Sustainable gastronomy takes into account where the ingredients are from, and how the food is grown, processed, distributed, and ultimately reaches our plates. Some of the major obstacles faced by food industries in keeping production and distribution sustainable are emissions from transportation and food waste. To promote sustainability in gastronomy and across all agricultural sectors, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has laid out guidelines, consisting of 20 action points, on how public and private stakeholders can integrate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals into policies and programs.

As an organization that deals with food ingredients daily, Caldic Food Services & Retail (FSR) has an ambitious sustainability strategy, and Purchaser & Sustainability Specialist Sara Lundahl and her team implement stringent measures to address the abovementioned issues.

Minimizing waste

For instance, when it comes to food waste, the team at FSR carefully plans and forecasts the food production volume and reviews products that have a short expiration date. This directly aligns with action point eight: Reduce losses, encourage reuse and recycle, and promote sustainable consumption. Despite this, if there is still extra food, it is either offered to existing customers at a discount or later donated to City Mission in Malmö. If the food cannot be given to them, it is then given to wildlife wardens to feed the animals.

This is not just limited to food. The facility in Malmö was able to save on water consumption by installing a ‘tub’ boiler. The facility would consume 2000L of water daily with their former commercial boiler, however, this has now been reduced to 800L!

Environmentally friendly transportation

Greener transportation plays an important role in reducing emissions and partaking in an environmentally conscious supply chain. And therefore, FSR has taken the decision to transition to fossil-fuel-free transportation – thereby fulfilling action point 15: Address and Adapt to Climate Change.

This policy shall affect all the transport from the production facility in Malmö to the warehouse in Bjuv, the transportation that is booked and/or bought to customers in Sweden as well as purchases done in Sweden. It will be 99.9% fossil free with a margin of 0,1% to account for unpredictable events in peak season. The vehicles will either be electrical or run on biogas.

FSR had aimed to achieve the 60% fossil-fuel-free target by 2026 and has surpassed its goal way ahead of time – a testament to its commitment to diminishing the negative impact on the environment.