Wirral bakery giant Baker & Baker, a £380m-turnover business which operates across Europe, commits to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Tony McDonough reports
Bakery goods manufacturer Baker & Baker is committing to net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Baker & Baker, a £380m-turnover business which operates across Europe, employs 550 people at its main manufacturing site in Stadium Road in Bromborough, Wirral. It has undertaken a detailed carbon footprint exercise for its European Group activities.
As well as committing to be net zero carbon by 2040 – 10 years earlier than the UK Government’s own target – the firm has also set an interim target of a 42% reduction in industrial emissions and 27% in agricultural emissions by 2030.
As a food manufacturer, more than 95% of Baker & Baker’s total emissions are indirect and fall within scope three. This means many of its emissions come from its supply chain and are therefore outside its direct control.
It acknowledges its key long-term challenge will be how to effectively decarbonise the ingredients supply chain.
Baker & Baker will also be validating its net zero target with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) later this year. This will ensure that the business’s net zero roadmap is credible.
John Lindsay, Baker & Baker chief executive, said: “Setting a net zero target is a significant milestone for Baker & Baker.
“Our net zero target of 2040 is in line with many of our customers’ commitments as well as the Food & Drink Federation. It demonstrates our ambition to decarbonise our business operations whilst contributing positively towards tackling the climate emergency.”
READ MORE: Baker & Baker to donate tonnes of food
Baker & Baker is one the UK’s leading sweet bakery manufacturers. It supplies a range of doughnuts, muffins, brownies, cookies and cakes to customers in the retail, food service, wholesale and artisan bakery sectors.
The business employs around 1,350 people in the UK across four sites, with 550 people based at its Wirral site.
Until April 2021 it was a division of US-based CSM Ingredients but now operates as an independent business. In its first full year of independence it saw sales of £380m.