Miljøprojekt, 1026 – Miljøhensyn ved udvikling af fødevareprodukter

Miljøhensyn ved udvikling af fødevareprodukter

Summay and conclusions

During the last year, Arla Foods , in co-operation with COWI A/S, has been working with integration of environment in their product development. On the basis of an analysis of Arla Foods' product development process and the possibilities of integrating productive environmental issues in this process, an action plan was developed. Arla Foods expects the implementation of the action plan to affect the product developers' ability to assess the products' environmental impact in a positive direction. It is expected that the action plan will be implemented in the beginning of 2005.

Background and purpose

The project was initiated by an internal inquiry in Arla Foods. Among other things, it showed that environmental considerations were not systematically incorporated in the product development process. Furthermore, it was not quite certain whether the so-called "environmental consequence descriptions" prepared in some Arla Foods divisions were in fact effective and productive in the process of integrating the environment in the product development.

Therefore, the purpose of the project was to assess how the environment could be integrated in the existing development process without hampering the process and without being a major time and resource consumer. The general aims of the project were to:

produce sustainable and ethical products and thereby environmentally sound products
support a possible market pressure based on the environmental impact of the product.
minimize risks by documenting the environmental impact of the product, taking into account the customers' and clients' expectations.
minimize and prevent operating costs by paying full consideration to the composition and design of the product.

The Project

The initial scope of the project was to analyse the experience gained, primarily within Arla Foods Sweden (AFS) and Arla Foods Denmark (AFD). Therefore, the project focussed on products like milk, yoghurt, cream, sauces and desserts, but not on cheese and powder products. However, it is expected that the results of the project can be used in most divisions of Arla Foods.

On the basis of this scope for the project, the data collection was initiated. By examining Arla Foods' written documentation of targets, policies etc. as well as their product development manual, the "Stage Gate-model", a status survey of Arla Foods' formal handling of the environment in general and the integration of environment in the product development was made. This survey showed a gap between Arla Foods' product-oriented environmental policies and Arla Foods' production-oriented targets. The conclusion was that essential and productive product-oriented targets were needed. The targets should focus on setting up demands for a number of actors: demands on milk suppliers which can affect the environmental impact from handling the milk on the farm; demands on suppliers of chemicals which can affect the environmental impact from the chemicals; demands on suppliers of machines which can affect the working environment in connection with the use of machines; demands on suppliers of packaging which can affect the environmental impact of the packaging. Furthermore, different tools which Arla Foods already use in the product development process have been identified.

Beside this data collection process, interviews with a selection of employees from different parts of the Arla Foods group in Denmark and Sweden were conducted. The interviews gave an impression of the employees' attitude towards and experience with integration of environment in product development in Arla Foods.

On the basis of the data collection and the interviews, a SWOT analysis was carried out, thus exposing all strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats concerning the way Arla Foods was handling integration of the environment in the product development. The conclusion of the analysis was that there was a need for additional embedding of the approach within the company, and for knowledge and a wider implementation of the product-oriented environmental work in Arla Foods.

A number of initiatives were proposed in order to handle these challenges, and on the basis of discussions, some of the initiatives were selected to form a part of an action plan, which was finally elaborated.

Project results

The action plan consists of the following two tracks:

Integration of environment in the product development
The department of innovation has planned an update of the product development manual "R&D project checklist". In connection with the integration of environment in the process, the following activities are proposed:

The departments for innovation, marketing and environment prepare a number of questions which can be used to identify the environmental risks a new product can have.

The departments for innovation, marketing, environment and production elaborate a final environmental checklist, which can form part of the updated product development manual.

In connection with the launching of the updated product development manual, it is proposed that the environmental department elaborate and carry out an "Information and education program" concerning productivity enhancement created by the integration of environment in the product development.

Product-oriented targets for the Arla Foods Group
In order to support the integration of environment in the product development it is proposed to clarify the value of establishing environmental targets concerning Arla Foods suppliers. The following should be involved in this clarification process:

The Environmental section, Division Member and Marketing clarify the value of setting up product-oriented environmental targets for the milk suppliers.

The departments for environment, Innovation and Marketing clarify the value of setting up product-oriented environmental targets for packaging.

The department for the environment and Global Purchase clarify the value of setting up general product-oriented environmental targets for all suppliers.

It is expected that the action plan will be implemented in the beginning of 2005.