Pasta firm is king of resource efficiency
A Devon-based catering supplier has shown how small food manufacturers can reap big cost savings by reducing their environmental impact. Pasta King, which sells dried pasta and chilled sauces to caterers throughout the UK, is saving £120,000 a year after overhauling its production process and reducing waste.
The company employs 69 people at its factory in Newton Abbot and provides an estimated 13 million healthy meals each year to 1600 customers nationwide.
Food preparation consists mainly of blending tomato and béchamel sauces with other ingredients and vacuum sealing them in a pouch. The pouches are then packed into cardboard boxes and chilled for supply, together with boxes of dried pasta and serving equipment.
In late 2004, the company carried out a major re-organisation of its tomato processing line which accounts for 90% of its production. This included big changes to supply packaging and investing in new production equipment that has increased efficiency and reduced waste.
As well as achieving substantial cost savings, the company was able to divert a significant 140 tonnes of waste from landfill during the following year. This was achieved at the same time as the company increased production by 49%.
Tomato sauce was previously purchased in 3.5kg steel tins, which resulted in a high product to packaging ratio and difficulties in cleaning tins. As a result, more than 217,000 tins were landfilled in 2004.
After negotiations with its supplier, Pasta King now buys the tomato sauce in 195kg plastic lined, re-usable drums - saving £33,000 in the first year from reduced sauce wastage alone.
The drums are emptied into a portable vat and the plastic liners placed in the general waste bin so that the ‘clean’ drums can be sent off-site for recycling. In 2006, 4650 drums were recycled and the cash raised was used to fund the team’s Christmas party!
The vat is taken into the kitchen where it is connected to a new depositor system which sends an accurate volume of sauce into each pouch. This has replaced the manual filling process. This change has significantly reduced unit labour costs and sauce wastage.
Other waste minimisation measures implemented by Pasta King include the re-use of shrink wrap from delivered goods, purchasing ingredients in foil pouches as opposed to tins and the recycling of cardboard used in deliveries.
As a result of its green achievements, Pasta King has been officially recognised by resource efficiency programme Envirowise with a certificate of environmental best practice.
Paul Haigney, operations director at Pasta King, said: “Changing the packaging format has transformed the impact our business has on the environment and we are reaping significant financial benefits as a result.
“Other smaller businesses can enjoy similar economic benefits by declaring war on waste and complying with their legislative obligations. It’s not just good for the environment, it can also result in significant cost savings.”
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