Food and drink market leaders pledge huge cuts in water use

140 million litres of water are expected to be saved every day due to an agreement between food and drink manufacturers, brokered by trade association the Food and Drink Federation.

In a bid to reduce their environmental impact, 21 of the UK’s leading food and drinks companies have signed up to the pledge to make major cuts in their water usage.

They will work alongside Envirowise, a government funded programme that helps businesses implement sustainable resource management.

This agreement, named the Federation House Commitment, was launched in London on Monday. At the launch, the government’s Minister for Sustainable Food and Farming and Animal Health, Lord Rooker, said that he is “very pleased to support this joint FDF and Envirowise initiative which has resulted in the first voluntary framework under which food and drink companies can work systematically towards improving efficiency and reducing water use wherever possible.”

He added that he found it “particularly pleasing to see so many influential companies, responsible for well known household brands, signing up on day one,” and that he “would like to urge more companies in the sector to follow the leadership and commitment being shown by FDF and its members to the environment.”

Callton Young of FDF said that the agreement was part of a move by his organisation to be “bold about the environment by targeting priorities where we can make the biggest difference through collective action.”

Programme director of Envirowise, Dr Martin Dibson, added that “the agreement has an important role to play in helping to improve water efficiency in the food and drink industry and to achieving significant savings of a precious resource.”

The 21 companies signed up to the agreement have a combined annual turnover of over £15 billion. The companies are: Apetito, Birds Eye Iglo, Britvic, Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola Enterprises, GlaxoSmithKline, Kellogg Marketing & Sales Co, Kraft Foods UK, Mars Snackfood, Müller Dairy UK, Nestlé UK, PepsiCo UK, Premier Foods, Tate & Lyle, UIN Foods, Unilever UK, Uniq, United Biscuits, Warburtons, Weetabix, and Young’s Seafood.