A new type of truck is being tested in K-food stores’ transportation for a reduced carbon dioxide footprint

K-food stores’ transportation will start testing the first double-decker lorry trailer in retail distribution in Finland. The new type of trailer will help reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from transportation by one third.



- In the new trailer, products can be placed on two decks, which means that one such trailer carries more than twice bigger loads. It also means that less transportation is needed and the carbon dioxide footprint is one third lower than before, says Mika Salmijärvi, Managing Director of Keslog Ltd, the company responsible for the K-food stores’ logistics services.


The new lorry trailer will be first tested on the long-distance route between Vantaa in the south and Oulu in the north of Finland. If the experiences are good, it is possible to introduce the new transportation solution also on Keslog’s other long-distance routes.



- The development of new operating practices benefits all. We will be able to reduce the environmental impact and costs from transportation at the same time, says Mika Salmijärvi.



More than ten years of environmentally certified quality


This year marks the 10th year since Keslog adopted their environmental system. The ISO 14001 certificates granted to the K-food stores’ logistics operations were the first of their kind in Finland. In addition to developing transportation, the key elements of environmental work in logistics include a continuous improvement of energy consumption and recycling efficiency. Long-term environmental work at all stages of the product and service chain has also produced results.



- For example, our waste recovery rate currently stands at some 94%, compared to 70% in late 1990s. As much as possible of the waste generated is directed to recovery and fuel production, says Keslog’s Environmental and Safety Manager Toni Pelin.


The retail sector can only offer customers environmentally friendly alternatives if it manages the environmental impact of the whole of its delivery chain. This encourages Keslog Ltd and the K-stores to further develop the environmental efficiency of their goods deliveries.



In March 2011, SAM (Sustainable Asset Management) placed Kesko second among the world’s leaders in responsibility work in the Food & Drug Retailers sector. The assessment of companies in this sector included aspects such as health and nutrition, environmental systems, eco-efficiency of operations and standards of suppliers.

Photos can be downloaded from: http://aineistopankki.kesko.fi/kesko_en.

Keslog Ltd is a subsidiary of Kesko Corporation and it is responsible for managing Kesko Food’s operational warehousing, terminal and transportation operations. Keslog Ltd also provides logistics services for the Kesko Group’s other business divisions and external customers.

Kesko Food and the K-food stores support and promote healthy eating habits and make alternatives for responsible consumption available to customers. The focus areas in responsibility include taking care of employee wellbeing and developing selections of sustainably produced goods, especially for the Pirkka product range, which includes Pirkka Fairtrade products, Pirkka Luomu organic products and Pirkka products with Swan labelling, for example. In addition, Kesko Food and the K-food stores continuously work to help save energy and climate. The K-Group’s own K-environmental store operating model pays particular attention to the reduction of stores’ environmental impact. The model has been adopted by as many as 460 K-food stores. All K-citymarkets and nearly all K-supermarkets in Finland are K-environmental stores. The K-environmental store model has been adopted by half of all K-markets and the number is growing.