Carbon Footprint

Timaru’s McCain vegetable processing factory in New Zealand is now producing french fries using a boiler system powered by woodchips instead of coal, seeking to minimise waste by 20 per cent.

A NZD 5.6 million (about USD 3.5 million) project to eliminate CO2 emissions and reduce demand for heating fuel at McCain’s Timaru factory will soon use woodchips to make their frozen french fries.

McCain Foods Timaru potato processing plant is reducing its energy usage environmental impact, now looking to electrification, by installing Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) technology, a first in New Zealand.

New Zealand supermarket chain Countdown says its biggest selling potatoes are white washed potatoes. Customers also prefer that their potatoes are locally grown

Management at one of McCain Foods’ processing plants in Timaru, New Zealand, has found over 100 opportunities for improvement in its logistics following a two day “energy blitz” from employees.

Dr John Baker, a soil scientist who was a finalist for the World Food Prize in 2013, is calling for the authorities to look at soil quality when preparing environmental policies. He says that while most local bodies have robust policies to address air and water quality, they overlook soil quality.