5 June 2013

FDF highlights importance of water stress in latest awareness raising video

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Today, to mark the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)'s World Environment Day 2013, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) [1] has launched a new awareness raising video to highlight the importance of water stress to food and drink manufacturers.

This is the latest installment in a series of videos developed under FDF's ongoing 'Every Last Drop' campaign. The video, which features Nicholas Oughtred, Chairman of William Jackson Food Group [2], aims to raise awareness amongst boardroom and senior management executives in food and drink companies of the issue and highlight the business risks posed by a failure to embrace responsible water use.

The Every Last Drop campaign [3] forms part of FDF's Five-fold Environmental Ambition5 to reduce the environmental impact across businesses supply chains. As part of this, many food and drink companies are signed up to the Federation House Commitment, a voluntary agreement for manufacturing companies in the food and drink sector which aims to help them reduce water use in their operations and thereby contribute towards an overall sector wide reduction target of 20% by 2020. So far, a 14.4% reduction in water use has been achieved.

Andrew Kuyk, Director of Sustainability and Competitiveness at FDF, said:

“The food and drink industry is particularly reliant on the supply of freshwater for both raw materials and manufacturing needs. The aim of FDF's Every Last Drop campaign is to build awareness of this issue and include some simple guidance as to what needs to be done to save water. Building on the success of our videos launched earlier this year and in 2012, this video focuses on raising awareness at boardroom level of the importance of water stress to food and manufacturing businesses and in turn seeks to promote effective water management throughout our supply chains.”

Nicholas Oughtred, Chairman of William Jackson Food Group, said:

“As a sixth-generation family business [7], one of the things we're particularly keen to do across all aspects of our business is take a long-term view and ensure we have a sustainable business to pass on to future generations. Water is an invaluable resource for us, particularly in our fresh produce businesses, and that's why we're fully on board with the FDF's Every Last Drop Campaign. With water coming under pressure from climate change and an increasing population, businesses must address the importance it plays in basic day-to-day duties. We are certainly making great strides in minimising our water footprint [8] and I encourage companies across the UK to do the same.”

Notes for editors:

1. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink manufacturing industry – the UK's largest manufacturing sector.
2. The second video featuring Nicholas Oughtred, Chairman of William Jackson Food Group
3. Developed by FDF's Water Working Group, the Every Last Drop leaflet is available to food and drink businesses of all sizes, including non-FDF members, and provides downloadable resources in support of the guide's key messages.
4. The first video featuring Defra Minister Richard Benyon MP
5. For further information on FDF's Five-Fold Environmental Ambition
6. Information regarding the Federation House Commitment
7. Further information regarding William Jackson Food Group
8. William Jackson Food Group have reduced their water footprint in a number of ways, one example is their vegetable processing business Parripak which has reduced water consumption by a third since 2011 by taking greater control of water usage. The project inspired colleagues from all levels of the business to do their bit and in quite a short period of time the savings were very visible.
9. FDF's water campaign includes a dedicated water page on FDF's website giving further sources of help and information along with best practice case studies.

More information

For media enquiries, please contact:

Anna Taylor on 0207 420 7118 Email: Anna.Taylor@fdf.org.uk

Avni Raval or 020 7420 7131 Email: Avni.Raval@fdf.org.uk

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