ORANGE IS THE NEW GREEN: FRESHGROWERS LAUNCH
WORLD’S FIRST CARBON NEUTRAL CARROTS

Nottinghamshire vegetable cooperative, Freshgrowers, have produced the world’s first
carbon-neutral carrots.
Freshgrowers is a cooperative of 10 farmers based in the Nottingham area, supplying
premium Chantenay carrots grown within 15 miles of the packhouse to supermarkets
and catering customers across the UK.

Working together with Campbell-Gibbons Consulting, Intellync-Sustain and Carbon
Neutral Britain, the group used a product life-cycle analysis approach to calculate the
carbon footprint of its Chantenay carrot production from field to packhouse.

The data revealed an impressively low level of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from
the production and harvesting of the 2021/22 Chantenay crop, at just under 363 tonnes
of carbon equivalent (CO²e) for 12,500 tonnes of carrots. That’s a carbon footprint of
just 0.03 grams of CO²e per kilogram of carrots.

To put that into perspective, the average carbon footprint of a kilogram of beef is
60kgCO²e, bananas 0.7 kgCO²e, eggs 4.5kgCO²e and milk 3kgCO²e1.
The largest source of GHG emissions from Chantenay production overall was the fuel
used in field operations (77%), with the remaining emissions produced by fertiliser,
crop protection products and the incorporation of crop residues into the soil.
“Chantenay may be small, but we have big sustainability plans for our carrots and are very
proud of our carbon neutral status.” said Martin Evans, Managing Director of
Freshgrowers.
“This is the final step in a long process of carbon reduction for us as a cooperative.
Growing carrots in and around the Sherwood Forest landscape character area, we have
always taken a pride in soil conservation, provision of habitat for farmland birds and
insects, and sympathetic hedgerow management. All of our farms have participated
heartily in agri-environment schemes since their inception too. But now, with our carbon
neutral status and new sustainability plan, we are seriously upping our game to deliver
even more for the environment from the production of our carrots.”

James Poynter, Director of Carbon Neutral Britain said: “Carbon Neutral Britain is proud
to support Freshgrowers in their Carbon Neutral Product status. It is great to see that the
environmental impact of production is already quite small, and by carbon offsetting
Freshgrowers will be reversing their environmental impact from some unavoidable
emissions in the production and harvesting process.
“Through Carbon Neutral Britan’s Climate Fund portfolio, Chantenay’s emissions will be
offset via renewable projects around the world, resonating well with the growers’ own
investments in green energy as a cooperative.”
The carbon measurement and offset exercise will be repeated annually, with the next
audit due in spring 2023, Martin Evans explained: “Our carbon footprint may be low, but
the challenge now is to see if we can reduce it even further.
“We hope our customers will embrace our achievement too as they seek to tackle their
own supply chain emissions. Our new on-pack labelling will be rolled out over the coming
weeks and will help customers to easily our carbon-neutral carrots on the shelf.
“Make no mistake, orange is the new green.”
1 Ourworldindata.org (figures based on global average values)

NOTES TO EDITORS

Freshgrowers: Freshgrowers (often referred to as Freshgro) is a co-operative formed in June 1998 by
10 farmers. The group pioneered bringing back Chantenay carrots to the UK and is now the world’s
leading supplier, supplying over 90 per cent of the UK Chantenay market. Freshgro has a farming base
of over 20,000 acres, and grows and markets both conventional and organic vegetables, including
Piccolo parsnips, asparagus and other root crops. It has nearly two acres of factory space, serving all
the country’s retailers.

Orange is the New Green: Chantenay’s carbon neutral status forms part of the cooperative’s new
sustainability plan, Orange is the New Green. The new plan targets environmental action in the areas
of biodiversity gain, energy and fuel efficiency, integrated crop management, and packaging
reformulation to create a carrot fibre-based punnet.

Chantenay carrots: The Chantenay carrot originated from the Chantenay region of France, with early
references found back in the mid 1800s, where it was used in medicine. Production of Chantenay for
the fresh market was revived by Freshgrowers in the 1990s, who have transformed the carrot’s
appearance and performance through a twenty-year breeding programme.
Carbon Neutral Britain: Carbon Neutral Britain is an organisation that helps businesses offset their
footprint via verified projects around the world. Certified to the highest standards, all the carbon
offsetting projects that it supports are regulated through the Verra – Verified Carbon Standard (VCS),
the Gold Standard – Voluntary Emission Reductions (VER) and the United Nations – Certified Emission
Reductions (CER) programmes. As the three largest, and most regulated carbon offsetting standards
used globally by businesses – this ensures the measurements, and tonnes of CO2e offset are accurate,
and verified.

Campbell-Gibbons Consulting: agriculture and horticulture policy consultancy, run by former NFU
Chief Horticultural Adviser and AHDB Board Member, Hayley Campbell-Gibbons.
Intellync-Sustain: Part of the AB Agri Group, Intellync-Sustain is a specialist in agricultural and
horticultural data gathering and analysis. It provides clear, comprehensive and verified carbonfootprint
assessments for agri-products and businesses: intellync-sustain.com