CPC code: 2111 and 2113 Meat of mammals Fresh, chilled or frozen

Approval date: 2013-10-30 / Registration number: S-P-00495 Valid three years / Revision: 1

Environmental Product Declaration of

Coop Beef Meat

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Coop
Coop is the largest retailer in Italy with a turnover of 12,724 billion Euros in 2013. The Coop system is based on 8.2 million consumer members and includes
1,199 retail units. Coop Italia is the Marketing and Buying central of the consumer cooperatives: it is responsible for negotiating with industries and producers,
Coop brand products development, quality and safety policies and marketing strategy.

Eurocoop
Eurocoop is the European Community of Consumer Co-operatives, whose members are the national organisations of consumer
cooperatives in 20 European countries. Euro Coop represents more than 4,500 local and regional cooperatives, whose members
count more than 30 million consumers all over Europe. Cooperatives are companies belonging to the Consumers , which mainly
operate in food distribution. The total turnover has amounted to more than 76 billion Euro, with 36,000 retail stores and 450,000
employees . His Secretariat is based in Brussels. Coop Italy participates in all of Euro Coops working groups, which address priorities like food and retail policy,
sustainability policy and cooperative identity.
Euro Coop member countries
Bulgaria / Cyprus / Czech Republic / Denmark / Estonia / Finland
Germany / Hungary / Iceland / Israel* /Italy / Netherlands / Norway / Portugal
Romania / Slovak Republic / Spain / Sweden / Ukraine / UK
More info on www.eurocoop.org
* Observer member

Page 2

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Coop products values

Health: Coop believes peoples health is an essential right and considers the protection of its consumers fundamental. Coop brand products are the end results
of a commitment to achieve the highest level of well-being for its members and consumers.

Environment: Coop considers environmental protection to be a primary duty; for this reason, it undertakes the verification of its own activities and those
related to its suppliers. Coop makes sure of being in harmony with the environment through the use of best available technologies and takes into account the
economic sustainability of actions.

Ethics: Coop acknowledges the values of democracy, human rights, solidarity, citizens individual responsibility and equity, acting in compliance with the
commitments and corporate social responsibility. Coop brand products are designed to meet these commitments.

Page 3

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Coop brand products

Coop brand products are produced by selected suppliers who must comply with specifications and project requirements that have been designed according
to Coop values. The Coop brand product offers a complete range of products to satisfy the everyday needs of a family, including 7 different products lines
designed to meet the specific needs of consumers.

2,656 products designed for consumers daily needs.

528 organic food products and environmentally sustainable non-food products.

374 high quality products, that represent Coops commitment to provide the best gastronomic specialties.

80 fair trade products.

22 products, with low fat, sugar and salt content, designed to ensure a proper nutritional intake for children.

176 products dedicated to the world of childhood including nutritional, hygiene and textile products.

67 products with specific nutritional features that contribute to the bodys wellness including free from products, such as gluten-free products.

Page 4

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Introduction to Coop beef production chain

The Coop Italian beef supply chain, founded in 1990, consists of more than 90% of meat from adult bovine (beef and heifer) produced using animals born in
France and raised in Italy. The production chain is based on the complete knowledge acquired during the production, from the animals birth in France to the
raising phase in Italy and continues with the slaughtering phase and any subsequent processing steps, until the retail phase.
In 2013 about 154.300 adult bovine were purchased by Coop.

In 2013 Coop beef production chain was based on:

218 168 FARMS

Page 5

11
11 sLaUGHTErHOUsEs

3
CENTErs
3 DIsTrIBUTION
22 TraNsIT POINT

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Beef meat
This document is referred to the beef meat from adult bovine (bull or heifer) grown in Italy and sold by
Coop at its stores. The environmental impacts were calculated taking into account the entire production
chain starting from the animals birth until meat consumption as specified on PCR CPC code 2111 and

Energy value

547.5 kJ (131 kcal)

2113 - Meat of mammals.

