1. Introduction
Food system activities are inextricably linked with climate and weather, environmental resources, and human behavior. GHG emissions from food systems are a major contributor to climate change. Globally, food system activities contribute 21-37 percent of total anthropogenic GHG emissions, compared with about 10 percent from food production alone and 18-29 percent from food production and land use change (Rosenzweig et al., 2020). Land use change, especially deforestation, forest degradation, and peatland conversion, contributes to substantial GHG emissions. Total GHG emissions from the food system were about 16 CO2 eq per year in 2018, or one-third of the total global anthropogenic GHG emissions. Three-quarters of these emissions, 13 Gt CO2 eq per year, were generated either during on-farm production or in pre- and post-production activities, such as manufacturing, transport, processing, and waste disposal (Rosenzweig et al., 2021). The remainder was generated through land use change of natural ecosystems to agricultural land. Substantial CH4 emissions are best attributed to the specialized production of beef in large production systems. During 1990-2018, land use change emissions decreased while pre- and post-production emissions increased (Tubiello et al., 2021). Post-production food system activities contribute to GHG emissions, albeit to a lesser extent compared with production-related and land-use activities. Post-production food system activities account for 18 percent of total GHG emissions from the global food system compared with 58 ppercentfrom food production and 24 percent from land use change (Poore and Nemecek, 2018).
Approximately 15 percent of food-related carbon emissions pass through restaurants (Kling and Hough, 2010). Food loss and waste exacerbate the climate change crisis with its significant GHG footprint. When food ends up in landfills, it generates CH4. Food loss and waste account for between a quarter and a third of total global primary production (Guo et al., 2020; Gustavsson et al., 2011), and a 75 percent reduction is likely to result in a 10 percent decrease in GHG emissions (Springmann et al., 2018a). There are considerable differences between food types in terms of GHG emission levels measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents per kilogram (kg CO2e). For example, vegetables such as zucchinis (0.25 kg CO2e) yield approximately 50 times less GHG emissions than beef (12.29 kg CO2e) (Reinhardt, 2016). As a part of ecologically sustainable practices, restaurants can help diners reduce their carbon footprint via dish choices. The utilization of local foodstuff and the decrease of animal protein in the menus can be a good strategy to encourage sustainable actions in food service meal production.
With its significant carbon footprint, the food and beverage (F&B) industry which is a major employer in most countries is under increasing pressure from consumers, nongovernmental organizations, governments, and other stakeholders to improve sustainable practices across their operations and supply chains. Sustainability is an approach to integrate social, economic, and ecological impacts within a robust business strategy. It is an enduring movement and increasingly impacts how business is undertaken and how consumers buy products.
In 2015, 196 countries, including Vietnam, adopted the Paris Agreement with the core objective of keeping the global average temperature rise to below 2oC above pre-industrial levels while pursuing efforts to keep it below 1.5oC for the survival and thriving of human beings and all creatures on the Earth. To be able to meet those climate targets, countries need to join hands and focus on GHG reduction across all sectors. Vietnam has released a new updated Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, in which the country increases its unconditional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target to 15.8% by 2030 relative to a business-as-usual scenario from the reference year 2010 and including land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). Conditionally to international support and financing, through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, Vietnam has set an emissions reduction target of 43.5% by 2030. Under its previous NDC, released in 2020, Vietnam set GHG emissions reduction targets of 9% (unconditional) and 27% (conditional). In Vietnam, according to the updated NDC, the source of GHG emission from agriculture is identified to contribute around 20% of the total amount of GHG emission in 2020.
