Cranswick's push for greater sustainability: FMEAs 2022

Aldersley spoke with Food Manufacture​ editor Rod Addy after the awards ceremony to discuss his company's Sustainability Award win, as well as some of the sustainability initiatives the pork processor had been piloting over the past two years.  

By diversifying its business model, Cranswick has been able to push for greater sustainability across the company, which has helped to counter criticism of the unsustainability of the meat industry.  

Sustainability culture​  

Aldersley described Cranswick’s push for greater sustainability almost like a paradigm shift across the company. Rather than just make sweeping promises to keep its emissions low and measure itself against a set of targets, the manufacturer has focused on changing the culture of sustainability within the business. 

This had been led by the manufacturer’s Second Nature initiative launched in 2018, said Aldersley.  

“There’s a clue in the title. We’re making it second nature – it's not an add-on, it’s what we do every day,”​ he explained.  

Cranswick already had a keen eye on managing its scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, even during the disruption caused by the COVID 19 pandemic, but it is now set on achieving net zero scope 3 emission targets. 

“It’s something as a total business we’re passionate about – how are we going to deliver this?​” Aldersley concluded. “We have a target for 2040, but ​we’re questioning if that’s ambitious enough. What I don’t believe is saying something we won't deliver – I'd rather under promise and overdeliver.”​ ​

Meanwhile, Cranswick is expected to double its poultry output, but more work needs to be done to automate its processing facilities,​​ according to UK investment bank Panmure Gordon.