EASTER Eggs have been in our shops since, well, Boxing Day in some areas. During that time, the ownership of one of the most famous confectionery businesses in the world, Cadbury, has changed hands. Now, the machines that produced so many of those Easter eggs belong to American investors. What the future holds for the workers remains to be seen.
Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury was a timely reminder of just how our markets have become truly global. There was another reminder earlier this week when a proud Swedish brand was sold on by its American owners to a Chinese buyer.
That firm is Volvo, off-loaded by the motor men of Detroit onto their counterparts in Beijing and Shanghai. Global markets indeed.
One of the greatest challenges facing the car industry is curbing emissions and waste. Legislation on the one hand and public expectation on the other are the sort of carrot and stick being used to make car-makers reduce the environmental impact of their businesses.
It’s understandable that the internal combustion engine commands high levels of attention in the climate change debate, but, in terms of environmental impact, Cadbury, Kraft and other food firms have some lessons to learn. A Liberal Democrat survey of the volume of packaging protecting chocolate eggs found that some have boxes 10 times the size of the treats inside. That’s a lot of waste.
According to the Waste Resources Action Programme, or Wrap, the retail supply chain in the UK, through which all our Easter eggs roll, creates round 30m tonnes of household waste in the UK every year, of which 5.9m tonnes is packaging and 6.7m tonnes is food waste. Businesses are now realising that reducing waste and using fewer natural resources is a powerful way of making a contribution towards reducing climate change and delivering a sustainable future.
We throw away 8.3m tonnes of food and drink per year in the UK.
Most of this (5.3m tonnes) could have been consumed. That's like filling 4,700 Olympic sized swimming pools.
If we stopped wasting all this food and drink, it would save the equivalent of at least 20m tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s like taking one in four cars off UK roads – something for Volvo’s new owners to think about as they rip the packaging off their chocolate treats this week.
