moderate heating, to ensure the required food preservation effect.”

“Nonthermal technologies are sustainable if we use them to reduce or reuse food waste. It is very important here to perform life cycle assessments (LCAs), to confirm their sustainability. Novel nonthermal and improved thermal processing techniques can offer more efficient energy consumption and quality and impact positively on food quality.”

“At DIL in Germany, the energy balance and LCA of pulsed electric fields and high-pressure processing technologies were recently compared to conventional thermal processing applied to the preservation of tomato and watermelon juices. At the pilot scale, both pulsed electric field and high-pressure processing technologies presented lower energy consumption expressed per litre of juice. At DIL, they are also producing pulsed electric field equipment in pre-treatments of potato to reduce oil consumption, and to speed up the frying process.”