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Suffolk County Council

Reducing Carbon Footprint - Improving School Dinners

Suffolk County Council wanted to take the lead in the drive to ensure fresh quality foods are provided to schools in an environmental manner and (where possible) from local sources.

The Challenge

• At present there are a large number of deliveries to any location, necessitated by the separate delivery of frozen food, groceries, plus fruit and vegetables - this proves not only inconvenient to schools but also the number of miles driven is giving rise to a large environmental footprint and high costs.
• The supply chain review needed to take into consideration the 4 key drivers as set by the council - Total cost; Supply fresh and quality produce to schools at all times; Reduce the logistics carbon footprint; Provide local produce wherever possible.

The ProActive [Weir] Approach

• The ProActive [Weir] team reviewed and evaluated a range of supply chain models available to Suffolk County Council to ensure that an optimum supply chain can be developed taking into consideration the 4 key drivers.
• All costs and benefits were identified that would result from setting up and operating a distribution service with the aim of reducing the "food miles" covered. This included the costs and benefits of local distribution versus a national wholesaler.
• The environmental, social and economic benefits derived from a locally managed distribution service were determined whilst taking into consideration best practice in procurement, transportation, storage and handling.

The Results

• The final report identified a compound opportunity to reduce the environmental footprint by up to 75%.
• Schools will be able to provide fresh local produce at a reasonable cost and with a considerably reduced environmental footprint.