A global campaign to increase the temperature at which frozen food is stored to -15°C, rather than the current industry standard of -18°C has been welcomed by the UK Food Valley and has also received support from industry bodies including the British Frozen Foods Federation (BFFF) and the Chilled Foods Association (CFA).

The campaign claims that by increasing the storage temperature the impact could be:

  • 17.7m metric tonnes of CO2 saved - the equivalent annual emissions of 3.8 million cars
  • 25TWh energy savings created - equivalent to 8.63% of the UK’s annual energy consumption 
  • up to 7% cut in supply chain costs (5% - 7% savings projected)

The campaign is detailed at https://www.movetominus15.com/

This campaign reflects a study conducted for the UK Food Valley in 2023/24 by the University of Lincoln which recommended that while supporting this move, work is needed to ensure that the FSA updates its guidance and regulation to enable this change, so that it is clear how higher temperatures can be used without compromising food safety.

Cold storage is a big user of power, but it also reduces waste, helps to manage seasonal inventory and enables factories to be more efficient. The UK Food Valley is seeing multiple large investments in the sector, notably in Grimsby (Lineage and HSH) and near Grantham (Magnavale), which are pioneering much more efficient cold stores. If this can be combined with new temperature standards it has the potential to deliver major reductions in the carbon footprint of the sector.

As the UK Food Valley is at the centre of the UK cold storage sector, this campaign is timely and should form part of the drive to ensure that a modern cold chain can form a key component of the food sector’s transition to a more sustainable future.