In response to recent government measures, an increasing number of F&B retail players and restaurants in Vietnam are adopting more sustainable and eco-conscious efforts. Several restaurants, hotels, and the F&B sectors have taken the opportunities to switch into and become pioneers in sustainable development in the food production industry, such as Pizza 4P’s, Laguna, Les vergers du Mekong, Sodexo, KOTO, etc. They have switched to a sustainable value chain with activities to reduce GHG emissions, reduce social and environmental impacts in each stage of the process of producing goods/ providing services, and change the consumer's behavior consumption. Changing our food systems to become sustainable and resilient is a powerful and smart way to realize progress toward achieving many SDGs. Shifting our diets can indeed unlock a multitude of environmental and health benefits and push us towards a virtuous uplifting spiral towards nourishing ourselves within planetary boundaries. Recently, citizens have paid more attention to their health and food consumption. Thus, by having a sustainable value chain, companies can add value to the final products or services, hence, realize some competitive advantages, such as cost reduction or product differentiation, and environmental contribution.
In recent decades, several environmental systems analysis tools have been introduced to estimate the environmental burdens related to agricultural production. The main methods adopted in scientific literature are the following: Product Environmental Footprint, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental Auditing (EA), System of Economic and Environmental Accounting (SEEA), Material Flow Analysis (MFA), and Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) (Boenzi et al., 2022).
Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) is an appropriate methodology to assess the environmental impact of a product/service or process by adopting a quantitative approach. It is based on Life Cycle Thinking, a paradigm that considers the environmental impact at all stages of the life cycle. Therefore, at the global level, LCA is considered one of the most reliable methodologies to assess the environmental impacts of products/services or processes and to identify effective solutions to address sustainability issues (Notarnicola et al., 2017). The LCA technique can be applied with defined boundaries by adopting two strategies. The first strategy considers a complete life cycle analysis, so called “cradle-to-grave”; on the contrary, in the second strategy, only a part of the life cycle is investigated; it is called “cradle-to-gate”, “gate-to-gate”, or “gate-to-grave” depending on the boundaries considered (Boenzi et al., 2022).
This paper is presenting preliminary results of a study measuring carbon footprint based on life-cycle assessment of sustainable food value chains in a case study of the Pizza 4P’s. The findings on the case study can be a showcase of GHGs reduction within sustainable food value chains.
2. Method
2.1. Scope of Study
As mentioned, F&B companies are the subjects of this study. Accordingly, the Pizza 4P’s company is choosen as a case study for a few reasons:
- It is considered as a typical pioneer in promoting sustainable food value chain in Vietnam (SustainableVN, 2021). 4P’s has a strong reputation for their commitment to sustainability, and their efforts have been recognized both nationally and internationally. This makes them an excellent example of a business that has successfully integrated sustainability into their operations, while also maintaining profitability
- 4P’s have been actively working towards reducing their carbon footprint, sourcing local and organic ingredients, and implementing a circular economy approach in many phases of their value chain. Therefore, it is expected that there are a few good examples for other F&B companies to follow.
- 4P’s is not just focused on its own business and profits, the company has gathered like-minded sustainable thinking companies in its value chain, supporting them to develop and encouraging them to adopt a sustainable and green approach. By doing so, 4P’s is contributing to a larger movement towards sustainability and promoting a culture of sustainability in the industry. This study also aims at recording the approach.
- Finally, 4P’s has already published sustainability reports in 2020 and 2021, indicating that there is sufficient data available for our study. This enables us to analyze their sustainability efforts, understand their approach, and assess the impact of their sustainable practices.
2.2. Life-cycle assessment for measuring carbon footprint
In order to measure the carbon footprint (blueprint) of 4P’s, the LCA methodology is employed in this study. As discussed in the literature review, LCA is a widely accepted methodology for measuring the carbon footprint of products and services, especially in food and breverage industry. It provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to identify and quantify the environmental impacts associated with the entire life cycle of a product, from raw material extraction, manufacture, transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Boundaries of a LCA analysis
However, this study will focus on the Cradle to Gate instead of the entire Cradle to Grave to highlight the innovative approaches of 4P’s in the upstream of the value chain. This will allow us to identify opportunities for reducing carbon emissions in the production and supply of raw materials, production processes, and transportation. By focusing on the Cradle to Gate, we can provide insights into the carbon footprint of 4P’s value chain and identify areas for improvement that can result in significant environmental benefits.
The use of LCA in measuring carbon footprint provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to identify and quantify the environmental impacts associated with the entire life cycle of a product. By focusing on the Cradle to Gate, we can identify areas for improvement that can result in significant environmental benefits, and the use of Open LCA provides a robust and flexible tool for conducting the analysis. Additionally, this study can support the development of a scope 3 inventory for 4P’s, further demonstrating the company's commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.
In addition, we employ Open LCA sofware to support our LCA calculation and analysis. Open LCA is an open-source software tool that allows for the creation and analysis of life cycle assessments. One of the key advantages of Open LCA is its flexibility in data entry and the ability to customize the analysis to suit specific requirements. Open LCA also provides access to a range of databases, including the ecoinvent database, which contains data on environmental impacts associated with various products and services. The use of Open LCA in this study allows for a comprehensive and robust assessment of the environmental impacts associated with 4P’s value chain, providing valuable insights for decision-making and sustainability performance improvement. Some sample results of the Open LCA are illustrated in Figure 2 below.
Figure 2. Example results of the Open LCA analysis on GHG emission
The result of our LCA analysis is also expected to support 4P’s Scope 3. As scope 3 emissions refer to the indirect emissions that occur in the value chain upstream or downstream of the organization's activities (WRI and WBCSD, 2011). By conducting a comprehensive LCA analysis of 4P’s value chain, we can identify the sources and magnitude of scope 3 emissions associated with the production and supply of raw materials, transportation, and other upstream activities. This information can be used to develop strategies for reducing scope 3 emissions and support the development of a scope 3 inventory for 4P’s.
3. Preliminary results of the study
3.1. Value chain mapping for the 4P’s company
This study will focus on the Cradle to Gate or the upstream of the 4P’s’ value chain, therefore the suppliers of the company is the focal point in this analysis. The suppliers included in this report are those have the remarkable practices relating to sustainability and GHG reductions.
- 4P’s Cheese Factory
4P’s Don Duong Cheese Factory, Lam Dong went into operation in 2011. A large amount of Vietnamese cheese is produced here and sold to hotels, restaurants and dairy shops throughout the region. Initially, the Don Duong cheese factory used less than 50 liters of milk per day. But now, with 30 workers, they use 4,000 liters a day to make 13 different types of cheese, from ricotta to bocconcini. All cheese produced here is 100% natural with no additives.
Circular economy
The liquid remaining after milk had been curdle and strained is whey. Whey is a byproduct of cheese making and has some commercial uses. It is an additive in many processed foods, including breads, crackers and in animal feed. In 4P’s cheese factory, 20% of whey is used in the 4P’s restaurants for making sauce, beer and pizza base. The other 80% is transported to Thien Sinh Farm which is a supplier of 4P’s to grow grass, corn, and vegetables as well as to use as a drink for the cows.
Challenges and future actions
Water use and wastewater: The plant uses underground water and has its own water purification system. Water for cheese production is filtered by RO technology. Currently, due to the relatively small scale of the plant, there is no monitoring system for water used and wastewater. 4P’s plans to build a new larger cheese factory in the near future in the same area. The water source will be tap water. With a larger area and operating capacity, the plant will have a monitoring system to measure the clean water used and wastewater for management information.
At the moment, the equipments are cleaned by hand after being used, which uses a large amount of water, and this water are not recoved. The new plant will have a separate section for cleaning the equipments, which would help save the water.
Solid waste: Milk cartons or the paper packages of heavy cream - an input for producing burrata - are usually made of aluminum and paper, which can be recycled into roofing sheets, flooring and pulp. Afer the milkcartons is put into the recycling line, the pulp will be separated and recycled into cartons. The rest is aluminum and plastic, which will be made into roofing sheets. The recycled product is 100% aluminum and plastic and has many advantages: Durability, no rust, heat and sound insulation, and environmental friendliness. They are suitable for houses in the coastal areas where there is high humidity. However, the milk cartons used in 4P’s are put away and collected as other garbages by the local solid waste treatment company because 4P’s cannot find a partner for recycling. This is an issue that needs to be solved with the new cheese plant.
- Thien Sinh farm
4P’s uses the three indicators including locally sourced, sustainably sourced, sustainably sourced with certification) to assess the sustainability of sourcing. From these points, it can be said that Thien Sinh farm is an important supplier in the value chain of 4P’s as they adopt the organic farming techniques. 40% of the output in Thien Sinh is provided for 4P’s.
Thien Sinh farm is located in Ka Don, Don Duong district, Lam Dong Province. Its products include vegetables like tomatoe, bean, kale, rocket, leek… and meat (pork and beef). The farmers in Thien Sinh started agricultural production 10 years ago. Before adopting organic farming, they planted corns in 4 years to recover and enrich the soil. Their total area is 14 hectares, in which 5 hectares are for vegetation. All the vegetables are grown in the greenhouse.
Reducing environmental footprint
As mentioned above, Thien Sinh farm use the whey, a by-product from the 4P’s cheese factory, with agricultural techniques to turn it into a raw material for use. Whey is used as drinking water for cows, mixed with straw and grass for cows’ food, and used to irrigate the soil. The farm's vegetables that do not meet the standards to be sold and a broken pizza dough from the kitchens of 4P’s is also sent to Thien Sinh to be fed to the cows. Cow manure is composted to fertilize the soil. In addition to composting, the ingredients used at the farm are local, and the bacteria are also collected in the wild nearby. Thus, the farm produces almost no waste, but most of the waste is reused.
Thien Sinh's farming process is organic without the use of chemicals that can affect the environment and human health. The soil is improved by natural methods including resting the soil, intercropping, and using microbial fertilizers. One example of intercropping is that tomatoes and beans are planted on the land that will be used for producing rocket. The farm does not use pesticides. Pests are prevented by neem oil which is produced by the farm itself. Grass is cut by machine instead of using herbicides. As a result, the farm's agricultural products do not have residues of chemicals. At the same time, Thien Sinh does not discharge excess chemicals into the environment.
Challenges and future actions
Thien Sinh uses the spray irrigation method to water the plants. This method uses a sprinkler from below the water surface to the canopy through a system of pumps and pipes with fixed nozzles. The spray system automatically rotates at an angle of 360 degrees, usually about 0.5-1m higher than the ground. The water used in Thien Sinh is pumped from the wells to a reservoir, then it runs to the piping system. A timer is set to water the farm several times a day, depending on the weather and temperature. In the dry season, the pump operates throughout the day while in the rainy season, it runs 12 hours a day. The water used have not been measured yet. Thus, it is recommended that a meter should be installed to estimate the water and drip irrigation should be used.
- Zanya Coffee
Zanya Coffee is a family cooperative in Lac Duong district, Lam Dong, under Langbiang mountain. Zanya coffee defines themselves as focusing on quality over quantity and developing personal relationships in Vietnam specialty coffee community. Langbiang mountain area provides the arabica coffee with unique aromas and flavours. Zanya would like to bring arabica specialty coffee from farm to cup to customers.
Benefits to the community
In Vietnam, a small but passionate group of customers of specialty coffee is slowly developing, especially in the big cities, thus the case that can also be observed in many other coffee-producing countries: when consumption increases in the country, the appreciation of the original product also increases. Producers learn to better assess the value and quality of their work and what Zanya Coffee has been doing opens to new techniques that keep one step of the value chain in the hands of the producers. This development is still in its infancy in Vietnam, but it has been initiated with the presence of companies like Zanya Coffee. In order to take control of the whole process of producing coffee as well as to encourage the farmers keep planting Arabica (rather than selling the land to real estate developers), Zanya Coffee buys the coffee cherries of surrounding family members and uses their own method to process. They rely heavily on multiple hand selections during the coffee processing, fermentation monitoring, drying on african raised beds and proper storage in Grainpro bags. Thus, they can pass on portions of the value the company generates to the community.
