Kingsmill has become the first UK bread brand to include the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction label on-pack. It will be used on Kingsmill’s Great Everyday White, Tasty Wholemeal and 50/50 sub-brands from the end of June.
A recent study by the Carbon Trust, looking at the manufacturer’s best-selling sub-brands, revealed that both Great Everyday White and Tasty Wholemeal have a carbon footprint of 1.3kg CO2e* per loaf, and Kingsmill 50/50 has a footprint of 1.2kg CO2e.
The study was conducted in accordance with PAS 2050 & Footprint Expert, with the three brands representing 80% of Kingsmill’s volume sales.
The study identified a number of areas that impacted carbon emissions for the three sub-brands – from growing wheat to baking, packing and distribution – which Kingsmill will aim to reduce.
“We’re extremely committed as a brand to understanding the principles of carbon footprinting and identifying areas we can improve upon to reduce the environmental impact of our bakery products,” commented Mark Fairweather, Kingsmill’s CEO. “This is what our consumers expect and we believe is our responsibility as a major brand to fulfil.
“Since the Kingsmill brand’s relaunch in 2007, we’ve been working to decentralise the bakery network, which has not only allowed us to increase our regional commercial focus but has also resulted in a reduction of carbon emissions of 8,000 tonnes.
“However, we are determined to do more and that is why we’ve been working closely with the Carbon Trust since November ’08 to quantify, reduce and communicate the carbon footprint for each of our three best-selling sub-brands and achieve our goal of operating in a responsible and sustainable way,” he added.
* A carbon footprint is the whole life assessment of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) measured in CO2 equivalents (CO2e) and includes a basket of six greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide hydroflurocarbons, perflurocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride)
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