Sustainability within food cold chain sectors in Norway

Abstract

Food processing, storage, and distribution demand a considerable amount of energy and raw materials. Processes that are especially energy demanding includes cooling, freezing, drying and heating, but they are also necessary to ensure the quality and shelf life of the products. All actors within the food value chain are aware of the climate changes and the need for more sustainable activities and development. Many companies annually report their sustainability initiatives, reduction targets, goals towards carbon neutrality and evaluate their performance based on key performance indicators (KPIs). This paper presents results from a review done on Norwegian actors within dairy, meat, fish, fruit, and vegetable sectors. The companies set their goals according to the Paris Agreement to reduce their emissions significantly toward 2030 and become climate neutral by 2050. Some sectors such as meat and dairy have most of their emissions in the pre-processing stage (at farm level) and have significant challenges in meeting the Paris Agreement goals if the market demand continues to grow. However, it is more likely to achieve the reduction targets from post-harvest to retail stages. There are significant challenges in packaging, transport and the source of electricity and these challenges are addressed in research projects HighEff and ENOUGH. Solutions found within these two large consortiums with relevance for the Norwegian food value chain are also presented in the paper.