Challenges
Global climate change is increasingly leading to unpredictable weather conditions, making coffee plantation much more difficult in practice. Until well into the harvest season, the region was affected by heavy rainfall, making it much more difficult for a long time to reach the fields located on the mountain via the unpaved roads leading to them. Another issue is the price and quality. When coffee reaches a certain quality, it escapes the highly speculative environment of world market trade and becomes available to the specialty trade. It means that pricing primarily depends on quality. If coffee farmers commit to the effort required to grow high quality coffee, they will be rewarded with better price control and better income, which may be more sustainable than abandoning or selling the land.
- Dalat Ecology
Locating in Da Nhim commune, Lac Duong district, Dalat Ecology provide shiitake mushroom to 4P’s. Five households including some K’Ho minority ethnic families participates in shiitake production. They establish 10 mushroom houses, and the output of one mushroom house is 7-10 kilograms per day, which meets 20% - 30% of the demand of 4P’s.
Shiitake mushrooms are a bit more picky about what they will eat when compared to oyster mushrooms, which will grow on coffee grounds, cardboard, or pretty much anything. Shiitake really need a wood-based growing medium to thrive and get the nutrients they need. Dalat Ecology uses the sawdust mixed with rice and corn bran as the beds for shiitake. One bed can provide mushrooms after 10 days after incubation and put into production again for seven to eight times (in 5-6 months) if it is mixed with good quality.
Circular economy
In mushroom production, water is an important input because mushroom prefer moist environments. Water is used to irrigate the roof to cool the mushroom house. A system of pipe is installed in every mushroom house to and spray water to keep the moist environment. Water is also necessary to soak the mushroom bed before planting. At Dalat Ecology, wastewater from soaking the mushroom beds is used to irrigate coffee plants. The mushroom bed, after reaching the end of its growth potential, still has a high nutritional content, so it is collected as compost to provide for coffee farmers.
Community development
Dalat Ecology was initiated by Mr. Quan after learning about sustainable development and environmentally friendly agriculture. He succeeded in convincing some K'Ho ethnic households in the area to participate in a project to produce shiitake mushrooms, which are a high-value agricultural product that does not affect the environment. Mushroom production requires a clean environment, so mushroom cultivation helps keep the soil, water and air environment free from dust and chemicals. As a result, the local ecosystem - where Bidoup Nui Ba National Park is located - is protected and people's health is ensured.
In this area, the main livelihood is growing coffee and vegetables. People do not want to make high-value specialty coffee because they usually receive money from traders first and then sell it back to those people during the harvest season at a relatively cheap price. Therefore, when compared to coffee farming, high-value shiitake production provides stable and higher income for ethnic minority households.
Future actions
The production model will be more effective if precise information is collected, including data on resources and fuel consumption. Currently, the main source of water used is groundwater and a small part is from the commune's reservoir. In the dry season, to cool the mushroom house, water is spray on the roof every half an hour for 10 minutes. In the rainy months (from July to October), it is unnecessary to cool the house. Electricity costs are about 1-2 million VND a month for one mushroom house. In the future, shiitake production households will need to install water meters to know the exact amount of water consumed for each production crop at different times of the year, thereby having a plan to save water and electricity and improve production efficiency.
- Orlar Vietnam Joint Stock Company
Orlar Vietnam Joint Stock Company is a company in the field of high-tech agriculture. Their goal is to meet the growing demand for fresh, safe and local products. The first technology is hydroponics. Plants are grown in pots with a substrate made from coir mixed with zeolite imported from Australia and added with microorganisms. The second is vertical gardening. This is a growing method that usually does not use soil or natural light. Plants are grown on posts or trays arranged vertically. The pots and trays are located in a greenhouse with a controlled environment. There are over 26 major products including lettuce, edible flowers, herbs, tomatoes, kale and strawberries. 4P’s mainly uses edible flowers and strawberries from Orlar’s farms.
