A Bristol company that packages a quarter of all wine sold in the UK is switching their HGV fleet to all-electric in an industry first.
The Park - which currently ships six million bottles of wine per week to customers - is a certified carbon neutral company and the first UK supplier to deliver goods to retailers using all-electric HGVs. It is the largest wine packaging facility in Europe, delivering 50,000 bottles per day to the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Aldi.
It is leading the food and drink industry in sustainable production by introducing the FMCG industry's first electric HGV, becoming the final step of the production process, reducing the company’s carbon footprint even further. General Manager Richard Lloyd said sustainability was at the core of the business.
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"We hope The Park will be a catalyst for change not just within the wine industry, but for all industries nationwide,” he said in a statement.
“There is a vital need to meet climate targets, and so businesses must find new and innovative ways to tread more lightly on the planet. As Europe’s largest wine packaging company, we recognise that we have a responsibility to ensure we play a substantial role in finding eco-solutions.”
Laurence Drake, Managing Director of DAF Trucks, spoke of his company's commitment to developing environmentally-friendly transport solutions. He added: "Following the success of our zero-emission electric trucks launched last year, the new CF Electric being operated by The Park and EV Cargo is one of the first zero-emission HGVs to enter the market."
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Working alongside like-minded partners is driving the transport industry forward, Mr Drake commented. The company's work earned them the 2022 Truck Innovation Award for its consciousness of creating a better environmental footprint.
Andy Humpherson, CEO of EV Cargo Solutions, added: “As longstanding logistics and supply chain partner, we’ve been working closely with The Park to introduce more sustainable practices within its distribution operations and today’s achievement marks a milestone for the industry. Sustainability is one of EV Cargo’s core values and we are continually looking at innovative ways to decarbonise supply chains to reduce both our, and our customers’, impact on the environment.”
The Park, based in Avonmouth, is also hoping to be the first wine packaging and distribution company to send a shipping pallet with no stretch wrap, a plastic film commonly used on pallets, as part of the site's commitment to see usage cut in half by 2025.
Tesco announced plans to launch the first electric articulated HGVs to be used commercially in Britain to serve its distribution centre in Wales at the end of December last year. The supermarket retailer deployed two 37-tonne lorries to transport goods from a rail freight terminal in Cardiff to the company’s hub in Magor in January.
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