Marley Spoon, the meal kit delivery company, is committing to 100% renewable energy by the end of 2022.

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA, May 7, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Marley Spoon (ASX:MMM), the meal kit delivery company, is making the switch to 100 per cent renewable electricity in Australia by the end of 2022. One of Australia’s fastest-growing retailers already reached the milestone of operating carbon neutral earlier this year and is revealing its sustainability goals for the future. 

The company’s sustainability objectives for the next five years will focus on four priority areas – carbon reduction, packaging, sustainable sourcing, and food waste. 

“Taking action to minimise our impact on the planet cannot be delayed any longer,” said Marley Spoon Australia CEO, Rolf Weber. “At Marley Spoon, we are committed to significantly decreasing our carbon impact across our operations. Since our launch, we’ve tried to consciously grow without further increasing our footprint and are continuously implementing actions to measure, reduce, and where necessary, offset that footprint.

“Our customers are vocal about their experience with Marley Spoon, and one of our most common pieces of feedback is around packaging and sustainability. It's an issue that affects everyone and customers expect best practices, so we aim to deliver.”

A 2019 study from University of Michigan researchers found that meal kits have a much lower overall carbon footprint than the same meals purchased at a grocery store, despite having more packaging. Average greenhouse gas emissions were one-third lower for meal kit dinners than the store-bought meals when every step in the process—from the farm to the landfill—was considered, according to the study. Now the company is aiming to make further advances in its sustainability commitments and promise to customers. 

Carbon reduction and offsetting
The renewables commitment is highlighted by the meal kit company’s new Sydney fulfilment center, which is powered by renewable energy. The new 14,200 square metre space within Charter Hall’s Wetherill Park development allows for triple the production capacity of the meal kit company, while having a lower carbon footprint. The meal kit company insisted on a 500kw solar power installation on the roof of the new facility to help meet that dramatic decrease in emissions. The typical Australian home uses 3.3-6 kw solar panels.

To counterbalance emissions and reduce their overall environmental impact, Marley Spoon is working with accredited CO₂ offset partner, ClimatePartner, on projects that support the company’s sustainability mission and meet international certification standards set by programs like Verra and Gold Standard for the Global Goals. Through the partnership with ClimatePartner, Marley Spoon is contributing to projects that plant trees in Venezuela and Uruguay, and that provide families in Zambia with clean-burning, efficient cookstoves.

Rolf Weber said: “To date, we've planted over 44,000 trees in Venezuela and Uruguay, supporting the absorption of CO₂ from the atmosphere. We've also distributed 4,000 clean, efficient cookstoves to families in Zambia, who would otherwise be cooking over open fires that cause respiratory and environmental damage by releasing greenhouse gases and soot.

Packaging
Packaging is a vital part of each box, ensuring ingredients stay fresh. However, Marley Spoon is setting the goal to have all packaging in each box be curbside recyclable by the end of 2025. Currently any soft plastic packaging in a box can be taken to a RedCycle drop off point for example at Woolworths stores. As the network of appropriate recycling facilities and understanding of soft plastic recycling increases, Marley Spoon is working to create solutions that make the process simple and convenient for all Australians.  

Marley Spoon is a member of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), which has recognised the company as a market leader in most categories, including industry leadership and delivering outcomes to improve packaging. These recognitions take into account packaging and recycling milestones both in the box and at Marley Spoon’s production facilities. Last year, the company worked with suppliers to replace all shipments of food in cardboard boxes to crates. Nearly 600,000 crates are now being used in rotation amongst suppliers, completely removing single-use packaging from the supply chain.

Sustainable sourcing
Marley Spoon has a ‘local first’ policy and works with local farmers and suppliers wherever possible. The policy means that any new ingredients added to the menu need to be made or grown in Australia. The only time internationally produced ingredients feature in a Marley Spoon box is due to the high quality of certain products from their native regions, e.g coconut milk, chipotle chillies, and gochujang.

In 2020 Marley Spoon began a partnership with Ardmona Tomatoes, reducing the carbon emissions created by international imports, creating new opportunities to serve customers more of Australia’s best, sustainably grown produce and supporting the Australian economy.

Every element is taken into consideration when engaging with potential suppliers, including water, energy, soil management, diversity, carbon footprint and animal welfare. Since launching, Marley Spoon has only served free-range chicken as part of the Better Chicken Commitment, which aims to drive the food industry towards higher welfare practices.

Food waste
Marley Spoon is a retail leader in reducing food waste. The unique supply chain of meal kits means the company orders what they need to fill customer orders, meaning there is no over-ordering and less than 1% of food is wasted and anything that isn’t delivered to customers is donated to food rescue organisation OzHarvest. Last year 325,000kg of food was donated to OzHarvest, providing almost 1 million meals to underserved communities. 
As the company has grown over the past 6 years, it has managed to maintain the rate of less than 1% waste despite increasing the number of orders in 2020 by more than 90%. The incredible result flows both ways as customers receive only the ingredients they need for each meal, so there is no food waste for customers or at the source. 

Rolf continued: “Being a sustainably conscious company is more than just recycling and reducing waste; being a sustainable business or organisation is all about consistently improving. Our business model already helps customers easily act sustainability through reducing food waste and working with sustainability-focused suppliers. As we grow we need to continue to ensure we’re delivering a product that not only fills a need in their lifestyle, but also allows them to easily live their lives sustainably.” 

“I am a member of Leaders for Climate Action, which I take seriously as an individual and as a business leader. It’s on all of us to contribute and make a difference, so we encourage our teams to find new solutions to a very old problem. We are working closely with our partners like APCO and OzHarvest to ensure that we’re not only making positive changes in our business and for our customers but also the wider global community.”

Jonas Tobias
Marley Spoon
+61 431906814
email us here