Creating a Strategic Roadmap for Closing the Loop on Food- and Packaging Waste
“The Accelerator programme gave us a thorough analysis of the catering business using the “Business Model Canvas” and “Product and Business Model Strategies” and presented us with concrete solutions that can be used to increase our circular readiness.” - Jonas Munksgaard Nielsen
Opportunity
Designing a strategy to become fully circular by 2035 will involve setting goals such as improving take-back systems and engaging customers in waste reduction initiatives. This strategic roadmap solidifies the company’s commitment to a sustainable future and proactively prepares it for upcoming regulations and challenges.
Path
The transition path focuses on enhancing a more collaborative approach with relevant stakeholders. This is important on both the supply and customer sides. The first big effort should be to reduce packaging in all parts of the value chain. Afterwards, food waste should be tackled. The current logistics is also a source of systemic waste and can, therefore, be improved.
Outcome
The transition path with specific interventions will enhance the company's circularity. Considering its status, it appears to have opportunities to fully close the loop.
Context
For over 30 years, Jespers Torvekøkken, founded by Chef Jesper Holmberg, has been crafting tasty lunches for Copenhageners. Jespers Torvekøkken operates across 60 canteens and serves around 15,000 daily meal boxes. Committed to sustainability, they have shaped a roadmap, tasked until 2025 to make the company more sustainable in daily tasks, reducing food waste and CO2 emissions. In collaboration with external partners, Jespers Torvekøkken is not only seeking to reduce its carbon footprint; it is also trying to improve the circularity of its operations.
Opportunity
The "Close the loop by 2035" strategy sets a new horizon for Jespers Torvekøkken. By defining intermediate goals on the way to becoming fully circular, this roadmap paves the way for their journey towards a sustainable future. Key guidelines include enhancing their take-back system with traceable reusable lunch boxes, collaborating with local partners and wholesale suppliers to cut down on single-use packaging and engaging customers in data collection to better align meals with preferences and quantities. The company is already preparing for these challenges, driven by upcoming regulations such as EPR policy and Packaging Waste directives.
Transition path
The company should focus on a collaborative approach with relevant stakeholders. This should tackle the linear hotspots across their value chain through better cooperation with other actors on both the supply and customer side. To accommodate the Circular Economy, the company needs to manage its supply chain, which is a major source of waste through long-distance transport and excessive packaging. Developing partnerships with local, sustainable suppliers is important for sustainability improvement and environmental reduction. Collaborating with existing suppliers to reduce packaging and emphasise local sourcing ensures faster supply turnarounds.
Using pollution-free cargo bikes collaborating with a bike delivery company, with some integration for long-distance travel, aligns with the circular budget, significantly reducing carbon emissions. A further development will entail switching from disposable ingredient packaging (upstream) and lunchboxes (downstream) to reusable ones. This should include smart tracking, reducing single-use plastics, establishing a closed system, and enforcing compliance through monetary means. Velove can handle box returns, making converting to a circular model easy. The next step should be removing systemic food waste in collaboration with the customers.
In conclusion, participatory approaches to supply chain, logistics and waste management can drive the transition to a Circular Economy. Partnerships with local suppliers, eco-friendly transportation, reusable packaging, and efficient waste management can make the company an industry leader in sustainability, reducing environmental impact and embracing circular economic principles. The CE business model and Product and business model strategies in CE have been considered crucial to enhance such a transition to remove systemic waste across the value chain.
Outcome
The company can achieve circularity through special and strategic efforts. Partnerships and support with current suppliers for efficient and local sourcing reinforce their commitment to sustainability. Furthermore, by integrating cargo bikes into their operations, they will actively improve their environmentally friendly logistics, and their environmental goals will be met, making it attractive to environmentally conscious consumers. Taking it further, the company will take steps to promote circularity through the use of reusable lunch boxes. These lunch boxes feature a tracking system and monetary incentives for return, effectively encouraging a circular economy. In addition, the company will conscientiously manage its waste and turn food waste into a value-added product, reflecting responsible product use. Overall, these engagement strategies solidify the company’s position as committed to making a positive impact through its activities.
Reflections
Jespers Torvekøkken expresses enthusiasm in further investigating the presented ideas and appreciates having someone look at the business with fresh eyes, thus obtaining new perspectives.
Next step
Moving forward, the company needs to explore and develop collaborations with other companies that can ensure a steadfast path towards circularity. It is also essential that they define a clearer company strategy on circularity and have KPIs to track the transition over time.
Micro-Accelerator. January 2024 - offered by ready2LOOP & DTU Course, Design for Circular Economy
Company
Jespers Torvekøkken
Focus area for transition path
Strategy & Business Model Innovation
Packaging Manufacturers
Packaging & Service Innovation
Packaging Manufacturers
