Beyond the Factory Gate…

Emissions that occur after your products leave the factory gate, your downstream emissions, can account for over 20% of your total Scope 3 impact. Yet most F&B companies still rely on generic estimates or skip these when calculating Product Carbon Footprints.

Today, we're focusing on the emissions hiding in your distribution network. Getting these numbers right can inform everything from route planning to product reformulation decisions.

Distribution Emissions in the Food & Bev Industry

Distribution and storage typically represent 3-6% of total emissions in F&B. For temperature-sensitive products (dairy, frozen goods, fresh produce) this can jump to 15-25% of lifecycle emissions.

The energy required to maintain temperature throughout the supply chain creates this multiplier effect. Globally, this translates to cold chain logistics accounting for 4% of all GHG emissions (UNEP & FAO, 2022).

The cold chain poses a unique challenge for F&B companies. You can't simply raise transport temperatures to cut emissions. Compromising product quality leads to waste and recalls that generate even higher emissions.

Accurate emission measurement is therefore essential to identify optimisation opportunities that reduce emissions without risking food safety.

Four Reasons F&B Shouldn’t Ignore Distribution Emissions

1. Regulations are expanding beyond production: New legislation increasingly requires companies to report and reduce emissions beyond their production processes.

2. Distribution offers controllable quick wins: Unlike agricultural emissions or fixed manufacturing processes, distribution can be optimised relatively quickly.

3. Data drives strategic decisions: Distribution insights inform critical choices. Should you reformulate for shelf stability? Invest in regional distribution centres? Switch transport providers?

4. Emissions data can reveal hidden cost drivers: High distribution emissions can signal underutilised vehicles, inefficient routes, or excessive cooling - leading to emissions and cost savings hand in hand.

Three Decarbonisation Opportunities You Don’t Want to Miss

Visibility on distribution data unlocks key emission reduction opportunities:

1. Route optimisation: Calculate whether consolidating shipments saves emissions. Sometimes, longer routes with fuller trucks beat multiple shorter trips.

2. Product reformulation: Identify which products would benefit most from extended shelf life. A 30-day ambient formulation could eliminate refrigeration needs entirely, slashing distribution emissions without compromising quality.

3. Regional production: Compare the emissions of shipping from, for example, Europe to US markets versus establishing local production. Distribution data often makes the business case for regional facilities, especially for high-volume, temperature-sensitive products.

🐄 Case Study: Dairy Product Reformulation

Consider the emissions impact of reformulating chilled dairy for ambient storage:

Chilled dairy (fresh milk, yoghurt):

• Requires 0-4°C throughout distribution
• Generates ~0.4-0.7 kg CO2e per tonne-km in transport
• Additional emissions from warehouse cooling and retail refrigeration

Ambient dairy (UHT milk, powdered milk):

• Ships and stores at room temperature
• Generates only ~0.2-0.3 kg CO2e per tonne-km
• Eliminates all refrigeration energy requirements

Distribution emissions for chilled products run 2-5 times higher, depending on distance, refrigeration efficiency, and refrigerant leakage rates. Yes, UHT processing requires more energy than pasteurisation. But for products travelling over 500km or sitting in storage for weeks, the distribution savings typically outweigh the processing increase.The strategic decision depends on your market: premium local products might stay chilled, while export lines and emergency stock benefit from ambient formulation. Distribution data reveals which products justify the switch—and which don't.

How to Start Tracking Distribution Emissions

Calculating distribution emissions requires three core data points: where your products go, how they get there, and what conditions they need along the way.

Start with the basics:

• Product weight and destination (distance from your facility to distribution centres, retail locations)
• Transport modes used (truck, rail, air, marine)
• Temperature requirements throughout the journey
• Time spent in storage at each stage

You'll then choose a calculation approach based on your available data:

• Fuel-based method
• Distance-based method
• Spend-based method

Measure Distribution Emissions with Altruistiq

With the Altruistiq's platform, you insert your logistics data and our calculation engines map the relationships between distance, transport mode, temperature requirements.

If you don’t have primary downstream logistics data available, you can also use our PEF-compliant downstream emissions estimation method.

Join our digital product launch on October 1st to see how it works in practice. Sign up here.