Short film highlights how RPC specialist Ifco is helping to transform the fresh grocery supply chain for the retailer
Reusable packaging specialist Ifco has released a behind-the-scenes documentary titled ’The cycle of tomorrow’ highlighting how it is helping to transform the fresh grocery supply chain for leading European retailer Rewe Group.
According to Ifco, this is being done through its circular model, the Ifco SmartCycle.
Ahead of the United Nations’ 100-year anniversary in 2045, the Vision 2045 campaign is presenting a series of documentaries highlighting leaders committed to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As part of this campaign, the documentary features Ifco, which provides sustainable alternatives to single-use packaging for growers, producers, and retailers.
Ifco’s circular model is recognised as a role model for SDG 12, promoting responsible consumption and production.
The documentary follows the reusable packaging containers (RPCs) on a typical circular journey, starting at one of Ifco’s Service Centers, where the sanitised RPCs begin their trip, through to the producer, retailer and back – with a stop at a local food bank along the way.
The film shows Ifco’s circular model as ”both a radical and simple solution to the global waste crisis caused by single-use packaging and food loss and waste in the fresh grocery supply chain”.
The strengths of the circular pooling system are highlighted through one multi-partner long-term commitment to sustainability, involving Ifco, Rewe Group, Gemüsebau Steiner, a local eco-friendly fruit and vegetable grower, and Tafel, one of the largest food bank organisations in Europe.
Michael Pooley, Ifco CEO, said being selected for the documentary was confirmation of the importance of its mission.
“Our purpose is to make the fresh grocery supply chain sustainable,” he said. ”There are now over eight billion people on the planet, and we have a very fixed set of resources. For us to have a sustainable future, circular models like the Ifco SmartCycle are the only solution.”
The circular model brings compelling benefits for Rewe, according to Marc Rademacher, executive director Ultrafresh, Rewe Group.
“Ifco’s SmartCycle enables us to reduce waste in our supply chains and is therefore an important part of our commitment to sustainability,” he explained in the film.
