Meat co-op dilemma
Meat processor Alliance Group's cash-strapped farmer shareholders face a dilemma - either pour more money into the co-operative or risk losing 100% ownership and control.
The Hoofprint software helps suppliers measure and monitor agricultural greenhouse gases associated with their farms and improve their productivity.
The web-based, farmer friendly programme produces farm performance information based on data collected to determine the carbon footprint and is being further developed to include benchmarking features for carbon and farm performance.
The decision to make the software progressively available to all suppliers follows a successful trial of Hoofprint in Alliance Group's Sainsbury's producer group from December last year.
Alliance Group and Hoofprint partner AbacusBio Ltd have been working with the suppliers to help them understand the best ways to reduce their carbon footprint on-farm while still improving farm production and profit.
Suppliers will be invited to register their interest in Hoofprint and undergo a training and induction session on Hoofprint.
Murray Behrent, Alliance Group general manager of livestock, says offering Hoofprint to all Alliance suppliers was another example of Alliance Group's commitment to quality.
"Hoofprint was developed to help protect farmers' access to our most valuable outlets, primarily retail and food service in United Kingdom, Europe and the United States.
"Alliance Group shareholder suppliers are already encouraged to record their own emissions and productivity and Hoofprint represents a major step forward in achieving this.
"We are progressing a phased roll-out of the programme to ensure we can meet the needs of suppliers."
Behrent adds: "Many major supermarkets in the world are working to develop programmes and associated food labelling which demonstrate to their customers that products have been produced in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner."
Alliance Group will oversee the data and assist suppliers with benchmarking of their own properties and against other properties. The company plans to offer Hoofprint to its partner processors in the UK next year.
"Our customers seek assurances that the products they purchase are from sustainable resources and have been processed at facilities that are environmentally, economically and socially responsible," says Behrent.
"Alliance Group recognises that meeting these expectations is more than just putting a label on a product. Our Farm Assurance programme, coupled with the ISO-based environmental and quality management systems in place at plants, means we can provide assurances to our customers."
As a leading New Zealand meat processor, Alliance measures energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from its plants so it can reduce costs and make better investments.
"Since 2000, Alliance Group has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from energy use at its processing plants by 26% per unit of production and coal use has been reduced by 32%.
"As part of our commitment to the environment, Alliance Group is certified to international environmental management standards ISO 140001 and Enviromark."
