Sainsbury's is trialling transportation of its deliveries from suppliers by water.

The retailer has just completed a trial in London of shipping food deliveries from the firm's distribution centre in Charlton, along the Thames to its store in Wandsworth.

Sainsbury’s believes the move could cut carbon dioxide emissions by a quarter by 2012, and help the company meet its target of reducing the distance its fleet and suppliers travel by five million kilometres by 2010. Sainsbury's first made deliveries by river in 1869.

Sainsbury's has identified 12 stores in London that could benefit from the service if introduced, and is working with the Port of London Authority to see if it can forge ahead with the idea.

Roger Burnley, supply chain director, said: “It's in our heritage to manage and reduce our environmental impact, and using the Thames is an extremely efficient way of doing this. Projects like this can contribute to how we're tackling issues such as the transportation of food head on.”

A Sainsbury's spokesman told freshinfo: "Before this trial can become a reality, lots of changes need to be made to the infrastructure of the Thames. We have not trialled fresh produce deliveries to date, but this is a possibility in the future; as long as changes are made by the Port of London Authority.

"The future of this project is really out of our hands now."

A spokesman for the firm said it was too early to say whether the idea could be trialled in other towns and cities with waterways.

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