Transport
Transport is an important element of the food and drink manufacturing process
because it is how we move food and drink around what we call the 'supply
chain'.
Transport is necessary to take the raw ingredients grown by farmers to
factories
to
be turned into the great-tasting products we eat every day. Transport is
also how
these products get from factories to the warehouses owned by
supermarket
chains
and other retailers, from where they are taken to the stores where
we do
our
shopping.
Most of our food and drink is transported by road in lorries, which run on
diesel. Concern is growing about the impact of emissions from these vehicles on
our
environment. However, although research published by Defra shows that
congestion,
damage to infrastructure and accidents account for most of the £9bn external
costs
of domestic food transport per annum, nearly half of this total comes from
consumers' own use of cars.
To help mitigate the impacts of food transport FDF members have committed to a
UK food chain target to reduce the environmental and social impact of its
domestic
food transportation by 20% by 2012, compared with 2002.
Only a minority of food and drink manufacturers have their own fleets of lorries
to transport their products around the supply chain. The rest hire specialist
transport providers to do this work for them. So to achieve this target, FDF
members
will work both with transport providers and internally to develop a fewer
and
friendlier food transport miles manifesto based on a 10 point checklist of
best
practice considerations. FDF members will also work with others in the
food
chain to
see where collaborative projects might reduce the number of
trips
made
by
lorries.
More Information
Last reviewed: 06 May 2008