International:
Major Irish food retail & wholesale company invests €8M in NGV fleet
BWG Foods, one of Ireland’s leading wholesalers and retailers, announced a major €11 million sustainability investment program aimed at significantly decreasing the environmental footprint of its large-scale nationwide supply chain. As part of the investment program, the company has become the first FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) group in the country to launch a fleet of CNG vehicles following an initial investment of more than €2 million in 14 new trucks along with supporting infrastructure. The Group has plans to extend its investment by an additional €6 million for a further 50 NGVs by 2025 as part of its wider supply chain sustainability program.
BWG Foods operates one of the largest delivery fleets in the country with approximately 280 vehicles, which combined cover over 25 million kilometers per year. The Group’s new vehicles, which use natural gas as the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel, are currently generating CO2 savings of up to 22% per truck.
Each of BWG Foods’ new trucks will complete approximately 120,000 kilometers over the next 12 months, each truck saving at least 7-and-a-half tons of CO2 emissions in the process. When biogas becomes available for use, BWG Foods projects that CO2 emissions from its new delivery fleet will decrease by approximately 90% compared with today’s levels.
As part of its wider supply chain sustainability program, BWG Foods is also implementing a number of operational efficiency projects that have already led to collective CO2 emission savings of 3,200 metric tons.
“Our focus in BWG Foods is to create an environmentally sustainable business that makes a positive contribution to the communities in which we operate. Today’s announcement is a significant statement of our intent to substantially reduce the environmental impact of our expansive nationwide supply chain operation. This announcement complements a number of other sustainability initiatives that we have launched at store level including energy, waste and plastic reduction programs,” said Willie O’Byrne, Managing Director, BWG Foods.