UK scores may help NZ exports

New Zealand exports could benefit from "green scores" that are slowly being added to products on British supermarket shelves.

Unlike the concept of food miles - which could disadvantage New Zealand because of its long distance to markets - labels printed by the Tesco supermarket chain reveal how much carbon dioxide is produced to make, use, and dispose of a product.

New Zealand supermarkets have ruled out following Tesco, which last month became the first British supermarket chain to print labels showing grams of carbon dioxide produced per serving.

But the labels - which count greenhouse gases from the whole life cycle of a product, including travel - could affect New Zealand exports if they are applied to products such as wine and meat.

So far only 20 Tesco-branded items, including orange juice, lightbulbs and washing powder, have been labelled.

They reportedly reveal that Tesco-brand orange juice made from concentrate has a lower carbon footprint than non-concentrate juice.

There have been concerns the labels could confuse some shoppers.

But if they prove popular, they are expected to spread to other products and other British stores over the next few years.

Professor Caroline Saunders, director of Lincoln University's agribusiness and economics research unit, said New Zealand companies could benefit if labels showed products made here were more environmentally friendly despite travelling from further away.

Prompted by concern about food miles - which has sometimes been used as shorthand for the carbon produced to get food from paddock to plate - Professor Saunders co-authored a 2007 report showing New Zealand milk solids created less greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram than UK products made for the local market, even when shipping was taken into account.

Britain buys much of New Zealand's dairy output, is the second-largest buyer of New Zealand wine and buys about a third of New Zealand's sheep meat.

When carbon footprint labelling was announced in the UK, chocolate-maker Cadbury's began working with British milk farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the milk in its chocolate blocks.

Professor Saunders said the Carbon Trust and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK consulted New Zealand food producers when they developed their standard carbon footprinting measure, called PAS 2050.

The Carbon Trust used the standard measure to help Tesco draw up its labels. It wants to get more companies signed up to the carbon labelling system.

Philip Manson of New Zealand Wine Growers said it was difficult to measure carbon emissions on a product-by-product basis.

Some parts of a product's life cycle were out of producers' control.

"[For example] we can't force people to recycle the glass container but we do use primarily recycled glass," he said.

"Really, the issue is what you're doing to reduce the impact of your industry [on global warming]."

Mr Manson said wine, dairy and kiwifruit producers were working with MAF to quantify their carbon footprints.

New Zealand supermarket chains Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises said they would not be putting carbon footprint labels on their products.

Foodstuffs managing director Tony Carter said customers would end up paying more for products if supermarkets went through a carbon labelling exercise.