The team from Skretting Australia was developing a CapEx proposal to replace their gas boilers. They were faced with a dilemma: replace the boilers with another gas system that has a shorter payback time or a new electric boiler with a longer payback time but a much smaller carbon footprint. “After much debate at the local level, it seemed inevitable that we would need to choose the gas boiler,” said Communications and Sustainability Specialist Ryan Stallard. “The business case for an electric boiler just didn't fit the CAPEX approval process at the time.”

But the team just couldn’t give up without one more try, so right before the decision deadline, they reached out to Sustainability Director Robert van den Breemer, looking for a novel solution that might prove to be a win-win even beyond their own team. Robert articulated the dilemma this way: “Clearly the electric was more expensive and longer payback, yet from a sustainability perspective, and knowing we at some point need to move to zero emissions, investing in equipment that lasts 20-30 years needs to be done with sustainability in mind.” He had heard similar stories from other OpCos across Nutreco.

Little did the Australian team know that Robert would take their dilemma, escalate it to the supply chain leadership team and Chief Supply Chain Officer Claudio Cervellati, who took it to the Management Board and BU Salmon Managing Director Dag Engelsvoll, who was instrumental in coming to a solution – and it would lead to an incredible outcome.