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The UK’s leading supplier of potatoes has become the first food producer in the country to receive the Carbon Trust Standard.

Branston Ltd., which supplies over 400,000 tonnes of fresh potatoes every year, was awarded the accolade in recognition of its success in reducing its carbon emissions by 6% over the last three years.

The company, which has a turnover in excess of £100m and employs over 500 people at three sites, is one of just 26 organisations in the United Kingdom that is currently certified by the Carbon Trust Standard Company.

Already ISO 14001 accredited, Branston has invested in developing an Environmental Management System and introducing new environmentally sensitive equipment, manufacturing processes and systems across its business.

The Carbon Trust Standard was introduced in June 2008 in response to the demands of businesses and consumers seeking an environmental certification scheme that focused on actual results, not good intentions; an ongoing commitment not a judgement at a single point in time; and a requirement to continually reduce carbon emissions.

To maintain the standard Branston will have to continue its efforts and reduce its carbon emissions every year. The company will be audited every two years to ensure it has met its targets.

"As a company that relies on the environment for its product we decided some five years ago, before environmental best practice was such a buzz word in business, to reduce our impact on the environment and lower our carbon emissions," says Graeme Beattie, Managing Director at Branston. "Receiving ISO 14001 across all our sites for best practice in environmental management earlier this year was the end of phase one.

"Becoming the first food producer in the country to hold the Carbon Trust Standard is the beginning of the next phase in our environmental strategy, as we look to continue to reduce our carbon emissions by using less energy and embracing new technologies and processes wherever possible. Receiving the standard is a great honour for us and the whole team at Branston has worked incredibly hard to secure it. We will be working even harder to ensure we retain the standard when we are reassessed in two years time."

As part of achieving the Carbon Trust Standard and ISO 14001 accreditation Branston devised and implemented an environmental policy across its sites in Lincolnshire, Perthshire and Somerset.

Measures such as building a state-of-the-art cold store, which uses less power than traditional cold stores, introducing high-speed doors in areas of the factory where heat loss is above average and upgrading water treatment facilities have all contributed to the reduction in carbon emissions.

"Branston is the first company in the food and agriculture sector to receive our standard," says Harry Morrison, General Manager of the Carbon Trust Standard Company. "As such they have become a beacon for other food production companies. Branston’s innovation and foresight in recognising that reducing carbon emissions also reduces costs is to be celebrated. It demonstrates real action on climate change as well as commercial acumen. We hope that many other food producers follow Branston’s lead."

As well as looking at its own operation, Branston has also worked with Tesco to measure the carbon footprint of potato production and to introduce clear carbon footprint labelling on the supermarket’s potato product packaging. A project to reduce the amount of packaging weight by 25% is currently underway.

Branston is also working with three Universities to explore energy reduction opportunities in potato packing, refrigeration and transportation.

The Carbon Trust was set up by the Government in 2001 as an independent company. Its mission is to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop commercial low carbon technologies.

The Standard has been awarded to 26 organisations including B&Q, Trinity Mirror, the Crown Prosecution Service and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) . A further 40 organisations are currently going through the assessment process.

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