Interactive Zoom Event ‘Delivering the Goods’ in collaboration with NICRE and RDCIP

Food and Drink North East is co-hosting ‘Delivering the Goods’, an interactive Zoom event for food and drink businesses that will help companies realise their full net-zero potential and move towards sustainable delivery.

In collaboration with the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) and Rural Design Centre  Innovation Project (RDCIP), this interactive zoom event on Wednesday 30th June is a perfect opportunity for food and drink businesses to find out more about innovative low-carbon solutions and best practices, and to be part of a peer network to support them on their net-zero journey.

Jamie Campbell, design associate at RDCIP explains why this event has come about. “While working alongside a variety of organisations, we have found that many businesses want to move towards a more sustainable method of delivery. Some however are finding it hard to do so for a number of reasons. We hope this event will be able to give some clarity and direction to those businesses looking to overcome their biggest barriers to low-carbon or low-emission delivery.”

With more focus on the significant role food transportation plays in contributing to climate change, it is crucial that businesses in the North East are aware of how to reduce their environmental impact.

"The pressures on climate are beyond a tipping point and food and drink logistics plays a significant role in that,” says Chris Jewitt, founder of Food and Drink North East.

“At Food and Drink North East, we want to go beyond lip service and strive for real and demonstrable change that will influence the industry, top to bottom. We are delighted to be co-designing and delivering this event with such excellent partners in NICRE and RDCIP. Together, and in partnership with businesses, we can shape a sector that is fit for the future and, regionally, become a world class flagship for sustainability and innovation."

‘Delivering the Goods’ includes an array of speakers from North East businesses who will share real case examples of how they are helping the industry reach net zero and reduce carbon emissions. Speaking at the event are Paul Irwin-Rhodes, head of sustainability at Greggs; Ben Evans, owner of local business Cake Stories; Ed Pegram, business manager at Raleigh UK; Beate Kubitz, innovative transport consultant and founder of Cargodale; and Nick Mason, director at ZMOVE.

“At NICRE we are keen to ensure rural businesses can fulfil their full potential in terms of innovation, sustainability and achieving their net-zero targets, however recognise that this can be daunting for many SMEs,” explains Dr Barbara Tocco, centre manager and senior research associate at NICRE.

“Our research suggests that many rural businesses are at the forefront of eco-innovation and environmental good practices, although we know there are often challenges which prevent uptake of new ways of working.

“This event aims to identify existing barriers, such as awareness, costs, infrastructure and various incentives, that may prevent food and drink businesses in using low-carbon transport methods in delivering their goods and spot opportunities for innovative action. We would highly encourage interested businesses to sign up to attend!”

‘Delivering the Goods’ will take place on Wednesday 30th June from 9.30am — 12pm via Zoom. Registration is required and you can sign up here: http://bit.ly/Deliveringthegoods

Ahead of the Zoom event on Wednesday 30th June, FADNE, NICRE and RDCIP are inviting food and drink businesses to complete a short survey to find out key barriers and opportunities for low-carbon logistics and transport in the sector, which will help shape the discussion and inform innovation projects and business support workshops.

The survey closes on Friday 25th June.