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Cadbury today unveiled its Cadbury Dairy Strategy, a unique partnership with dairy farmers in Selkley Vale designed to help reduce the environmental impact of dairy farming.

In partnership with the Carbon Trust Cadbury has, for the first time, calculated the carbon footprint for milk chocolate and discovered that milk contributes to just over 60% of emissions. As a result, the partnership – which is part of Cadbury’s broader ‘Purple Goes Green’ environmental initiative – will undertake a pilot programme working with dairy farmers in Selkley Vale in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, providing practical advice to help farmers reduce emissions.

It includes a Cadbury Guide to Low Carbon Dairy Farming – a best practice guide to reduce the carbon impact of dairy farming. The guide, which has recently been distributed to the dairy farmers, gives an overview of the factors that contribute to carbon emissions from milk production and provides practical measures that farmers can implement to reduce them. Cadbury has shared the learnings with external stakeholders, such as BITC, and customers including Asda. Over the next year, the aim is to involve a number of flagship farms in the Selkley Vale Group to pilot measures outlined in the guide.

The greenhouse gases targeted by the guide are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which contribute 23%, 25% and 52% of emissions from the average dairy farm, respectively. Cadbury’s guide aims to reduce these emissions through changes to farm management practises such as;
- Improving herd health and welfare, enabling more milk to be produced which reduces greenhouse gas production per litre
- Optimising milk yields e.g. giving cows a diet with a balanced nutritional profile
- Prudent use of fertilisers – appropriate to crop demand, timed to minimise wastage and avoiding excess use of inorganic fertilisers
- Reducing energy consumption – switching off equipment when not in use, using timers and passive infrared sensors to ensure equipment and lighting is only on when needed

The partnership is just one of the initiatives Cadbury is running as part of its Purple Goes Green strategy, in which Cadbury has committed to an absolute reduction in carbon emissions of 50% by 2020. The company also set targets to save packaging and water. Cadbury has reported progress on its sustainability commitments in its 2007/08 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability review, launched online at: www.dearcadbury.com

Posted on February 17, 2009 at 4:05pm.