Move to -15°C gathers support
18th November 2024
UK: Support for the drive to raise the standard for frozen food temperatures to -15°C to cut carbon emissions has more than tripled in the last 12 months.
Membership of the Move to -15°C coalition has grown from 11 companies to more than 30 since its launch at COP28 in Dubai last year.
Recent joiners have include UK-based supermarket Iceland, which operates over 900 stores, Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, and Emergent Cold LatAm, a fast-growing cold storage operator in multiple Latin American markets.
The coalition has also recently welcomed other important industry players such as Copeland, Ndustrial, Project44, Martico, Compleat Food Group and Sunswap.
Recognising that a shift in temperature standards from -18°C to -15°C requires deep collaboration across both industry and academia, the Move to -15°C also recently secured support from key UK trade bodies, the British Frozen Food Federation and the Cold Chain Federation, and Dutch institution, Wageningen University.
Research carried out before the establishment of the Coalition, which was led by global logistics firm DP World, found a 3ºC shift in frozen food temperature standards would cut greenhouse gases, lower supply chain costs and secure food resources for the world’s growing population, with no compromise on food safety or quality.
“Rapid and ambitious climate action across complex and interwoven frozen food supply chains – which include food production, ports, shipping, road, rail and air freight, cold storage and retail – can only happen through cross-sector collaboration,” commented Move to -15°C Coalition chairman Thomas Eskesen.
Move to -15°C Coalition members recently met at SIAL, the international food exhibition in Paris, to update on activities, continue knowledge sharing and align on next steps in support of its mission to unite the industry behind an increase in frozen food shipping and storage temperatures. The frozen food temperature set point of -18°C was established as an industry standard a century ago, but with little evidence, and logistics technology has improved substantially since.
Expanded membership recently met at SIAL in Paris to share latest research, knowledge and best practice.
Related stories:
Morrisons moves to -15°C freezer temperatures – 2 August 2024
UK: Morrisons claims to be the first UK retailer to move its frozen food temperatures from -18°C to -15°C in 10 of its stores. Read more…
Raising frozen temperatures could slash emissions – 29 November 2023
UAE: A coalition led by Dubai-based multinational logistics company DP World is calling for frozen food temperatures to be set at -15°C as standard to cut carbon emissions. Read more…
