Bakery specialist Butt Foods Ltd has cut its landfill waste
by two thirds, significantly reduced its food miles and introduced
energy-saving measures at its Nottingham bakery.
Three years ago the company, which produces a range of
bakery products for the UK and European foodservice and manufacturing markets,
began looking at ways of reducing its carbon footprint.
After implementing a series of changes, the company – and
its customers – are now reaping the benefits.
The move has saved the company £5,000 a year in landfill
waste costs alone, cut the number of lorry journeys made in the past two years to
deliver naan breads by 58, and has allowed the firm to become more competitive,
more efficient and more environmentally friendly, said managing director David
Williams.
“We are really proud that we’ve been able to reduce our
environmental impact,” he said. “Not only is this good news for our carbon
footprint and the environment in general, it’s also good news for our customers
because we are operating more efficiently.”
He was inspired to look into ways of reducing waste partly
by his son Harrison, now ten.
“He would come home from school and tell me to separate our
home waste and behave responsibly as far as the environment is concerned, and
when I looked around I realised there was more we could do at our manufacturing
unit,” added David.
Butt Foods, which bakes a range of products, including naan
breads, flat breads, top loader hot dog rolls, sub rolls, canapé bases and
fruit breads, introduced a number of measures to reduce waste and become more
efficient. This included:
- Asking suppliers to alter the way they packaged ingredients by putting them in recyclable containers
- Redesigning the firm’s own packaging to increase the number of items that could fit onto each pallet
The firm, which was established in 1990, and now bakes up to
60 million products per year at its manufacturing unit in The Midway, Lenton
Industrial Estate, Nottingham, also installed environmentally friendly
compressors onto its blast freezer, which has led to a drop in the amount of
electricity the company uses.
“We blast freeze our products immediately after baking to
maintain freshness, and by installing the latest units and replacing older,
less efficient, technology we have been able to reduce the energy use of the equipment
by 44%,” added David.
The business has cut the amount it sends to landfill from
three skips to one skip per week.
Over the past two years, on one line alone, Butt Foods has
significantly reduced the number of lorry load deliveries as a result of more
efficient packaging and packing on each pallet. Figures show it has been able
to send out 1,500 fewer pallets of naan breads, which has resulted in 58 fewer
lorry loads, even though overall sales of naan breads have risen 30% in the
last three years.
“Not only has it reduced food miles and saved on transport
and fuel costs, there have also been associated savings, such as boxes being
smaller, using less tape and polythene in bags, and of course there has been
less space required for storage here and at our customers’ premises, which is
harder to define,” said David.
“Our experience is an illustration of what can be achieved
when a company sets out to make itself more environmentally friendly and less
wasteful. I am very pleased that the whole team at Butt Foods got behind our
efforts. They should be justifiably proud of the results, which show that it’s
virtually always possible to become more efficient without compromising on
quality or customer service.
“We are also grateful to our ingredients suppliers and to
refrigeration engineers Transcool (UK) Ltd who helped us achieve our aims.”
Now the company is switching its attention to making its
products more healthy by turning the spotlight on reformulation.
For more information visit www.buttfoods.co.uk
Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk
