Tropicana and Copella and the environment
Tropicana and Copella make fruit juices and smoothies using the very best of fruit from across the world, from rural England to tropical Brazil.
They are committed to being more environmentally sustainable, focusing on three key areas: minimising energy use and reducing carbon emissions; conserving water; and reducing packaging and waste.
Meeting the challenges
Tropicana sources fruit from the best orange growing areas in the world in order to get the very best fruit in season.
Nearly all the fruit pressed by Copella is sourced within the South East of England.
This means each brand has different challenges to address to be more sustainable.
To meet the challenges, we have carried out research into our carbon footprint across our supply chain for Tropicana.
Our research revealed that 79% of our carbon footprint comes from the supply chain - growing and juicing, and cross- Atlantic shipping.
The packaging, bottling, distribution and refrigeration take up the other 21%. Following this research, we are in the process of identifying an action plan for carbon reduction across the entire Tropicana supply chain.
Working with suppliers
A large percentage of Tropicana's carbon footprint is generated during the fruit growing process. At Tropicana, we are working with our suppliers on ways to be more sustainable.
In the UK, Tropicana is supplied orange juice by Brazilian company, Citrosuco. A family- owned company, Citrosuco's operations are powered entirely by renewable energy, using the fibre from the local sugarcane as fuel. By sourcing fruit from more sustainable suppliers like Citrosuco, Tropicana can reduce the overall carbon footprint of its juice.
A sustainable supplier: Citrosuco
As well as running entirely on renewable energy, Citrosuco has made many innovations to be more sustainable. Virtually all of the orange waste is recycled or reused - even the orange peel is fed to local cows. Above 40% of the plantation area is set aside for nature reserves and populated with palm trees and other vegetation which help retain rain water and provide wildlife habitats.
Citrosuco is also trialling ways to reduce fertiliser use by finding the optimum time a 20% reduction.
Transporting fruit
Almost all of the fruit used in Tropicana is transported by ship, which is one of the most environmentally sustainable forms of transport.
Tropicana transports fruit in the way that best preserves the flavour, which can be whole or in juice and puree form. Tropicana fruit is never frozen for transportation. This keeps the carbon footprint much lower due to the difference in weight.
Nearly all Copella's fruit is sourced from within the South East of England, and much from the immediate locality. This keeps food miles down, as well as supporting the local and regional economy.
Reducing packaging and waste
We have been working to reduce the amount of packaging we use and to increase levels of recycling of used packaging.
Over the past five years, we have reduced the amount of materials used in our plastic bottles, including reducing the weight of a 250ml bottle by 18%, meaning that we have saved 500 tonnes of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, and 2,340 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide.
We are also running trials to investigate partially and fully recycled plastic bottles. All our cartons are based on paperboard, which is a renewable resource. Paper is largely supplied through sustainable forestry programmes. We are currently developing plans to increase the percentage of our cartons that are recycled.
As part of the PepsiCo-wide plan, Tropicana and Copella have pledged to send zero waste-to-landfill by 2018. As part of this pledge, we have been looking at ways to reduce waste product.
Since 2008, Tropicana has been working with the charity 'Magic Breakfast' which delivers free, healthy breakfast foods to British primary schools in deprived areas. The surplus products supplied to the charity will reduce waste to landfill by several hundred tonnes each year.
Water consumption
Water is essential in growing, washing and processing the fruit we use in our juices and smoothies.
During 2007, through introducing new measures, Tropicana successfully reduced the amount of water in production by 17% and Tropicana suppliers have also helped to reduce the streamline water use. We estimate that 99.74% of our water footprint occurs in the growing of the oranges in Brazil. 98.5% of the water we use come from rainfall, with only 1.5% of the water diverted from rivers. Citrosuco also uses waste water to irrigate a neighbouring palm tree plantation.
Boxford, Suffolk, where Copella juices and Tropicana Smoothies are made, suffers from water shortages. To make the best use of local water supplies, Copella and Tropicana have been working closely with the Environment Agency.
As a result of this work, we have improved the way we re-use water. An audit of the Copella plant revealed that almost half of our water footprint came from irrigating our orchards. To address this, we have invested in water-saving technology to allow us to re- use the water from the production of our juices in the irrigation process.
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