McCain is aiming to roll out light emitting diode (LED) lighting across its UK potato cold stores in a bid to slash energy use following a successful pilot in Scarborough.
Replacing 400W sun-lamps with 94W LED-arrays (semi-conductor devices that convert electricity into light) could reduce energy use for lighting by up to 80%, said corporate affairs director Bill Bartlett. "It's a major capex project but LED lights use far less energy and last far longer."
McCain is also commissioning a system to use biogas from an anaerobic digestion lake that processes waste water infused with potato starch to generate electricity through a gas-burning-generator at its Whittlesea plant, he said. (Biogas from the facility is currently used to reduce the amount of natural gas needed to heat the plant's boilers.)
However, the firm is also exploring using potato peelings to feed anaerobic digestion facilities in the future.
McCain UK sales were growing in the "healthy single digits" in the UK, revealed Bartlett. Sales to the education sector had been dented following the introduction of controversial new standards for school meals, he said. However, McCain's new range of steam-blanched potato products, which complied with the standards, had helped to drive a recovery, he added.