Dr Andy Wood, Managing Director, Adnams

[Gareth_Platt]

Dr Andy Wood is Managing Director of Adnams, the Suffolk-based brewery which has become one of Britain’s most carbon-efficient enterprises. In 2006 Adnams opened the first British industrial building ever constructed using entirely sustainable materials, and the company has built on this pioneering approach with the launch of East Green, a low-carbon beer which is currently enjoying spectacular commercial success. The company’s chairman, Jonathan Adnams, has received an OBE for his approach to corporate social responsibility, and Adnams picked up a Carbon Trust/Daily Telegraph Innovation Award in 2007.


Please tell us about the issues the brewing industry faces in reducing its carbon footprint.

There are a number of issues right throughout the process, from sourcing of hops and barley, through bottling and/or putting into barrel to the transport and distribution of the finished product. Water use is also a significant issue for brewers to consider as generally the ratio of the number of pints of water used in the brewing process to a pint of beer produced is too high. All of these issues have significant environmental and carbon emission implications.

Is the brewing industry coming under pressure to reduce its carbon footprint?

Not particularly, although the Carbon Reduction Commitment will impact upon some of the larger producers.

What is Adnams doing to reduce its carbon output?

We are taking a holistic approach to the whole issue of carbon emissions, trying to make reductions right across the supply chain. We’re fortunate to have Cambridge University and the University of East Anglia (UEA) close by – both of these institutions are extremely innovative in the area of carbon emissions and climate change, and both have helped us along the way with guidance and advice.

Our approach embraces the entire supply chain, from making sure that we source as much as possible of our raw materials from local suppliers, to ensuring that we maximise the efficiency of our production processes and cut out wastage during the warehousing and distribution phase.

When did you decide to adopt this carbon-efficient approach, and why?

Around 1999-2000 we adopted a set of organisational values across our business, and care for the environment whether, natural, built or social, was a core consideration. As long ago as 1999 we were aware of the environmental damage that was being done and believed that in the fullness of time customers would begin to demand a more carbon-efficient approach. We also understood that by thoroughly reviewing our supply chain activities this would bring tangible financial and operational benefits.

Can you describe the benefits of your approach?

We’ve transformed the image of the company into an innovative, forward-thinking business, and this approach has proved hugely popular with customers, and helped attenuate the effects of the current economic climate. Last December we were showing a 6% decline in beer sales; by June this year this had been transformed into 2.4% growth.

In addition, we have been recognised with a string of national accolades. In 2007 we won the National Business Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, the Carbon Trust Innovator of the Year award and The Good Corporation Ethical Business Award – this reflects well on our company as a business that can be trusted and generates outstanding publicity.

Which particular policies or attributes earned you these awards?

I think, more than anything, our overall approach won the awards. We clearly take carbon emissions very seriously at all levels of the organisation, and we have solid evidence and third-party endorsement to back up our claims.

In terms of specific policies, our new distribution centre, which opened in 2007, has set new standards for our industry. Of its type, the new centre is one of the most innovative buildings constructed in the UK for many many years, and this definitely played a significant part in the award.

Tell us a little more about the centre…

The building was designed by Auckett Fitzroy Robinson, a firm of architects which has worked on several low-carbon commercial schemes, and their innovative approach is stamped all over the design.

The walls were built with lime and hemp, which offer great insulation properties and thermal stability, and we complemented these materials with a wooden frame and sedum roof. Airlocked doors were introduced throughout the building to control its temperature, and our staff have played a proactive role in minimising the building’s emissions.

The optimal temperature for storing beer of our type is around 13 degrees, and staff have worked tirelessly to maintain this temperature. In the first few weeks after the building opened, staff were coming in at night to open doors and windows, letting the cool air in. Once we hit the right temperature we shut the airlocked doors and we’ve required no artificial temperature regulation since then. This in itself saves us six-figure sums every year.

Your brewery is also extremely carbon-efficient. Tell us about the innovative technologies it uses.