Proteins

Time coverage
Data are related to beef meat purchased by Coop during 2013.
Declared unit
The information is related to 1 kg of fresh edible bone-free beef meat from adult bovine bred in Italy,

21 g

Carbohydrates

0.0 g

Fats

5.2 g

Dietary fibres

0.0 g

Sodium

49 mg

Potassium

313 mg

Cholesterol

55.5 mg

ready to be bought by the customer in polystyrene packs or served at the store butchers counter.

Iron

1.5 mg

Phosphorus

185 mg

Nutrition facts per 100 g of beef meat (edible portion).

Average data considering front and hind cuts CRA NUT.

Page 6

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

UPSTREAM

1.000 km

Mother cow
management

CORE

350 km

Farm management

DOWNSTREAM

250 km

Slaughterhouse

200 km

Meat processing

Retail store

General System Boundaries

Almost all of the adult cattle belonging to Coop

The carcasses are then sent to the processing

supply chain come from France, where the calves are

platforms where they are portioned, vacuum

weaned and usually spend the first 10-12 months of

packed in different sizes and sent to the stores,

their life.

where the meat is packaged in trays or sold at the

The information needed for the assessment of

store butchers counter. In other cases the meat is

this phase was collected from 5 French farms of

already tray-packaged at the platform and shipped

different sizes: Sca de Baumont, Jardoux, Debizet,

to the store ready to be sold.

Landrieve, Gaec Bonnefont Guillot.

For the purpose of assessing the environmental burden connected to the

After this period spent in France, the calves are moved to Italy and raised in

meat processing phase, primary data were collected at the Unipeg-Coop

Coop supplier farms for about 7 months. Once the animals reach the weight

centrale adriatica processing platform in Reggio Emilia and at the IperCoop

of 620 kg, they are slaughtered. In order to assess the environmental impacts

Torino Dora store butchers section.

of this phase, data were collected from 4 slaughterhouse plants: Inalca in

Detailed information about the animals origin, places in which they were

Castelvetro di Modena, Unipeg in Reggio Emilia, Colomberotto in Moriago

raised and slaughtered are also available, on packaging labels, for the benefit

della Battaglia (Treviso) and Clai in Faenza (Ravenna).

of customers.

Page 7

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

UPSTREAM

1.000 km

Mother cow
management

CORE

350 km

Farm management

DOWNSTREAM

250 km

Slaughterhouse

200 km

Meat processing

Calves birth and weaning

Beef calves come mainly from France. They are

During the winter period, spent in the stable, the

usually born in farms located in the central regions

feed given to the cow is mainly composed of hay

of France where they stay about a year, reaching

(80%), barley and soy bean while the calf is fed only

the weight of approximately 350 kg. During this

with cows milk.

phase, the calves stay grazing apart from a brief

period in which they stay inside the stable due to

Data collected from the involved farms, concern

winter temperatures.

stables energy and water consumption, waste

production, amount of feed given to the mother

As regards the calculation of impacts during this

cow and the quantity of manure produced (by both

phase, the main hypothesis are about the food

the cow and the calf). At the end of the weaning

given to the animals and in particular: when the

period, the calves are moved to Italy: the impacts

animals are grazing they are fed exclusively grass

associated with transportation has been estimated

(10 kg/day for the calf and 20 kg/day for the

assuming a distance equal to 1,000 km.

mother cow).

Page 8

Retail store

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

UPSTREAM

1.000 km

Mother cow
management

CORE

350 km

Farm management

DOWNSTREAM

250 km

Slaughterhouse

200 km

Meat processing

Retail store

Cattle breeding
After weaning, cattle are raised according to

feed as long as they respected the specifications

the contract agreement between Coop and the

laid down by Coop.

farmers. Coop regularly checks its application with

In order to evaluate the impacts of this phase, the

strict verification procedures. In order to develop

whole farm management process was considered,

the calculation model, 168 production units were

including the cultivation of food, energy and water

analysed.

consumption, manure management and enteric

The whole fattening period takes place inside the

fermentation produced by cattle.

stable and feed is made of different types of food

including corn in various forms, which is considered

The impact of bovine transportation to the

to be the most important, along with various other

slaughterhouse plants was calculated on a 350

cereals. Farmers could independently manage

km-distance basis.