Resource and energy efficiency
Orlar's technology does not use land, so it does not affect the natural soil. Plants are watered by drip irrigation technology. Drip irrigation involves placing tubing with emitters on the ground along side the plants. The emitters slowly drip water into the soil at the root zone. Because moisture levels are kept at an optimal range, plant productivity and quality improve. Drip irrigation also helps prevent disease by minimizing water contact with the leaves, stems, and fruit of plants. It allows the rows between plants to remain dry, improving access and reducing weed growth and reduces leaching of water and nutrients below the root zone. Time, money, and water are saved because the system is efficient. The number of labours needed decreased. In addition, the use of zeolite helps to retain water in the substrate, thereby saving more water than conventional hydroponic and normal drip irrigation. In terms of energy, since the water is used with the optimal amount, less electricity is needed to run the pump. Another advantage of the technology system is that the environment quality inside the substrate is ensured. The diseases can be controlled easily and there is no root disease. Once again, zeolite retains nutrients better, produces more nutritious products, and retains resources after harvest longer.
Saving the environment
Orlar uses systems designed to eliminate or significantly reduce the use of various inputs such as substrates, synthetic chemicals, and artificial light. The company uses no disposable input, captures 100% of nutrients, uses water nearly 100% efficiently, and uses 0.05% of the energy of other vertical farming operations. The technology helps control chemical residues and uses less land than traditional methods.
Challenges
Creating a controlled environment on a large scale will require more energy. For example, the company is experimenting with creating a stable low-temperature environment around the year for growing strawberries by installing a cooling system in vertical planting poles. Then the amount of energy consumed will increase, not only increasing costs for businesses but also making a relatively significant contribution to global GHG emissions. Importing most of the important inputs including zeolite and fertilizer also increase the GHG emissions, which causes global climate change.
In addition, the application of high technology in agriculture, which brings high output and great value, also leads to the problem that local farmers who are lacking capital and knowledge may be excluded from the value chain of agricultural products. They will lose their livelihoods and have no opportunities to learn and improve their capacity to participate in this value chain.
- Hasfarm Greens+
Hasfarm Greens+, formerly known as The Fruit Republic, is a joint venture invested by Dalat Hasfarm in 2017. They have a separate farm and garden in Da Ron, Lam Dong. In 2021, the Hasfarm Greens+ brand is officially launched. Products supplied by Hasfarm Greens+ meet the food safety and quality standards with certifications issued by prestigious organizations in Vietnam and abroad, including FSSC 22000: 2018, GlobalGAP and VietGAP. Now they have 252 hectares in which 12 hectares are for vegetable production with the annual output of 9,000 tons. Hasfarm Greens provides 4P’s with lettuces, bell peppers, tomatoes, etc.
Sustainable development has become one of Dalat Hasfarm’s four distinguishing points, along with Innovation, High Technology, Sustainable Development, and Consumer Orientation. Many sustainable development solutions, such as organic waste recycling, energy-saving LED lighting systems, water treatment and reuse processes to save water resources in flower production, and Bio Pro technology, which uses beneficial insects, natural enemies, and biological fungi instead of chemical pesticides to protect human health and the environment, have been successfully implemented in the company.
Water saving
The company applies drip irrigation technology to save water and optimize water efficiency. In addition, irrigation water is also recovered through a system of pipes placed under the plant trays and pots, therefore it has a certain level of nutritions. It is estimated that the amount of water recovered and recirculated reaches 80% of the input water. The recovered water is used to irrigate the plants that are not too sensitive to nutrients in the water, for example ferns. In the future, the company will research to treat the reused water so that it is suitable for irrigating the vegetables.
