Page 21 - Food&Drink Business Magazine June 2019

Bakers and environment savers
For Bakers Maison, business is about benefitting the environment as much as baking bread.
By Kim Berry.
SPECIALIST bakery manufacturer Bakers Maison has set out to reduce its carbon footprint wherever possible, achieving a 30 per cent reduction in the last two years.
The company produces more than 100 traditional breads and pastries.
Its range of
frozen products, available as fully baked, par baked, ready to bake and ready to prove, is delivering unexpected environmental benefits.
Bakers Maison
managing director Pascal Chaneliere told Food & Drink Business the amount of food waste in Australia was an “environmental travesty”.
Up to five million tonnes of food ends up as landfill, or enough to fill 9000 Olympic-size swimming pools. An uptake of frozen items could help reduce that, he says.
Issues of freshness, reducing food waste, less frequent deliveries (meaning less truck trips) all appeal to businesses trying to reduce their costs and carbon footprint, Chaneliere says.
“We’re serious about environmental impact in our manufacturing process. That premise was one of the drivers when we changed to solar power a couple of years ago,” Chaneliere says.
The company installed 1900 square metres of solar panels on its facility roof that generates 200kVA.
It is specifically tailored to the food industry because it targets the energy intensive process of cooling hot baked
MAIN: Bakers Maison’s solar installation has reduced its carbon footprint by 30 per cent in two years.
LEFT: The extensive range means even the allergic don’t miss out.
BAKERY & DESSERTS
YOUR ONE ANSWER TO ON-SITE FOOD AND BEVERAGE TESTING
Food: bakery products, egg products, fish oil, milk & dairy products, nuts, oils & fats, and more.
Beverage: beer & wort, wine and must and more.
goods, which is an integral part of making Bakers Maison’s operations, and makes it as efficient as possible.
Bakers Maison’s solar project is one of the largest community- funded solar projects in Australia. It raised $390,000 from 20 investors and now, over a seven to 10-year period, pays the investors for the solar power, which is significantly cheaper than the mainstream electricity market.
As well as the solar panels, the company converted 12 electric ovens to gas, replaced factory lighting with LED lights and converted refrigerant gas from R22 to ammonia gas.
Chaneliere says by showing that a large-scale food manufacturing operation such as Bakers Maison – which produces 15 tonnes of products each day – can be reliably powered by renewable energy, he hopes others in the industry and in other energy-intensive industries will follow its lead. ✷
For more information, contact us on
(02) 9882 3666 or at orders@amsl.com.au
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www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | June 2019 | Food&Drink business | 21