Page 9

Breeding farms are located

in red coloured regions

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

UPSTREAM

1.000 km

Mother cow
management

CORE

350 km

Farm management

DOWNSTREAM

250 km

Slaughterhouse

200 km

Meat processing

Retail store

Slaughterhouse
The impacts of this phase were calculated using information derived from
4 plants chosen between the main plants that slaughtered adult cattle for
Coop (these plants covered about 82% of beef meat sold in 2013). The main
environmental impacts are related to energy and water consumption, in addition
to the management of slaughtering residues.

COLOMBEROTTO
Moriago della Battaglia - TV
www.colomberottoqualitanellecarni.it
unipeg
Reggio Emilia - RE
www.unipeg.it
inalca
Castelvetro di Modena mo
www.inalca.it

An important hypothesis is the relative efficiency (yield) of meat production.

In particular, in 2013 the average slaughtering weight was updated and the
following data was considered:
Adult bovine weight: 620 kg;
Dressed yield: 59%;
Boneless meat yield: 82%.

Page 10

clai
Faenza ra
www.clai.it

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

UPSTREAM

1.000 km

Mother cow
management

CORE

350 km

Farm management

DOWNSTREAM

250 km

Slaughterhouse

200 km

Meat processing

Retail store

Transformation and preparation

After the slaughtering phase, half-carcasses were moved to processing
platforms where the meat was packaged in two different ways:
Vacuum packaged (in PE bags) and then dispatched to the retail stores
equipped with butchers counters, where the beef cuts are further portioned
and packaged in EPS trays or sold over the counter;
In EPS trays: in this case the packaged product is distributed to retail stores
ready to be sold to the final customer.
For EPD purposes, Reggio Emilias logistical-processing platform was chosen
because it is one of the main platforms that works and sorts products for Coop.

Page 11

novacoop torino dora

retail store
BUTCHErs COUNTEr

coop
logistical platform
Reggio Emilia - RE

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

UPSTREAM

1.000 km

Mother cow
management

CORE

350 km

Farm management

DOWNSTREAM

250 km

Slaughterhouse

200 km

Meat processing

Retail store

Retail store
After beef meat processing at platforms, the

In order to assess the environmental aspects

product is sent to retail stores, ready for being sold

related to this phase, energy, water and packaging

(packaged in EPS trays) or, if necessary,

material consumption were collected. Cold chain

subsequently processed.

electricity consumption - i.e. for cold storage and

departments temperature maintaining - were also

In retail stores equipped with butchers counters,

included.

as the one analysed for this EPD (NovaCoop Torino

Dora), the product comes almost all vacuum-

Transports impacts have been calculated on 200

packaged from logistical platforms and then it is

km distance basis that is an average value between

further processed and portioned in trays or sold

platforms and retail stores.

over the counter, on customer requirements basis.

* Photo of Antonella Di Girolamo for Coop.

Page 12

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Results, part I
1 kg of adult bovine boneless meat:
UPSTREAM

NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES
data referred to 1 kg of adult bovine

in grammes

Energy Resources
in grammes

manure
and enteric
fermentation

farm phase
and other

primary
packaging
production

slaughterhouse
and meat
processing
activities

final
processing
and transport

primary
packaging
end-of-life

Magnesium
(& compounds)

< 0.01

99.5

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

99.5

Potassium chloride

25.5

53.6

< 0.01

1.6

< 0.01

0.6

0.1

< 0.01

81.3

Limestone (CaCO3)

