Country Fare opens new carbon-neutral depot as it celebrates 20th anniversary

Foodservice wholesaler Country Fare has moved to a new carbon-neutral depot in the heart of Bournemouth.

The new site is the result of a £12m investment and has been awarded the best possible energy status, with a –12 A+ rating.

Sustainability has “always been a priority” for the company, MD of Country Fare Gavin Millward told The Grocer.

Solar panels cover the roof of the depot, which generates more than 2.5mw of power on a sunny day.

“Without a doubt, our biggest success has been the installation of the solar panels. At 325kw, it’s one of the largest arrays in the south,” said Millward.

The energy produced on site is enough to return to the grid “twice the amount of electricity than we imported”, he added.

Other eco-friendly features include new efficient chillers and freezers, lighting and heat pumps, and LED lighting throughout the site, which prioritises using natural light as much as possible.

The building is also insulated to the highest of levels to ensure it remains at temperature, and there is no gas on site.

Country Fare took into consideration several efficiency elements when building the new depot, such as optimising delivery routes, introducing one-way systems for goods to go in and out, and creating charging stations for electric vehicles, ebikes and escooters for staff.

The depot has 70,000 sq ft of storage and is expected to save the Unitas member both energy and money in the long run.

“Though it is difficult to measure the exact cost savings so far as we have yet to experience the winter months, the move to the depot meant replacing older equipment with new, more efficient equipment which, when combined with the solar panels, has resulted in a 40% reduction in our electric costs this summer compared to last summer at our previous site”, said Millward.

Plans for the build began in 2019 but were held up due to covid, with the staff only moving in the new depot in July 2024.

The site becoming fully operational coincides with the wholesaler celebrating its 20^th anniversary in business in early October.

“We always wanted to build our own depot with sustainability as its very core, and we’re delighted with the results,” concluded Millward.