Sustainability is rising on the agenda in the food industry, with food production estimated to be responsible for 26% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Consumers are becoming increasingly vocal about their desire for sustainable practices and willingness to invest more in fast-moving consumer goods with ethical credentials. While the production of food is emission intensive, it is also important to address emissions across the whole supply chain, not just direct operations. Companies are responding to these changing consumption habits by developing "green supply chains."
Transportation of freight is a critical component in food supply chains, ensuring that food products move efficiently from farms, factories, and processing plants to distribution centers, retailers, and ultimately, consumers. However, freight is certainly a major contributor to emissions, so it is imperative for leaders in the industry to take steps to mitigate this environmental impact.
There are additional supply chain complexities that those in the food industry need to consider. The cold chain required for a significant amount of food freight is a key factor, as well as the perishable nature of produce, which leaves little room for delays or disruptions. While shippers are focused on temperature control and efficiency, sustainability can fall behind. However, with effective planning and preparation there are several ways to boost sustainable credentials while meeting other key requirements.
Proper planning can minimize carbon footprints by assessing all available transport options and routes for your product. While food travels to the United States from across the world using different modes of transportation, domestically the tilt is heavily toward trucks, accounting for about 70% of food transportation with railway coming in second at only 17%. Heavy-duty trucks are the fastest-growing contributor to freight emissions, notably air pollution and emission intensity which is exacerbated by traffic congestion and idle vehicles. It is therefore important to identify instances where other modes can be used to reduce emissions.
Efficient planning allows you to identify the most sustainable delivery method in advance, ensuring timely arrival while avoiding the need for last-minute, high emission expedited shipments. This approach ensures that your product can meet delivery requirements with a lower environmental impact. Considering route optimization in the planning stage will help to ensure your food or beverage shipment travels the most fuel-efficient route accounting for both distance and congestion avoidance.
To address temperature-control concerns, temperature-controlled intermodal is both energy efficient and cost effective. Intermodal transport lowers carbon footprints by 60% compared to trucking, making it a highly effective solution for environmental sustainability. Intermodal combines railroads for long-distance travel with trucks for short-distance delivery, enabling cargo movement without the handling of the products inside. One intermodal train can carry the equivalent of 280 trucks' worth of goods, thereby reducing emissions and easing traffic congestion.
Temperature-controlled intermodal transport, along with other temperature-controlled options, is suitable for refrigerated and frozen goods and items requiring higher temperatures. It can maintain any necessary temperature to ensure product integrity and freshness. Intermodal also offers 15-18% lower freight costs compared to truckload options along the same freight corridors, making it both green and cost effective.
Industry analysts and insiders see significant growth potential in the intermodal market. While intermodal shipping already constitutes a substantial portion of freight transport, there is room for expansion. Experts suggest that with optimized usage and better integration into supply chains, the intermodal shipping market could potentially double in size. The Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) reports that intermodal currently handles about 25% of U.S. long-haul freight. If businesses fully utilize the advantages of intermodal, this share could rise to 50%, representing a massive growth opportunity.
Exploring consolidation opportunities can also help to reduce emissions. Through merging several small shipments into one larger shipment, shippers can avoid energy wasted transporting partially empty containers. In addition to streamlining supply chains, consolidation also offers benefits of larger shipment sizes, and can result in lower rates with carriers, meaning cost savings. Specialized consolidators for food and beverage freight can consolidate loads to fill containers or trailers. This enables focus on efficiency, cost, and the environment, all in one strategy.
Through effective planning, those in the food industry can make strategic transportation and logistics choices that help reduce emissions and save on costs. Businesses are increasingly recognizing that investing in sustainable supply chain practices is not just a moral choice, but also one that can bring significant rewards. Companies with strong sustainability measures have been shown to achieve higher returns on investment compared to those without such initiatives.
While implementing sustainable practices can seem like a challenge, particularly when planning can take considerable time, working with outsourced logistics partners who have experience putting sustainability into practice can be of huge help.
