Innocent is perhaps the archetypal 'green' company. Its primary product, the ubiquitous 'Smoothie' fruit drinks are said to be fresh and wholesome - made just with fruit and without any added ingredients. Since its inception in 1999, when it was tentatively trialled by three friends at a small London rock event, to the present day with some 270 employees across Europe and a brand-leading product, it has continued to insist that the sustainable ethos behind its business is not in contradiction with growth but in fact drives it.

Last year Innocent's turnover topped £100million for the first time - a growth curve mirrored by the number of men within the company sporting beards (but not necessarily wearing sandals). This year, its share of the chilled juice market rose to almost 15 per cent.

Jessica Sansom is known within the company as 'the tree-hugger'. Sometimes she is referred to as the Head of Sustainability.

How difficult, in practice, is it for Innocent to live up to its ethos of sustainability?

"It's not difficult to make sure that you always consider sustainability issues; ensuring that they are part of your business decision-making process. I guess the difficulty is the fact that sustainability is a journey and that you're never going to achieve everything all at once. So you have to accept that it is a series of steps.

"We always say that if sustainability is a 100-step journey, then we think that we are on step two! But the first step is that we are committed to doing it and the second step is that we really know what it is we want to do and that we have started doing it but it's going to be a continuous journey."

What role does supply chain supervision play in your sustainability programme?

"I don't like the term 'supervision'. Engaging with our supply chain is absolutely essential to our sustainability programme. As a business, we work entirely with our supply chain - we don't have any of our own facilities - so if we didn't then we would only be working on the impact of our own office. So for us it's necessary to engage with our suppliers; we have to get their buy-in to what it is we're trying to do.

"We need to bring them on that journey with us. It's key for them to understand why we want to do what we're proposing to do, how we want to do it; and that we propose to do it in a way which is going to make sense for them, for us, for sustainability, for the economics and to work through it together.

"Obviously we work with suppliers to ensure that we produce a quality product, that we produce enough of it, that we get it to our customers on time and that sustainability is in-built into the whole equation. For instance last year we worked closely with one of our carton co-packers on sustainability and what we were able to do was help provide them with information that they needed to analyse the results of audits which they'd been seeing; to be able to share the results of best-practice that we'd gleaned from other suppliers and other areas of the industry.

"They were interested in moving to buying green energy which they did and now buy 100% green energy for their plant. And I helped them get the quotes for that because anything that I can which can help them achieve something fantastic like that is worth my time."

What has been your most successful carbon reduction measure?

"The highlight of last year was definitely introducing our 100 per cent recycled plastic bottle. We believe it was a world-first to use that material in contact with food. And it achieved a 55 per cent reduction in the carbon footprint of the bottle compared with the original bottle that we used in 1999. It reduced the footprint of the Smoothies by 15 per cent because the packaging was a fairly significant component of the overall Smoothie footprint.

"What we love about what we did is that it achieved such fantastic results while only using a waste material that would otherwise have ended up in landfill. We've got these great carbon results out of it but it doesn't actually cost us any more money than using normal plastics. OK, we went through a testing process, obviously, to ensure that the material was going to perform properly, that it was going to be safe for our drinkers but ultimately it's the right thing to do for business and for sustainability."

Having achieved this, is further footprint reduction in this area achievable?

"The first steps are often the obvious ones and sometimes the easiest to achieve and are going to deliver the biggest reductions for the least cost and then you move on to your supply chain. We're going to keep going to get every last bit of carbon out of the footprint that we possibly can.

"Yes, we're now tackling some slightly more difficult areas. We achieved a 15 per cent reduction for the Smoothies last year: we're going for a further seven per cent this year. That means working even more closely with our manufacturing base; it's getting down to what kind of fertilizers they are using on the farms and implementing reductions and carbon-friendly changes in that area. We're going to keep going."

What other processes have benefited from your commitment to reduce emissions?

