Reference no: EM133216947

Case Study Information

About Meyer & Co

Meyer & co company was founded in 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria. The company specialises in the manufacture of low-fat low sugar biscuits, semi-sweet biscuits, chocolate coated biscuits and crackers.

The company's strengths include its history, its brand and its reputation. Its target market is mostly families as well as children aged between 5 and 13 years old. It also includes anyone who likes a special treat every now and again. Meyer and Co's biscuits span generations. They are consumed by all age ranges, from children to the elderly.

Biscuits occupy a substantial segment of the confectionary sector. Biscuits are usually divided into 5 subcategories including chocolate containing, crackers, everyday, healthier and other (special, children, seasonal).

You have noted that Meyer & Co's mission statement is:

"We specialise in the manufacture of quality biscuits for all ages. Our values are ethics, professionalism and gastronomy for everyone. Our biscuits are joy and happiness."

You have also discussed the importance of sustainability to Meyer & Co as a business with some of the senior leaders at the company. They have told you that being more sustainable is a priority for Meyer & Co. They would like to see Meyer & Co make clear progress on becoming more sustainable over the next year. One leader mentioned to you that they would like to see Meyer & Co become the most sustainable large company in the Australian confectionary sector within the next 5 years.

Further information 2B.i Introduction

The scope of this internal lifecycle analysis is an environmental evaluation of Meyer & Co food supply chain using life cycle assessment techniques: it is a specific case study on Meyer & Co gluten free biscuit products. Three different types of biscuits were considered. Three different gluten-free biscuits were assessed - named as Product 1, Product 2 and Product 3 - and the most critical stages (hotspots) were identified within the productive chain.

The main goal of this study was to quantify the environmental performance from gluten-free biscuits production within Meyer & Co. The analyses were performed following a cradle-to-grave approach, taking into account all the activities involved from the production of raw materials to the disposal of waste.

The LCA methodology was applied following the ISO standards ISO 14044 and ISO 14040 (2006). The analyses were performed in compliance with the PCR CPC Group 234 (Bakery products) developed in the framework of the International EPD System.

Five Impact categories were considered during the audit:

CC - Climate Change (kg CO2eq)
OD - Ozone Depletion (kg CFC-11eq)
TA - Terrestrial Acidification (kg SO2eq)
FE - Freshwater eutrophication (kg Peq)
ME - Marine eutrophication (kg Neq).

Question 1 -Identify all sources of materials used at Meyer & Co. Distribute into internal and external sources below.

Question 2. Identify all uses of materials used at Meyer & Co through the lifecycle process.

Question 3-Evaluate the material consumption at Meyer & Co comparing the three products.

Question 4 - . Calculate actual material consumption of the total materials as identified in tasks B3.

Question 5 - Calculate the difference between the theoretical and actual material consumption. Record the differences below. Use only the calculated ingredient materials.

Question 6 - Now that you have quantified theoretical consumption and actual consumption, you are to rank materials in order of actual consumption. i.e. which products actual consumption is closest to its theoretical consumption.

Question 7 - Identify strategies to reduce material consumption at Meyer and Co.

Question 8 - Identify the emissions produced by each scope at Meyer and Co.