https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.274
Abstract
The confectionary
and frozen desserts sectors are important parts of the food industry but have
received relatively little attention from a life cycle cost perspective. Thus,
the purpose of the current study is to evaluate the life cycle costs (LCC) and value
added (VA) in these sectors in the UK, focusing on four major product
categories: biscuits, cakes (ambient and frozen), chocolates and ice cream. In
total, 18 products are considered along their life cycles, including the raw
materials, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, retail, consumption and
waste management stages. The results suggest that cakes have the highest LCC
(£1.52–2.64/kg) and the biscuits the lowest (£0.72–0.91/kg). The LCC of
chocolates and ice cream fall within a similar range to each other
(£1.16–1.46/kg and £1.03–1.30/kg, respectively). Divergent trends are
noted between LCC and VA: for instance, ‘premium’ ice creams have
only 18% higher costs than their ‘regular’ counterparts, but a
four-fold higher VA. For all the products, raw materials contribute most to the
costs (43%–95%), followed by packaging (1%–29%) and manufacturing (1%–14%). The
annual LCC at the sectoral level are estimated at £3.455 billion, to which
biscuits contribute 42%. The share of chocolates and cakes is 24% and 19%,
respectively, with ice cream contributing the remaining 15%. By contrast,
chocolates contribute more than 50% of the total sectoral VA, which is
five-fold higher than that of ice cream. The study also demonstrates how LCC
can be used to evaluate the eco-efficiency of products and sectors. With
respect to global warming potential, whole cakes are the most eco-efficient and
vanilla regular ice cream the least efficient products. Overall, the
confectionary sector is nearly 70% more eco-efficient than the frozen desserts
sector. These results can be used for benchmarking and to drive innovation
towards more economically-sustainable and eco-efficient confectionary and
frozen desserts supply chains.
Keywords: Life cycle costing, economic sustainability, eco-efficiency, value added, global warming potential
The confectionary
and frozen desserts sectors are important parts of the food industry but have
received relatively little attention from a life cycle cost perspective. Thus,
the purpose of the current study is to evaluate the life cycle costs (LCC) and value
added (VA) in these sectors in the UK, focusing on four major product
categories: biscuits, cakes (ambient and frozen), chocolates and ice cream. In
total, 18 products are considered along their life cycles, including the raw
materials, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, retail, consumption and
waste management stages. The results suggest that cakes have the highest LCC
(£1.52–2.64/kg) and the biscuits the lowest (£0.72–0.91/kg). The LCC of
chocolates and ice cream fall within a similar range to each other
(£1.16–1.46/kg and £1.03–1.30/kg, respectively). Divergent trends are
noted between LCC and VA: for instance, ‘premium’ ice creams have
only 18% higher costs than their ‘regular’ counterparts, but a
four-fold higher VA. For all the products, raw materials contribute most to the
costs (43%–95%), followed by packaging (1%–29%) and manufacturing (1%–14%). The
annual LCC at the sectoral level are estimated at £3.455 billion, to which
biscuits contribute 42%. The share of chocolates and cakes is 24% and 19%,
respectively, with ice cream contributing the remaining 15%. By contrast,
chocolates contribute more than 50% of the total sectoral VA, which is
five-fold higher than that of ice cream. The study also demonstrates how LCC
can be used to evaluate the eco-efficiency of products and sectors. With
respect to global warming potential, whole cakes are the most eco-efficient and
vanilla regular ice cream the least efficient products. Overall, the
confectionary sector is nearly 70% more eco-efficient than the frozen desserts
sector. These results can be used for benchmarking and to drive innovation
towards more economically-sustainable and eco-efficient confectionary and
frozen desserts supply chains.
Keywords: Life cycle costing, economic sustainability, eco-efficiency, value added, global warming potential