Composting
The substrate is mainly coconut fiber, which is reused many times for different types of vegetables. After use, the substrate is collected and composted. Hasfarm Greens+ has a separate composting area. The company's composting process produces no odor pollution. As a result, the company can handle most of the waste from production.
Elimination of pesticides
Innovation can be seen as a winning tool for sustainable development. Doted with a professional laboratory, Dalat Hasfarm has started developing its own predator insects and micro-organisms since 2014. Using Bio-Pro helps reduce the presence of chemical residue on our different crops. safer for customers, protective for the workers and the environment. Their products include beneficial fungi, beneficial insects and potted soil.
The abuse of pesticides has directly eradicated natural enemies, causing insects and diseases to crop up, creating resistance and becoming stronger, so humans have to constantly invent new drugs to destroy them. Compared with the use of chemical pesticides to control pests quickly and effectively immediately, the use of natural enemies requires an initial time, because the impact time of natural enemies is longer. However, once the natural enemies have developed in sufficient numbers and suppressed harmful pests and insects, farmers almost do not have to use pesticides to prevent during the growing season.
Renewable energy development in the future
It is reported that utilizing clean solar energy will be a new milestone in Dalat Hasfarm’s journey toward sustainable development. Dalat Hasfarm is taking a new step toward sustainable development by using clean energy from solar power - the BLT (Build - Lease - Transfer) model invested in by ecoligo Fund (Germany), developed and provided EPC contracting services by Vu Phong Energy Group. The project’s kick-off ceremony was held on March 15, 2023. The parties’ cooperation will not only aim for Goal 7 - Affordable and clean energy but will also contribute to the achievement of many other United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 8 - Decent work and economic growth and Goal 17 - Partnerships for the goals. The development of solar power should be expanded to Hasfarm Greens+ soon as the company also have a large area of greenhouse. Lam Dong has a high potential of wind and solar power with the total expected capacity is about 2250.06 MW.
Challenges
Similar to the case of Orlar, Hasfarm Greens+ have to import the seeds and fertilizers, which contributes to the GHG emissions. It is difficult for Hasfarm Greens+ to use the domestic seeds because the plants from domestic seeds are easily broken when growing and harvesting, resulting in high proportion of waste and increase in the cost. It is recommended that the company should invest in R&D to produce the seeds themselves.
- Yoshimoto Mushroom Vietnam Co., Ltd.
Yoshi mushroom is the main product of Yoshimoto Mushroom Vietnam Co., Ltd, which is located in Loc Son Industrial Park, Bao Loc City, Lam Dong province. The company adopts the Japanese-style organic and natural production process and the inputs are imported from the Netherlands. Healthy yoshi mushroom subject to Japanese standard is an important ingredient in the 4P’s’ menu.
Circular economy
Substrate from mushroom production has high nutritional content, which is prefered by the farmers. After 2-3 mushroom crops, the substrate is disinfected by heat and sold to local households and agricultural farms. The disadvantage is that the quantity is too large, leading to such high shipping cost that the local people can hardly pay.
Challenges
Yoshimoto's mushroom production process is based on technology and imported inputs. Each mushroom house needs relevant temperature and humidity level depending to each stage of mushroom growth, which consumes a lot of electricity. The imported mycelium from the Netherlands is stored in refrigerated containers at the temperature of -1°C. This is another significant energy consumption item that can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. It is remarkable that all production materials are imported, from soil, nutrients to mycelium. The transportation of these materials leads to GHG emissions, which is a cause of climate change.
3.2. Measuring carbon footprint based on life-cycle assessment
Open LCA software was employed to calculate the environmental footprints of Pizza 4Ps. Table 1 below shows the environmental footprints of 1 kg pizza. Each selected indicator is displayed in the rows and the project variants in the columns.
