Food and drink brands take action on water scarcity

Nestle, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's and Unilever are just some of the companies throwing their weight behind a UK-wide campaign to raise awareness of water scarcity.


As part of World Water Day 2012, the Food & Drink Federation (FDF) is encouraging businesses to engage their employees, customers and supply chain to save water through its ‘Every Last Drop’ campaign.

Championing supply chain engagement is Nestle which has so far achieved a 30% reduction in water usage, against a 2006 baseline, at its UK and Ireland manufacturing sites as a direct result of better water management.

The confectionary giant revealed how it had engaged its supply chain by collaborating with foodservice wholesaler distributor 3663 and contract catering company Elior to share best practice on how companies can reduce the impact of water use across the food supply chain.

As part of this collaboration, 3663 has rolled out a poster campaign to raise awareness at 30 of its sites, as well as using the information to continue progress to further reduce its mains water consumption per head by 10% over the next five years.

In addition, Elior has promoted water conservation practices to management at all of its 650 sites, in a bid to support its clients in their water efficiency goals.

It has also worked on employee engagement by inviting staff at its Croydon and York sites to attend information sessions with its head of environmental sustainability to find out how the company is saving water and what they can do to make a difference.

It also interacted with staff through its company intranet and online discussions groups and launched a poster campaign and photo competition.

Taking a slightly different approach to mark World Water Day, Coca-Cola and environmental group WWF-UK unveiled a new three-year partnership to conserve and protect English rivers.

As part of the collaboration, work is set to commence in two chalk stream catchments which are of direct relevance to Cola-Cola’s UK operations. It intends to restore river habitats and promoting sustainable water management to improve the rivers health.

The partners will also work with local communities in Norfolk – which provides the source of some of Cola-Cola’s sugar beet – and South London, near to Coca-Cola’s manufacturing site.

What is your business doing to mark World Water Day 2012? Let us know below or email newsdesk@edie.net

Carys Matthews

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