In March 2021, we set a company ambition to source from British farms collectively achieving net zero that supply directly into our manufacturing sites.
We have always wanted customers to be able to come with us on the journey by being able to buy products which had reached a net zero status on farm, starting with eggs in 2022.
This ambition started a substantial programme of activity (which followed pilot work in 2020), working with over 40 project farmers round the country on their own paths to net zero. You can read about some of this activity here.
The project's two main goals were for farms to reduce their emissions "as low as they can go" and balance the remaining emissions by projects within their own farm footprint to sequester or offset what remains; "how high can you grow". Our ambition throughout the project has not been to buy offset credits, but to work with farms to manage innovation, land and production differently.
Within the egg sector, the highest contributor to emissions is through the feed the hen receives, and the most significant element of the diet footprint comes from using soya, due to its high deforestation / land conversion risk. Removing soya from the diet therefore helps reduce the emissions.
A key part of our work was also to support innovation programmes which tackled the climate challenge on farms differently. With eggs, this lead to our project working with Better Origin, to supplement the hens' diet with insects fed on waste from our own factories.
We also asked University of Cambridge to verify the work done by Better Origin and Eggbase and to support a claim for a carbon neutral egg. This work can be found here.
At the farm gate, Better for Our Planet Eggs have emissions three times lower than the average emissions from our other egg producers.
We are continuing the work with all of our egg producers as part of our net zero agriculture programme. This includes sharing best practice and knowledge exchanges amongst our producer group, working with commercial partners on key projects to deliver commercialised sustainable feed options, and incentivising best practice on farm
Emissions reduction programme:
- Remove soya from the laying birds' diet;
- Introduced protein from insects, fed on waste from bakery, root veg and fruit factories within the Morrisons Manufacturing estate;
- 100% renewable energy used to power the hen houses;
- Woodland, hedgerows, grass and wildflower meadows capture and store carbon;
- Keeping hen production efficiency on track through good health and welfare