UK's leading potato supplier proves its green credentials

Branston Ltd, the UK’s largest supplier of potatoes, is now fully ISO 14001 accredited.

The company, which has a handling capacity in excess of 400,000 tonnes a year, secured the standard at its South West operation earlier this month, which means all of its three sites are operating to the ISO 14001 standard. Branston’s Lincolnshire site was awarded ISO 14001 in January this year, with the Perth factory passing its audit in March 2003.

ISO 14001 is only awarded to companies that are able to demonstrate their commitment to reducing their impact on the environment wherever possible throughout all their activities. Branston’s environmental management system covers all aspects of the business, from ethical sourcing, through to efficient packing and storage.

Branston’s directors committed to achieving ISO 14001 some three years ago and have since conducted an in-depth audit across all sites, employed an Environmental Manager in Lincoln and trained key management teams in Somerset and Scotland. The company also devised and implemented an extensive environmental management system, which balances the financial needs of the business with the need to reduce the environmental impacts of its operations.

Nick Turnbull, Technical Director at Branston is delighted that all three sites have achieved the environmental standard. "As a business which relies on nature for its product it is of paramount importance that we minimise our impact on the environment as much as possible. Our customers, Tesco for instance, and consumers are both placing more and more importance on a company’s environmental credentials when deciding whether or not to purchase from them. ISO 14001 shows that we integrate environmental management into all our processes and procedures and do everything we can to minimise our impact on the environment.

"The ISO audit is a rigorous exercise and every area of Branston’s operation has been inspected. We’ve had to work incredibly hard to ensure we met the demanding criteria but I am delighted to say that as the environmental management system at our Seavington St Michael factory has been recognised all three of our sites are now ISO 14001 accredited!"

ISO 14001 was first published in 1996 by the International Organisation for Standardisation and specifies the actual requirements for an environmental management system. It applies to those environmental aspects that the organisation has control over and on which it can be expected to have an influence.