iccee.eu

We seek participation of EU companies working in the food & beverage Cold Supply Chain

Our Mission

What will ICCEE do?

Facilitation

The Improving Cold Chain Energy Efficiency (ICCEE) project will facilitate the food and beverage sector cold chains to undertake energy efficiency measures after carrying out supply chain energy assessments. The focus on the cold chains of the sector is due to the significant stages (refrigerated transport, processing and storage) with large energy saving potential.

Implementation

The implementation of the project holistic approach, shifting from the single company perspective to the chain assessment, will lead to increased opportunities for energy efficiency measures.

Accelarate Investments

Through expert analytical tools and dedicated stakeholder capacity building programmes, the ICCEE project will accelerate turning energy efficiency opportunities into actual investments, with a special focus on supply chains involving European small and medium sized enterprises.

What is Cold Supply Chain

The supply chain is a network of companies from the supply procurement to the end customer. The cold supply chain is among the most energy-intensive systems within the food and beverage sector whilst there is limited understanding of its large energy efficiency potential and the economic advantages that can be obtained from energy saving measures. The focus of ICCEE project is on SMEs in cold chains of the food and beverage sector. Nevertheless, supply chains can also include large companies.

The ICCEE Tool

ICCEE will integrate the characteristics of cold chains of the food and beverage sector in an analytical decision support tool with tailor-made analyses related to the energy performance for the different process stages (e.g., raw material preparation, logistic and warehousing operations, production and processing of products, packaging). To enable the update of energy efficiency measures and to support the decision making processes of the supply chain companies in estimating their energy saving potential, ICCEE will design and deliver a dedicated cold supply chain energy efficiency tool.

Benefits for Companies

Companies that participate in the ICCEE project learn about their potential to improve energy efficiency and the non-energy benefits of energy efficiency. They can compare themselves with the supply chaing energy performance of other companies and understand the opportunities energy efficiency measures bring for their companies. Companies can also participate in the capacity building programmes that involve training and e-learning activities.

INTERESTING FACTS

Some numbers to consider

Sector Contribution

In 2012, the sector contributed to over €1,000 billion in turnover (equivalent to 14.6% of the total EU manufacturing sector, representing the largest share) and over €200 billion in value added (equivalent to 12.5% of the total EU manufacturing sector)..

Embedded Energy

The embedded energy in all food consumed accounts for more than 25% of the EU-27 total final energy consumption. SMEs accounted for 51.6% and 64.3% of the sector’s total turnover and employment, respectively..

Share of Energy Costs

The share of energy costs in total production costs is also relatively high. For instance, in the manufacture of dairy products, energy costs are about 11% of the production value added and in the manufacture of prepared animal feeds, it represents about 16% of the production value added..

At the Heart of EU's Economy

The food and beverage sector is at the heart of EU’s economy representing around 12.8% of the value added in manufacturing and has over 280,000 companies employing more than 4.3 million people.