"We still have the basics from when we first started the business and that is: no flying; buying renewable energy for all of our offices, making sure that the pool cars used by the company are hybrids or they run on LPG; trying to source locally where we can but making sure that sourcing locally is the right answer when it comes to carbon. We have big initiatives around the office in terms of how we all travel to and from work and making sure everything's turned off.

"But also in terms of the actual mix of the products: different types of fruit have different levels of carbon [embedded in their production and distribution] so it's interesting to start looking at it this way to see which of our products are more carbon intensive than others, so we are really breaking it down and trying to incorporate that carbon consideration into every part of the business.

"Another example: when we are tendering now for fruit suppliers we actually assess that tender with carbon intensity in it as well as cost and quality of supply so it's truly trickling down to every business process."

Are there any particular pitfalls you've encountered?

"Going through the process of getting initial data is difficult and time consuming but I think it's important.

"You can however spend forever trying to get the last per cent of incredibly accurate data and you need to bend with the '80/20 rule': get as good as data as you can obtain and use secondary data where you can't get primary data and then get focussed on results because if we worry too much about methodologies and data accuracy down to the last tiny bit we're not spending our time where it can be most productive."

How close are we to an agreed method of measuring greenhouse gas emissions for individual products?

"That's a question for the Carbon Trust! It's great work they've done, the Carbon Trust, BSI and Defra, towards developing the PAS 2050 [Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050] methodology for measuring carbon in individual products and they're doing the right thing and making sure that there's some international consultation as well so that we can be measuring and comparing across Europe and beyond. It's getting closer."

Are you still participating in the Carbon Trust's product-labelling experiment?

"We are. We haven't put out anything on packs at the moment. We're still looking at those options and what we feel is going to be the best, most meaningful way to communicate this information to our consumers. We want to ensure that information is going to raise awareness and empower our consumers to act on carbon."

In what way will the current economic climate affect the push to reduce emissions?

"I think that it can only strengthen it. The wonderful thing about carbon is that if you cut carbon you cut costs. Today there's even more incentive for people to get out there to find ways of cutting carbon and of cost."

Are government incentives to reduce emissions adequate?

"Let me approach this in a different way. I think we still haven't quite hit on the mark of providing individuals, more so than businesses, with really clear information about what it is they can do on climate change. I'm waiting for the message that says: 'If there are five things that you're going to do that make a difference, then make them these five things.' I think that the communication is still confused and we need to make sure that the messages are simple and whatever it is that we're asking them to do in those five things that then there are incentives to help them achieve them."

What advice would you give to someone taking on a role similar to yours?

"Never give up."

Low Carbon Board Report

The New Drivers Of Low Carbon Transport

Transport makes a significant contribution to the carbon footprint of the UK, with road transport accounting for 22 per cent of all UK carbon dioxide emissions in 2005.

Setting a timetable for reductions is a key aim of the UK government, as it is for the EU as a whole. But road haulage is an important industry in its own right and an important part of the service infrastructure for business, so it is essential for government to set achievable goals and formulate clear policies for the industry.

Clarity is certainly needed in some areas, especially in the use of biofuels. In 2003, the EU Biofuels Directive set the objective of replacing 2% of vehicle fuel supply by 2005 and 5.75% by 2010. Yet, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA), the 2005 target was not met and it is unlikely that the 2010 target can be reached. Despite this, in 2007 the EU target for biofuels was increased to 10% by 2020.

From April 2008 the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation Programme sets out how the UK will meet these targets. Yet in the same month EEA Scientific Committee called for a suspension of the EU 2020 target while a new and comprehensive scientific study of the environmental risks and benefits of biofuels is carried out. The committee raised a number of concerns, concluding: “The overambitious 10 % biofuel target is an experiment, whose unintended effects are difficult to predict and difficult to control.”

