‘Supermarkets use carbon miles to suit their own ends’

Carbon footprint is becoming
increasingly relevant in
the perishable industry as
environmental awareness
gains ground.
But some commentators
believe supermarkets are not
even-handed and are using it to
suit their own ends.
“A local company had for
many years supplied baby
pineapples into Germany.
“The German supermarket
terminated the contract with
the importer using carbon
miles as the excuse,” an
industry source told FTW.
“The same argument was used
for litchis sourced by air from
South Africa. But for airfreight
green beans out of Kenya,
carbon miles were not an issue.
“We believe they use it
as a stick when it suits them
financially.”
And then there’s the
argument about belly load
cargo. “If 90% of your
cargo moves in the belly of
scheduled passenger aircraft,
how much more fuel is the
airline burning to carry
those loads?”