Peers take 'behind the bottle' tour

The visit to Coca-Cola Enterprisesin Edmonton, which included members of the House of Lords, was part of a series of industry visits exploring the challenges of food supply chains.

The Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) Sustainable Food Supply Chain Commission, in association with the Food Ethics Council and the University of Warwick, is currently exploring the challenges of maintaining a sustainable food supply chain.

Coca-Cola Enterprises( CCE) is one of the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottlers, selling more than four billion bottles and cans in Great Britain every year.

CCEmakes, sells and distributes many of the UK’s most popular soft drinks including; Coca-Cola, Fanta, Dr Pepper, Sprite, Oasis and Five Alive.

Julian Hunt, CCE's Vice President of Public Affairs & Communications, said:

"We are proud to be a truly local business, with 97% of the products we sell in Great Britain made in our six factories in this country.

"We were able to showcase the significant investments we have made in our Edmonton facility in recent years, boosting its efficiency and environmental performance."

The IPT is a registered charity dedicated to promoting mutual understanding between Parliament, business, industry and commerce for the public benefit.

This is achieved by encouraging dialogue between legislators and wealth generators from all sectors of business. The IPT is independent, non-partisan and non-lobbying.

ICT's Food Ethics Council and the University of Warwick have set up a Commission to explore the challenges of maintaining a sustainable food supply chain.

The Commission will give parliamentarians, industry and academia the opportunity to discuss issues food companies face in ensuring the sustainability of food supply chains and explore upcoming policy developments that seek to tackle them.

Among the topics discussed will be employment conditions; distribution of profit; how to best tackle resource depletion and climate change. Following the conclusion of the Commission, a report will be published, outlining its findings and adding to the dialogue between parliament, industry and academia on this important issue.