The aim of a new campaign, for which Volvo Trucks teamed up with internationally renowned top chef Marcus Samuelsson, is to reduce CO₂ emissions in food transport.
Fewer Emissions
According to the manufacturer, around 19 percent of total emissions in the food and beverage industry are due to transport. How can these emissions be drastically reduced or completely avoided?
The campaign aims to show what sustainable transport in this area can look like—and to encourage companies to adopt more environmentally friendly logistics solutions, according to the manufacturer.
Gourmet and Transport Challenge
Marcus Samuelsson has
already created dishes for international restaurants like Red Rooster Harlem in New York City, where he cooked for President Barack Obama among others. The highly acclaimed chef has also been awarded an Emmy for his work as a television personality and is active as an author.
He now faced the challenge of creating a gourmet dish with ingredients delivered exclusively by electric trucks or by trucks operated with renewable fuels.
"This was the first dinner of its kind, and I am thrilled to have been part of it. For this project, I had to
consider transport almost as an ingredient—it was the main actor! That's exactly why I enjoyed this challenge so much," said Samuelsson. He added, "Because if we succeed, it can propel the entire industry. Maybe one day, every menu will indicate how the ingredients arrived at the restaurant—and this could become a new quality feature."
What was on the Plate?
The menu included miso-glazed cod, cabbage, crayfish, cucumber salad, and a German Riesling. The ingredients for the dinner traveled a total of around 2,700 road kilometers.
It is said that 86 percent of the distance
was covered by electric trucks with zero exhaust emissions. The remaining kilometers were covered by trucks running on renewable fuels like biogas or biodiesel.
"Our goal is to specifically target transport customers in the food and beverage industry. Their decisions and demands have a significant influence on the direction and pace at which sustainable transport solutions develop," explained Katarina Adamson, Head of Global Brand & Communication at Volvo Trucks.
For the project, numerous food and beverage manufacturers, producers, and transport companies collaborated—all were then invited to a special dinner at a restaurant in Gothenburg,
