We are committed to leaving this world as we found it and we always have future generations front of mind. Having built a world-class sustainability-focused baking facility and made significant reductions in our overall environmental impact, our challenge now is to maintain this energy and drive to identify further opportunities to improve.
From packaging, to water and energy efficient bakery
design, we look for opportunities to reduce our environmental footprint.
We also try to encourage awareness of how we can each improve our
world. Sustaining generations takes more than quality products and
services. It takes personal responsibility, innovation and a willingness
to think of new ways to do business.
With all of the debate and statistics thrown around in the media, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. At Plarre Foods Group, we’ve simply acknowledged that humankind has most likely had a negative impact on the environment. You don’t need to be a scientist to see this.
Having been around for over 100 years, we also have a relatively unique business perspective on the importance of what the future holds for us and our families.
We’ve simply decided that it’s our job to do what we can to ensure our families inherit a world that is in better shape than if we’d done nothing.
Whilst we’re incredibly proud of the initiatives we’ve implemented,
there are literally hundreds of other improvements that we’d love to
make but have not been able to for purely commercial reasons. This won’t
stop us. We just need to think a bit harder and move a bit faster.
Our commitment to ourselves is to consider sustainable alternatives for even the smallest of projects, knowing that every little improvement counts. We’re by no means perfect but we’re getting better every day.
Below is a list of the many environmental initiatives we’ve engaged in over the last 15 years. Some of them make a big difference and some of them make only a small difference. The important thing is they ALL make a difference. Our planet has been damaged a little bit at a time. It will likely be fixed a little bit at a time.
Rain water toilet flushing
Solar heated hot water for staff amenities
High efficiency air conditioning and climate control to reduce temperature bleed between baking areas
All hot water for our cake and pie production is preheated using energy recovered from our fridge motors
Heat recovered from freshly baked products (using exhaust fans and the heat taken from cooling tunnels) heats the main production area in winter and minimises heat-bleed into refrigerated areas
Fully integrated SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) energy monitoring system to allow "real time" monitoring of all energy and water consumption
Over 100,000 litres of rainwater tanks plumbed for irrigation and truck washing
Victoria’s first Diesel Hybrid truck launched with Sustainability Victoria
Optimised route planning incorporating deliveries outside of peak hour traffic to reduce fuel consumption.
Wind deflectors fitted to all trucks to reduce drag and the associated fuel costs
Bulk raw material handling equipment eliminates half of our requirements for land fill
Over 95% of all waste is channelled back into recycling streams including but not limited to: plastic, tin, wood and food
We’ve hosted hundreds of bakery tours for students and professionals to help inspire further sustainable thinking in business
Ferguson Plarre’s environmental efforts have also brought attention from the media, other businesses, government and the education sector.