The brewery’s environmental efficiency really comes through the use of a heat retention tank to trap and recapture all the heat used – so rather than being emitted out into the atmosphere through a chimney, 100% of the heat is captured and used to boil the next brew that’s coming through.

We benchmark the plant against 15 other breweries. The results have shown it’s extremely efficient from a carbon emissions and water use point of view; for example the brewery currently uses around 3.1 pints of water for every pint of beer produced, whereas the industry average is around 8:1. In fact, the brewery is possibly one of the most energy efficient in Europe at the moment.

And what about East Green, your low-carbon beer?

To have some fun, and to challenge ourselves in order to celebrate our low-carbon innovations - as demonstrated in the new brewery and distribution centre - we decided to make a carbon-neutral beer, maximising the resources we have around us.

Initially we worked with the Hop Association to make a special dwarf hop called Boadicea; the hop can be harvested very easily and is aphid-resistant, so it didn’t require insecticide or pesticide. The barley was sourced from 12 local farms, and we worked closely with the maltster to lightly malt the barley in order to create a light beer. We also worked with our bottle manufacturer OI to produce the lightest beer bottle on the market (blowing glass is an extremely energy intensive exercise) then stored the product in our energy efficient distribution centre and took care to avoid any unnecessary transportation.

We ringfenced our supply chain at that point and asked the academics at the University of East Anglia to analyse every part of the process, measuring the carbon impact at each stage. We found the whole process still produced around 150 grams of carbon, and we handled this by paying an offset on this final amount.

The product and process is about 35% less carbon intensive in the supply chain than our other products, and we learned a great deal from the exercise.

Any other projects in the pipeline?

We’re currently exploring a number of exciting schemes to improve our environmental efficiency. One of the most compelling ideas is the concept of industrial ecology – using the spent grain and liquor, which comes out of the brewery for anaerobic digestion. This process will in turn produce methane, which could in turn be transformed into biogas or electricity for the grid. If we were able to introduce this system, we could offset the emissions of our entire commercial vehicle fleet which is really quite significant.

How will you gauge and monitor your carbon footprint going forward?

We are currently working with three MBA graduates from the UEA, and we’ve introduced three business forecasts: ‘Business as usual,’ ‘Business as usual with growth,’ and ‘Business as usual with a growth, plus mitigation.’ Each forecast includes projected figures for carbon emissions, so we can accurately predict our carbon footprint no matter what happens to the business in the months ahead.

Have you been forced to alter your approach in light of the credit crunch?

Not at all. We had a particularly difficult year last year, due to economic conditions in the marketplace; Adnams is a branded customer facing business, so it was one of the first to feel the pinch in adverse economic conditions. Yet, throughout this period, we never relented from our low-carbon stance, because at the end of the day it’s good management not only from a carbon emissions perspective but also from a lower operating cost perspective. Over the medium to long-term we believe the polluter will continue to pay, whichever political party is in charge, and businesses with a high carbon footprint will face greater costs than those which look to curb their carbon emissions.

How have your staff reacted to your low-carbon agenda?

We’ve just carried out a staff opinion survey, which achieved a response rate of around 80%. Ninety five percent of respondents said they support Adnams approach to the environment and believe we are making a difference. Over 90% said they were proud or very proud to work for Adnams, which is really encouraging.

In fact, we’ve generated such momentum around the ‘green’ campaign that staff are now challenging management to do more. Our two hotels, in Southwold, are currently embroiled in what they refer to as the ‘carbon wars’; each is battling the other to achieve lower emissions than the other. Simple but vital procedures are becoming commonplace, such as staff being particularly vigilant in ensuring that lights are switched off when rooms are empty, and cookers in the busy kitchens aren’t left on unnecessarily.

Furthermore, staff have come up with the idea of replacing patio heaters in outside areas with blankets. Using soft blankets made from offcuts from the textile industry on cool summer evenings, staff wrap guests in blankets and avoid the need to switch on carbon-intensive patio heaters. Not only is this good for the environment, it is a great metaphor for the way Adnams wants to take care of its customers.