The Move to -15 degrees C coalition – a sustainability initiative focused on driving down frozen food emissions – is marking its one-year anniversary this week and has welcomed supermarket chain Iceland as a new member.
The coalition has more than tripled in size since launch, with a membership base that also includes logistics business DP World, frozen food producer Nomad Foods, and UK grocer Morrisons. The airline, Emirates, has also joined this week.
Members – from production through to retail – are collaborating to explore an increase in frozen food shipping and storage temperatures from -18 degrees C to – 15 degrees C, which is expected to bring frozen food emissions down without compromising food safety. The frozen food temperature set point of -18 degrees C was established as an industry standard 100 years ago, but with little evidence why – and logistics technology has improved substantially in the century since.
Iceland, which operates over 900 stores, might look to follow fellow grocer Morrisons’ lead, with the latter already trialling a reduction in its freezer temperatures in some stores.
The Move to -15 degrees C also recently secured support from key UK trade bodies, the British Frozen Food Federation and the Cold Chain Federation, as well as Dutch institution, Wageningen University.
Membership has grown from 11 companies to more than 30 since the coalition’s launch at COP28, which was led by DP World, which commissioned research to explore the feasibility of a change in temperatures. The subsequent study from the International Institute of Refrigeration, the University of Birmingham, and London South Bank University, among others, found a three-degree shift in frozen food temperature standards would cut greenhouse gases and reduce costs without impacting safety.
Thomas Eskesen, chairman of the Move to -15 degrees C Coalition, commented: “Rapid and ambitious climate action across complex and interwoven frozen food supply chains – which include food production, ports, shipping, road, rail and air freight, cold storage and retail – can only happen through cross-sector collaboration.
“That is why we are so thrilled to welcome these new members to the Move to -15 degrees C coalition. We encourage more organisations to join us and explore the positive impact that moving towards -15 degrees C can have on creating a future-proofed food system and lower carbon world.”
Move to -15 degree C Coalition members recently met at international food exhibition SIAL in Paris last month to update on activities, continue knowledge sharing, and align on next steps to drive the change it was established to accelerate.
[image credit: Green Retail World]
