Courtauld Commitment 2025 influence touches 95% of UK food retail by market share
Industry’s voluntary agreement The Courtauld Commitment 2025, brokered by not-for-profit organisation WRAP, continues to grow as 30 new signatories join the 10 year commitment to reduce the resource intensity of the UK’s food and drink.
Thanks to the new signatories who have signed since its March launch, Courtauld 2025 now includes food & drink businesses representing 95% of the 2016 UK food retail market – as well as many leading brands, manufacturers and hospitality & food service companies.
David Moon, head of sustainable food at WRAP said, “Building connections right across the supply chain makes Courtauld 2025 a powerful voluntary agreement and we are delighted with the desire for action shown from such a range of signatories. Already we’ve set up a number of industry-led working groups that are meeting to address important issues. These range from water and waste to sustainable design and buying; to areas as diverse as fresh produce, meat protein, dairy, redistribution and hospitality and food service.
“Later this year we will introduce a reinvigorated Love Food Hate Waste campaign, working in partnership with these big names with the aim of delivering the step change that’s required to push forward the work on household food waste.”
Through this ambitious voluntary agreement, businesses and a range of other organisations have committed to collaborate, from farm to fork and beyond, to create a truly UK-wide environment of innovation.
New Courtauld Commitment 2025 signatories include:
Retailers: Boots UK and Iceland Foods Ltd
Brands and manufacturers: Burton's Biscuit Company, Dairy Crest Ltd, Produce World Group Ltd, Puffin Produce Ltd and Quorn (Marlow Foods).
Hospitality and food service: Compass, Nando's Chickenland Ltd, and SUBWAY Realty Ltd.
Local authorities: City of Cardiff Council, Hampshire County Council, Project Integra – Hampshire’s Waste Partnership, Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA), Monmouthshire County Council, South Oxfordshire District Council, West Oxfordshire District Council and the Vale of the White Horse District Council.
Redistribution organisations and charities: FareShare, His Church, Neighbourly, The Real Junk Food Project and Transition Bro Gwaun.
Trade and sector organisations, Government and academia: British Institute for Facilities Management (BIFM), Catering Equipment Suppliers Association, HCC - Hybu Cig Cymru (Meat Promotion, Wales), Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Association of Care Caterers (NACC) and The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and Soil Association.
In other areas, WRAP is currently selecting signatory-led innovation projects to develop within food & drink supply chains. The results of these projects will provide best practice to be shared across the sector, to help any company work more efficiently within their existing supply chains. WRAP is also working with the FSA and Defra to review and update guidance on date labelling by businesses, work that will help people in the home and across the network of redistribution organisations to keep food safely for longer.
Notes to editors:
1. The Courtauld Commitment 2025 is an ambitious voluntary agreement that brings together organisations across the food system – from producer to consumer – to make food and drink production and consumption more sustainable. At its heart is a ten-year commitment to identify priorities, develop solutions and implement changes at scale – both within signatory organisations and by spreading new best practice across the UK. Our shared ambition is to cut the resource needed to provide food & drink by one-fifth in ten years, increasing value for everyone. The targeted overall outcomes from 2015 to 2025, calculated as a relative reduction per head of population, are:
- 20% reduction in food & drink waste arising in the UK
- 20% reduction in the GHG intensity of food & drink consumed in the UK
- A reduction in impact associated with water use in the supply chain
2. First established in 2000, WRAP is a not for profit organisation and registered charity whose vision is a world where resources are used sustainably. WRAP works with governments, businesses and communities to deliver practical solutions to improve resource efficiency.
3. Our mission is to accelerate the move to a sustainable resource-efficient economy through:
- re-inventing how we design, produce and sell products,
- re-thinking how we use and consume products, and
- re-defining what is possible through re-use and recycling.
