Morrisons has unveiled plans to raise freezer temperatures across its stores in a move the supermarket says could drastically reduce emissions if widely adopted.
Freezers will be turned down from the industry standard -18 degrees to -15 degrees celcius under the trial, which will take place at 10 stores across the UK.
“The standard temperature for the storage and transport of frozen food today looks like it is simply a convention from nearly 100 years ago,” Morrisons corporate service director Ruth McDonald commented in a statement.
“We now have vastly better freezers and modern technology and monitoring that gives us a precise picture of frozen food temperatures throughout the supply chain.”
According to the supermarket, raising freezer temperatures by 3 degrees celsius across global supermarket supply chains would save as much carbon dioxide from being released as taking 3.8 million cars off the road.
Following several years of inflated energy bills, the move is likely to generate cost savings too, with Morrision’s reassuring the trial would have no impact on food safety.
“Change is possible,” Move to -15°C Coalition chair Thomas Eskesen added, “we know that this seemingly small change can lead to a significant, positive, environmental impact”.