An era of volatile fuel prices

While aspects of government policy remain in doubt, the rocketing price of diesel is documented fact. “The UK haulage industry is highly competitive and under pressure from foreign companies. We have seen a 30% increase in the price of diesel in the last year. Around 40% of the operating cost of heavy trucks can be fuel,” says Jack Semple, director of policy at the Road Haulage Association (RHA).

“I would say there is a significant level of scepticism in the industry about the value of some of these [low carbon] initiatives,” he says. This scepticism ranges over issues such as the quality of biofuels, the new demands likely to be made of hard-pressed haulage firms, and whether some of these initiatives are motivated by public relations rather than making a material difference.

With fuel prices at an all-time high the haulage industry is focused on reducing costs and improving efficiency, says Semple. But some options are unlikely to be given a fair hearing, he says.

The Government is considering regulatory changes that would increase the maximum permitted size of trucks, in line with Scandinavia and the Netherlands. “There has been a kneejerk reaction from some MPs. I think there is a split in the government on this, so I’m not optimistic about the outcome,” he says. In some respects estimating the carbon footprint of road haulage is straightforward, says Semple. “We know that if you burn one litre of fuel you get up to 2.63 grams of carbon dioxide. If I reduce consumption I reduce the carbon emissions,” he says.

Urban delivery services to lead the charge?

In urban areas at least, new technology could help to reduce emissions, he says. “We expect to see alternatives quite soon, such as hybrid power for vehicles up to about 7.5 tonnes. Looking further ahead we might see some hybrids between 18 and 26 tonnes, but heavier vehicles are likely to continue with conventional fuels,’ he says.

“One of the big issues for me is the way we have stuck with old technologies,” says Trevor Whelan, a policy manager at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and a former haulage driver himself. “Electric vehicles have been around for years. I had a unique view of this in the 1990s when I worked with local government, and had experience of the Ford Ecostar, which was like an Escort-sized van. Its performance was superb, the sort of thing well suited for local deliveries,” says Whelan.

The need for greater efficiency and economy

Whelan agrees that significant cuts in emissions could be achieved through more efficient use of existing resources. “In the past there would typically be a huge number of duplicate journeys, to supermarkets in particular,” he says.

“There are huge opportunities for improvement, and that is starting to happen. For example with backhauls, making four or five drops to supermarkets and then picking up from suppliers. It’s increasingly common for Sainsbury’s to do this for its Kent stores, picking up salads as part of the same journey.”

Improved training of warehouse staff could deliver significant benefits by reducing breakages and the need for repeat journeys, says Whelan. “This is often linked to the way loads are palletised. It’s not unusual to see cartons placed at the bottom of a load, for example,” He says.

There is growing interest in encouraging drivers to use their vehicles more economically, says Whelan. “One of the issues for the industry to think about is the tension between the workload and timetables, and encouraging drivers not to drive aggressively,” he says.

Building tools for the trade

The Department for Transport provides freely available services for hauliers and fleet operators through its Freight Best Practice initiative.

Among other tools is an online benchmarking system that uses 24 Key Performance Indicators to encourage fuel efficiency. Users can participate anonymously, tagging their data according to industry sector, geographical location, and the average operational weight of loads. The results can then be compared on a like for like basis, building a resource that encourages and shares best practice.

Around July or August this year Freight Best Practice plans to hold workshops raising industry awareness of the benchmarking initiative. Change management resources, designed to incentivise staff to drive more economically are also available, including case studies from Walkers, Hardstaff and Geopost Parceline.

Greater co-operation between customers of haulage firms could also reduce emissions, says Jack Semple of the Road Haulage Association. “Haulage companies want to keep loaded for as long as possible. One thing that could be improved is sharing loads, so that one journey is made with a full load rather than several with partial loads. There has been progress with this, but some companies – particularly retailers – are reluctant,” he says.

Key questions:

• How is the cost of fuel affecting on transport and logistics costs?
• What policies do we have in place for increasing their efficiency?
• Could we collaborate with businesses in our area to reduce road use?