Towards net-zero manufacture of chilled/refrigerated foods - the case of ready meals

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The Food Industry is the largest manufacture sector in the UK's and the fourthhighest industrial energy user. To contribute to the achievement of UK's zero-carbon emissions targets by 2050, it is critical to act on those hotspots for energydemand and/or GHG emissions. One of these potential areas of action is the foodcold chain - the manufacture and distribution of frozen, refrigerated and chilledfoods is energy intensive and often involves the use of high-GWP (GlobalWarming Potential) refrigerants.In this context, this project aims to identify those food manufacturing scenariosthat would lead to successful strategies for the transition to net-zero food supplychains focusing on chilled foods (e.g., ready meal foods), and working inpartnership with Samworth Brothers. The project will combine techno-economic,environmental and/or policy aspects in an integrated approach for the design andevaluation of decarbonisation solutions, focusing on the comparison of differentmanufacturing paradigms - i.e., centralized vs. distributed manufacture - forspecific ready meals, as exemplar of chilled/refrigerated foods. This approach isbased on the development and implementation of suitable simulation/optimisationand decision-making tools, for which a high level of engineering andcomputational competence, coupled with adequate knowledge of (bio)processsystems is desirable.