The hospitality and foodservice industries make up a ‘significant’ percentage of the UK’s energy consumption. The FEA believes it is an issue that the industry has to tackle, and tackle fast.
The Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA) has launched a new learning and development accreditation that will give participants the information they need to understand the issues surrounding climate change and how it affects the hospitality and foodservice equipment industries.
The Foodservice Carbon Professional (FCP) course has been developed by FEA in association with Hospitality Energy Saving. FCP aims to provide the entire foodservice industry, from operators to suppliers and manufacturers, with the skills, knowledge and expertise required to address the current energy challenges and demands for improved sustainability.
Over 54 terawatt hours are consumed by the hospitality industry each year, which is 14% of the UK’s service sector energy use. This is equivalent to 14 million houses and is more than the amount that the agricultural and food retail sectors use combined.
The FCP course gives participants a grounding in carbon reduction methods, the science of climate change, what the Government is trying to do about it through legislation, and how this applies to the foodservice sector and how equipment can play a significant role in improving sustainability. It is built around a core module, as well as additional modules tailored to specific categories like refrigeration, cooking equipment and warewashing with more modules being developed.
Paul Anderson, chair of the FEA, said: “Improving environmental sustainability has become a priority for the foodservice sector. It is a complex subject and many people are unsure of the basic facts, and the best ways to act to mitigate our environmental impact.
“FEA has designed the Foodservice Carbon Professional course to provide people across all levels of our industry with the knowledge and confidence they need to apply the theory practically.”
The FEA believes this is important, as many larger operators are increasingly factoring in issues of sustainability when making purchasing decisions to support their long term aims of reaching Net Zero, and will often have questions about the sustainability credentials of equipment and their supply chains.
FCP will enable equipment suppliers, dealers, operators and end users to answer these questions from a position of expertise with delegates gaining knowledge of the overarching implications of climate change in relation to the foodservice industry.
The course is delivered via the FEA Academy, the Association’s learning management system. Over 70 applicants have already signed up for the course. The individual core module costs £750 per person, with individual sector specific modules costing £650.
FEA members can sign up for a combined core module and category specific module deal for £1,300 per person, a saving of £100. More information on the course and booking information can be found under the learning and development tab at fea.org.uk.