UK supermarket chain Tesco on Jan. 27 announced that it is partnering with five of its largest field vegetable suppliers to launch the UK’s largest ever commercial roll-out of low-carbon fertilizer, which it said will boost UK’s food security while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions in its supply chain. It expects the roll-out to reduce GHG emissions by up to 20% in the first year alone, at no extra cost to farmers.
Tesco said eight promising fertilizer alternatives will be used across 1,300 hectares in the 2023 growing season, with plans to scale up to a minimum of 4,000 hectares in 2024 across Tesco’s field vegetable suppliers. Tesco said the first year of the roll-out should result in up to 70,000 mt of fresh produce and will include lettuces, carrots, onions, brassicas, and potatoes. The 2024 tonnage is expected to grow to 200,000 mt.
Tesco also plans to introduce low carbon alternatives to other produce areas, including wheat and barley, as well as grasslands in the beef, dairy, and lamb supply chains.
Six of the eight fertilizer producers manufacture their product in the UK, from material including food waste, chicken litter, fire extinguisher waste, and algae. Tesco said the UK currently imports around 60% of the fertilizer it needs, while UK production has recently been hit by the closure of CF Industries Holdings Inc.’s Ince nitrogen plant near Chester (GM June 10, 2022). Tesco said that closure represented 30% of the UK’s fertilizer capacity.
The fertilizers being used in the trial are Bio-F Solutions, algae-based products; CCm, food waste and AD digestate; JSE Systems, chicken litter; Phos Cycle, fire extinguisher waste; Poly 4, mined material; R-Leaf, chemical composite; Veolia, food waste and AD digestate; and Yara Crop Nutrition, renewables.