Feeling the heat

Caterers are the latest to come under pressure to cut carbon. That means big changes in the kitchen, reports Julian Rollins.

Those solidly built Aga kitchen ranges are as much part of the nation’s shared fantasy rural life as The Archers. The cast iron cookers may still be made at the same Shropshire factory as they have been for the last 300 years, but Aga Foodservice’s business today goes some way beyond keeping cottage kitchens cosy.

Its equipment cooks food that’s served up in all sorts of places – hotels, restaurant, hospitals, prisons… And it’s these commercial kitchens that Aga wants to see cleaning up their act.

Campaigns for energy efficiency in the kitchen have so far focussed on the domestic side, leaving the UK’s 273,000 catering outlets largely to their own devices. But it’s these that could offer a quick hit in the drive to reduce carbon emissions, says the group’s chief executive William McGrath. Twenty million tonnes of them a year, in fact, if they were to reduce energy use by 30% – a reduction thatis well within reach, he insists.

Aga-commissioned research shows ascale of energy wastage that would shock outsiders, says McGrath. Burners are often left on for hours, eating up energy while they wait to be used. Two out of three chefs interviewed admitted that they put them on when they arrive in the morning and leave them burning throughout the day.

Simple technology like adding a standby setting to equipment they currently own can deliver big savings, if only businesses were prepared to invest, he argues. “Really it’s about priorities. Most pubs and restaurant chains are much more attuned to what goes on front of house than what goes on in the kitchen,” McGrath says.

The trade is very conservative in its outlook, he argues, and there’s a gap between environmental improvement rhetoric and day- to-day reality, he says. “At the top, an organisation may be in favour of things, but the priority further down may seem less clear. Middle managers have a budget and have been told to hit numbers this year, so anything long-term isn’t of interest.” Neither are customers interested in paying anything more to have energy-saving mechanisms included in products, he adds.

So, what’s the way ahead? Simply encouraging change will not deliver fast enough, believes McGrath. He says that even where interest-free loans for more efficient equipment are available, take up is poor.

For Aga, tougher regulation is now a must. In March this year it came up with its own Environmental Code for the foodserviceindustry to help cut those 20 million tonnes. The detailed proposals boil down to two big asks: the introduction of minimum energy efficiency requirements on new kitchen equipment, and annual energy usage checks alongside safety checks.

The company wants to see the code adopted in the UK, so that equipment manufacturers, their customers and the government make commercial kitchen performance an urgent priority.

It’s also aiming to get the Code into future EU regulations. Aga argues that new standards for energy-using products now being considered by the EU need to be tighter if they are to make a meaningful difference.

Without beefed-up regulatory guidelines the industry will continue to be equivocal on energy issues, McGrath believes. “There’s a need for clarity in what’s required,” he says. “When regulation is modified people usually don’t have that much trouble learning to live with it, as long as it’s clear.” – Julian Rollins

Aga Foodservice Group is a Forum for the Future partner.

10 October 2007

Julian Rollins