Doncaster wholesaler JJ Foodservice makes carbon-cutting pledges and move towards being more vegan

Food production accounts for more than a third of carbon emissions, making it critical for businesses like JJ, which has branches across the UK including in Doncaster, and supplies thousands of caterers, to operate more sustainably.

Chief Technology Officer, Mick Dudley, said, “We are on a journey to migrate to cloud-based services using Microsoft Azure, which has committed to being carbon negative by 2030.”

By shifting to cloud-computing, the business will rely less on hardware and physical machines. The result is a reduction in energy use and environmental impact.

Migration to the cloud can achieve significant carbon reduction in the form of a 5.9 per cent decrease in total IT emissions, according to research.

Alex Faupel, Director of Azure, Microsoft UK, said, “We are delighted to be working with JJ to support the organisation’s sustainability goals.”

Microsoft has committed to achieving four major sustainability goals by 2030 – to be carbon negative, water positive, achieve zero waste, and to protect more land than it uses.

“Through utilising Microsoft Azure, JJ can join us on this journey,” he added.

The migration is expected to be completed within the next 24 months.

JJ Foodservice has already reduced total carbon emissions by 54 per cent since 2014.

“This is a great achievement when you consider that we’ve opened three new branches in that time,” added Mick.

Technology isn’t the only area where the business is looking to increase sustainability.

JJ will also expand its vegan and organic produce, and biodegradable-packaging offering.

Sales of vegetarian and vegan products increased by 22 per cent over the past two years, while bio-packaging sales have surged by 86 per cent.

“The combination of sustainable growth and the excellent service we are well-known for, will help us to cater for our customers for many generations to come,” said Mick.

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