April 20, 2023. Bakery manufacturer Wrights has invested £1.3 million in a fleet of environmentally-friendly vehicles, which will help distribute Wrights’ range of sweet and savoury baked goods across the United Kingdom. It comprises eight vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG). They should bring a 95% saving in carbon emissions, according to the firm.
Heavy duty tractor units which tow trailered loads, typically transporting frozen goods, form part of the fleet. Rigid vehicles and shop vehicles have also been purchased to transport items baked in Wrights’ £30 million manufacturing facility in Crewe to local shops and businesses across the North West.
Wrights was acquired by The Compleat Food Group, formed by a merging of Addo Food Group and Winterbotham Derby, in December 2021. It supplies baked goods, including pies, quiches, sandwiches, doughnuts, and cookies, to the hospitality and retail sectors from its three manufacturing sites.
“We are working hard to get ahead of the government-set target of reducing carbon emissions by 2030,” said the group’s Crewe-based health, safety and environmental compliance manager Paul Strangwood.
“This is a mission which sits alongside our wider group’s Environmental, Social and Governance targets, which include a commitment here in Crewe of making a 50% reduction of our 2021 carbon emission levels by 2030 and a 90% reduction on 2021 carbon emission levels by 2035.”
Compleat Food Group’s head of environmental social and governance David Moore added that decarbonizing the fleet was an important step on its journey to Net Zero. “Moving from diesel to CNG from is a crucial step for us and to having made this investment we are showing our commitment to achieving our Net Zero targets,” he said.