Table 1: Environmental footprints of 1 kg pizza
#
|
Indicator
|
Pizza 4Ps (BAU)
|
Baseline
|
Unit
|
1
|
Climate change
|
4.11E-02
|
2.08E+00
|
kg CO2 eq
|
2
|
Climate change - biogenic
|
1.02E-03
|
5.97E-01
|
kg CO2 eq
|
3
|
Climate change - fossil
|
4.55E-02
|
1.41E+00
|
kg CO2 eq
|
4
|
Climate change - land use and transform.
|
-5.42E-03
|
7.34E-02
|
kg CO2 eq
|
5
|
Ecotoxicity freshwater
|
1.16E+00
|
2.20E+01
|
CTUe
|
6
|
Land use
|
6.93E+00
|
7.38E+02
|
Pt
|
7
|
Non-cancer human health effects
|
8.76E-07
|
8.84E-06
|
CTUh
|
8
|
Ozone depletion
|
4.02E-09
|
1.90E-07
|
kg CFC11 eq
|
9
|
Photochemical ozone formation, HH
|
2.02E-04
|
6.86E-03
|
kg NMVOC eq
|
10
|
Resource use, energy carriers
|
5.69E-01
|
2.52E+01
|
MJ
|
11
|
Resource use, mineral and metals
|
4.10E-07
|
4.95E-06
|
kg Sb eq
|
12
|
Respiratory inorganics
|
3.68E-09
|
1.88E-07
|
disease inc.
|
13
|
Water scarcity
|
9.75E-01
|
3.57E+00
|
m3 depriv.
|
As can be seen, the carbon footprint analysis reveals that Pizza 4Ps' 1kg pizza emits 0.0411 kg of CO2 eq directly into the atmosphere and has a total carbon footprint of 0.0822 kg of CO2 eq. This data clearly shows that Pizza 4Ps is significantly more eco-friendly than the standard pizza value chain (baseline), which emits 2.08 kg of CO2 eq directly and 4.8804 kg of CO2 eq in total.
Figure 3. Pizza 4Ps’ Carbon footprint vs the baseline
The following Figure 4 shows the relative indicator results of the respective project variants. For each indicator, the maximum result is set to 100% and the results of the other variants are displayed in relation to this result.
Figure 4. Pizza 4Ps’ environmental footprints vs the baseline
4. Conclusion
Food and beverage companies have a very significant environmental and social impact, and this has become a global issue. Food system activities, including producing food, transporting it, and storing wasted food in landfills, produce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change, which account for 26% of global GHG, showing the huge impact that our diets have on climate change. Food systems cause the loss of 70% of biodiversity, restrict 3 billion people from a healthy diet, consume an enormous amount of fresh water, equivalent to 304 million swimming pools, and one-third of our food goes to waste, etc. Food is also the largest consumption emission sector within cities, and it is foreseen that 80% of the world’s food will be consumed by 2050. As the fact that, we depend on healthy ecosystems and healthy people to produce our food, yet at present, our food systems make us and our planet sick.
The food and beverage (F&B) industry in most countries is under increasing pressure from consumers, nongovernmental organisations, governments, and other stakeholders to improve sustainable practices across their operations and supply chains. The improvement is an enduring movement and increasingly impacts how business is undertaken and how consumers buy products. This paper provides a showcase of GHGs reduction within sustainable food value chains of the Pizza 4Ps company.
Acknowledgment: This paper is based on the research results obtained from a study about sustainable value chains under the “Urban Food System Working Group” program funded by the World Wildlife Fund in Sweden (WWF-Sweden) and partially implemented by WWF-Viet Nam. The findings, interpretations and conclusions presented in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of both WWF-Sweden and WWF-Viet Nam.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Cong Thanh
thanhnc@neu.edu.vn
Dr. Nguyen Hoang Nam
namnh@neu.edu.vn
Dr. Nguyen Dieu Hang
hangnd@neu.edu.vn
Faculty of Environmental, Climate Change and Urban Studies,
National Economics University, Hanoi, Vietnam
(International Conference ICSEED2023)
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