Member Article

Yorkshire firm help organisation devise food waste collection service

FOOD waste is a significant problem for hospitality businesses. Every tonne of food waste costs a business £1,800, meaning disposing of it in landfill isn’t just harmful to the environment but bad for budgets too.

Thanks to one of Yorkshire’s top environmental advisers, Green Gain, and WRAP Cymru, a Pembrokeshire company is going for business growth through commercial food waste collection service.

Tom Goddard and Sons Ltd collects animal carcasses and is looking to expand its core business offering by developing its food waste collection from supermarkets and hotels. With tens of thousands of tourists visiting Pembrokeshire each year, they realised there was a lot of potential but knew it could be a big business risk to invest in an unknown sector without doing some research first.

The business approached WRAP Cymru, which works with businesses, local authorities and individuals to help them use resources more efficiently, for support. They commissioned Bradford based Green Gain who collectively have over 50 years of waste management experience, to explore the options.

Director Ashley Robb, of Green Gain is working with Tom Goddard and Sons Ltd to identify the best way to engage an industry where 24,000 tonnes of commercial food waste is created each year throughout the county. “Tom Goddard has a reputation for efficient collection of waste from food retailers already in Pembrokeshire,” he explained. “Collecting different food waste demands upfront investment in new vehicles, more staff, marketing and sales and then a feasibility assessment to see if the investment is worth it compared to the potential returns.

“Our role is to assess the current opportunities and needs of the hospitality sector in Pembrokeshire to highlight where Tom Goddard and Sons can grow without diversifying too far from their primary activities.”

Grant Goddard, General Manager for Tom Goddard and Sons, said: “We’re ambitious and recognise that commercial food waste collection fits with our core business offering, but we know there are risks investing and expanding into new sectors.

“Having the support of WRAP Cymru gives us the confidence and competitive edge to take the plunge and invest in a new service that will enhance our business offering, develop our customer base and help reduce the carbon footprint of the many hospitality companies in the area.

“The service could significantly reduce the commercial food waste that is currently landfilled, and reduce the carbon impact of food production from businesses in the region.”

“Green gain’s research will hopefully mitigate the risks and help us make informed choices about the messages we send out to the food and hospitality industry in South Wales to generate enough sales to make the investment worthwhile,” he said.

“Green Gain is delighted to be helping Tom Goddard and Sons with this piece of important work. We see this as instrumental in helping reduce the region’s carbon footprint, divert a valuable resource from landfill and ultimately help Wales progress towards its target of ‘One Planet Living’,” said Ashley Robb. “At the same time, we aim to help the business flourish and diversify into new areas that sit outside its core business activities.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chris Phillips .