Harlech Foodservice invests £1 million in six more low-emission trucks

Harlech Foodservice is investing £1 million in six more low-emission delivery trucks this year, as it gears up to build new markets from its latest base in Carmarthen.

Ian Evans and Janette Jones are overseeing Harlech’s drive towards net zero.

Harlech has a net zero target of 2050 and has already made some major savings by switching to more environmentally-friendly coolant gas for its giant freezer rooms at its headquarters and for its refrigerated transport fleet.

Alongside head of operations Ian Evans, sales administrator Janette Jones has overseen the company’s drive towards net zero. She said: “It is really important to embrace the green agenda because so many of our public sector customers demand it now.

“The progress we have made so far has helped us win new public sector contracts so that makes good business sense as well as being environmentally important. In turn that is driving the growth of the company, which employed about 180 staff pre-Covid but is now heading towards 250.”

Harlech is looking at the feasibility of equipping the sales fleet with all-electric vehicles and using smart technology to plan journeys, deliveries and pick-ups more efficiently. “It’s about getting the right people in the right place at the right time because there is a big saving to be made not just in our fuel miles but in the fuel miles of our suppliers,” said Jones.

Evans, who is in charge of the company’s fleet of 47 lorries and vans, added: “We’re expanding at our headquarters too, with more space including refrigerated space, but we are also being more efficient in the way we operate by making the aisles in our warehouses narrower so we can store more.

“We also still have a lot of land here that is surplus to our needs so we are looking at installing more solar panels in addition to our existing solar array on the roofs.”

Harlech began measuring its carbon footprint in 2016.