Morrisons increases freezer temperatures to reduce emissions – but insists food safety will not be compromised | Business News

Morrisons has increased some of its supermarket freezers by 3°C.

The supermarket chain says the measure is part of a trial to reduce carbon emissions, but insisted the measure will have no impact on food safety.

He said the current industry standard of setting freezers at -18C was established almost 100 years ago and has not been updated since then, despite improvements in refrigeration technology.

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Freezers in 10 stores across the country were changed, taking into account the weather and supply routes, with plans to extend the temperature change to other points of sale.

According to the supermarket, a 3ºC increase in freezer temperatures across the supply chain will “transform” the business, reducing carbon emissions, saving energy and reducing costs.

He pointed to studies that showed that the global adoption of the measure had the capacity to make savings equivalent to 8.6% of the United Kingdom’s energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions equivalent to removing 3.8 million cars from the roads.

Morrisons is encouraging its suppliers to join the Move to -15C Coalition.

It said carbon savings would be an important step towards its ambition to achieve net zero emissions from its own operations by 2035, while the associated long-term cost savings would allow it to cut, maintain or promote prices across its 500 supermarkets and 1,600 convenience stores. stores in the UK.

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Ruth McDonald, group corporate services director at Morrisons, said: “Industry standards today are based on safety, science or convenience.

“The standard temperature for storing and transporting frozen foods today appears to be simply a convention from nearly 100 years ago.

“We now have much better freezers and modern technology and monitoring that gives us an accurate picture of frozen food temperatures throughout the supply chain.”

Chair of the Move to -15°C Coalition, Thomas Eskesen, said: “For us to be successful in the move to -15°C, it is essential that we have representation and support from all stages of the frozen food supply chain, so that have a big The joining of a UK retailer like Morrisons is an important step for us.

“By increasing the temperature of its freezers in 10 of its stores across the UK, Morrisons is demonstrating that change is possible, and we know that this seemingly small change can lead to a significant and positive environmental impact.”