Resource Productivity in the $20bn Dairy Manufacturing Sector

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Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK
Innovate UK

£299,895

Dec. 1, 2018

Aug. 31, 2019

"The dairy manufacturing sector includes processors of liquid milk and producers of cheese, butter, yoghurt and ice cream. It generates an overall turnover of nearly £20 billion in the UK economy. And UK-derived dairy products account for 6% of the average UK adult's calorie intake.

The findings of Food Forward's 2018 research report - Dairy Forward - suggest that less than 25% of UK food businesses systematically measure their energy and water use, and waste output. Even fewer assess how proven technologies, such as solar power and advanced water recycling, can reduce the amount (and cost) of these. The amount of resource (energy, water, waste) per litre of milk processed is a measure of the business's 'resource productivity'. Businesses need to have good resource productivity to improve their profitability and reduce their environmental footprint.

Food Forward Ltd, with the support of the University of Surrey, is proposing on online system to help smaller dairy manufacturing businesses to increase their resource productivity. In due course it could be used by other types of businesses. We've chosen small businesses, as the larger dairy businesses have mostly already adopted the technologies. However, small businesses tend to lack the information and/or the motivation to calculate the likely cost savings and make the investment.

Our proof of concept project will test the interest of smaller dairy processors and manufacturers in this system, which include a cost calculator, details of suitable technologies they should consider investing in (with their prices), and a 'benchmarking tool' (this tool will let a business compare itself to other similar businesses).

The system will:

1\. Enable the business to receive data on its throughput of energy, waste and water

2\. Help the business to put operational cost figures against those throughputs

3\. Provide data on the capital cost of a range of resource efficient technologies which can reduce those cost variables per unit of production.

4\. Compare and display these variables against (anonymised) peer businesses so that the business can assess its own relative productivity and investment levels.

This project is innovative because it will a) enable smaller businesses to evaluate investment cases for the most impactful, proven resource productivity technologies and b) ""nudge"" these smaller businesses to commit to investing alongside their peers.

A number of collaborative partners in the diary sector are interested in helping us to develop the proof of concept, and scale it up if successful."