Asda is again on the offence promoting local sourcing, having announced a saving of seven million road miles through its local hub initiative. The scheme delivers locally sourced products to Asda stores across the country via a local distribution network.
The scheme, which has launched ten local hubs across the UK in the last five years, will accelerate in 2007 with a further five launching before the end of the year.
Already the local distribution centres have reportedly reduced road miles by 5.2 million, as local producers pool their resources in a bid to reduce costs, cut carbon emissions and lower the overall environmental impact of food distribution.
The five new local hubs, based in Nottingham, Leicestershire, West Midlands, Cornwall and Yorkshire, will reduce food miles by a further 1.6 million this year alone, accordino to the retailer.
Furthermore, carbon emissions will be cut by over 10,000 metric tonnes by the end of the year. "The success of our local hub initiative has been phenomenal, not only does it signal a new way in which supermarkets can work with some of the smallest UK suppliers,” Richard Pearson, head of local sourcing for ASDA explained. “It also reduces our overall carbon footprint, enables us to increase the amount of local products available to our customers, and makes life much simpler for hundreds of local producers."
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