Increasingly consumer demand for ‘green ‘ thinking in the food industry has dominated the pages of our media and supermarkets are now taking the need to provide environmentally sustainable produce seriously. But for one fresh vegetable supplier in Bedfordshire this initiative has been underway for some time and they have quietly being doing their bit to help save the planet.
[UKPRwire, Wed May 30 2007] Increasingly consumer demand for ‘green ‘ thinking in the food industry has dominated the pages of our media and supermarkets are now taking the need to provide environmentally sustainable produce seriously. But for one fresh vegetable supplier in Bedfordshire this initiative has been underway for some time and they have quietly being doing their bit to help save the planet.
Parripak Foods, part of the William Jackson Group, is one of the UK’s largest processors of fresh vegetables to chilled-food manufacturers and it sources a significant amount of the produce it prepares from local growers. Joint managing director, James Parrish and his team have for some time been working on reducing the food miles and carbon footprints of the products that they procure. This means local and UK grown products as opposed to imported. Where imported products are unavoidable in the closed season, it is trying to limit the environmental impact with land and sea freight as opposed to airfreight.
James explains, “The UK consumer’s palate has become much more sophisticated which means there is a year-round demand for supply of products such as asparagus and baby corn, which both come from Thailand. To satisfy this demand, fresh produce, particularly exotic varieties, have to be sourced from all over the world. Planes, which are considered a major source of damage to the environment, are literally flying in from every corner of the earth on a daily basis.”
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), air freighted food, mainly fresh fruit and vegetables, account for 0.1 per cent of total food miles and generates 13 per cent of total food transport CO2 emissions.
New Technology is helping to bridge the gap. Neighbouring farm F.B Parrish and sons was one of the first growers to put in Controlled Atmosphere storage to their onion growing enterprise. This storage technique, which lowers the respiration of the produce to restrict physiological ageing, allows the supply season to be extended to cover the beginning of the next season. As a result onions do not have to be shipped half way round the world from counties such as New Zealand and South Africa. UK onions can be supplied for the full 12 months of the year. Modified Atmosphere storage and packaging techniques are now used for a whole range of products to keep the produce at its best for longer.
Parripak are also very keen to use local growers where possible, and instead of importing chillies from Africa their supplier Genovese Chillies, is based in Blunham, Bedfordshire, just 10 miles from Parripak’s site. The benefits are two fold; firstly the chillies are picked and delivered the same day, so they are at their freshest, and secondly the close proximity means less food miles. Genovese Chillies have also built reservoirs to collect rainwater for irrigation, rather than using mains water.
Year round supplies of tomatoes from Teesside grower, John Baarda means that Parripak does not need to import them. Baarda has also developed an innovative glasshouse utilizing CO2 as a by-product for which the company won the prestigious ‘World Salad Grower of the Year’ award.
Parrish acknowledges the difficulty of maintaining supply of some products without using airfreight. “Vegetables such as beans, sugar snap peas and mange tout all come from Kenya so the benefits of imported food are clear. A return to seasonality would undoubtedly lead to limited choices of food. Now that supermarket chains are providing clear and accurate information on the geographical origin of their products, customers can make an informed choice.”
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Editor’s notes:
Parripak Foods Ltd was founded in 1987 as a diversification enterprise to a family business specialising in the growing and pre-packing of onions and shallots. The business quickly expanded and now produces a wide range of vegetables including carrots and potatoes, some of which are still grown on the farm, which means that the process is controlled from seed through to finished product.
For technical information contact James Parrish, Parripak’s joint managing director
Tel: +44 (0)1462 813279 E-mail sales@parripak.co.uk
For media information contact Val Jefferys, Ultimedia Public Relations
Tel: +44 (0)1767 601621 (ddl) E-mail: val@ultimediapr.co.uk
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