8.0

59.7

< 0.01

0.8

0.4

2.4

2.0

0.1

73.4

Sodium Chloride

1.7

45.7

< 0.01

0.3

0.3

5.2

0.7

0.1

53.9

Phoshorous

7.2

35.8

< 0.01

0.5

< 0.01

< 0.03

< 0.01

< 0.01

43.6

Others

3.7

14.8

< 0.01

0.2

6.4

0.6

0.3

< 0.03

26.0

Coal

33.3

81.7

< 0.01

6.5

14.6

89.0

78.1

< 0.04

303.4

Oil

301.2

312.5

< 0.02

61.1

43.0

46.9

41.4

< 0.03

806.2

Natural Gas

69.8

114.2

< 0.01

10.8

29.3

214.9

143.8

< 0.03

582.8

Others

< 0.05

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

0.2

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

0.2

data referred to 1 kg of adult bovine

UPSTREAM

Energy Resources
in megajoule

Page 13

CORE

DOWNSTREAM
TOTAL

mother cow
management

feed

manure
and enteric
fermentation

farm phase
and other

primary
packaging
production

slaughterhouse
and meat
processing
activities

final
processing
and transport

primary
packaging
end-of-life

Wood & Biomass

2.9

3.4

< 0.01

0.6

26.1

13.5

9.1

< 0.01

55.5

Hydroelectric

0.3

0.7

< 0.01

< 0.04

0.1

0.6

0.6

< 0.01

2.2

Wind

< 0.01

< 0.02

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

0.2

0.2

< 0.01

0.4

Solar

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.1

< 0.01

0.2

0.2

< 0.01

0.4

boneless meat

in grammes

TOTAL

feed

RENEWABLE RESOURCES

Material Resources

DOWNSTREAM

mother cow
management

boneless meat

Material Resources

CORE

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Results, part II
1 kg of adult bovine boneless meat:

UPSTREAM
WATER CONSUMPTION
data expressed in liters *

DOWNSTREAM

mother cow
management

feed

manure
and enteric
fermentation

farm phase
and other

primary
packaging
production

slaughterhouse
and meat
processing
activities

final
processing
and transport

primary
packaging
end-of-life

153.5

1,107.4

< 0.01

22.0

0.6

29.4

41.4

< 0.02

UPSTREAM

IMPACT INDICATORS
data referred to 1 kg of adult bovine

CORE

CORE

TOTAL

1,354.2

DOWNSTREAM
TOTAL

mother cow
management

feed

manure
and enteric
fermentation

farm phase
and other

primary
packaging
production

slaughterhouse
and meat
processing
activities

final
processing
and transport

primary
packaging
end-of-life

Global Warming Potential GWP kg CO2 equivalent

11.6

3.9

5.1

0.3

0.2

1.6

0.7

< 0.03

23.4

Ozone Creating Potential POCP g C2H4 equivalent

2.6

1.6

0.9

0.2

0.1

0.5

0.3

< 0.01

6.2

Acidification Potential AP g SO2 equivalent

248.9

27.4

62.6

1.9

0.7

3.1

2.1

< 0.01

346.6

Eutrophication Potential EP g PO4 equivalent

90.9

44.0

14.3

1.1

< 0.05

0.8

0.8

< 0.01

151.9

boneless meat

UPSTREAM

WASTE
data referred to 1 kg of adult bovine

CORE

DOWNSTREAM
TOTAL

mother cow
management

feed

manure
and enteric
fermentation

farm phase
and other

primary
packaging
production

slaughterhouse
and meat
processing
activities

final
processing
and transport

primary
packaging
end-of-life

Hazardous waste in grammes

0.4

< 0.01

< 0.01

0.2

14.4

303.3

< 0.05

< 0.01

318.4

NON-Hazardous waste in grammes

4.2

< 0.01

< 0.01

5.6

69.4

2,123.7

256.1

< 0.01

2,458.9

Waste to recycling in grammes

1.9

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

16.0

901.2

90.0

< 0.01

1,009.2

boneless meat

* Direct water consumption that is equivalent to the Blue component of the Virtual Water Content.
NOTE The numbers reported in the tables above are the outcome of rounding. For this reason total results could slightly differ from the sum of contributions of the different phases.

Page 14

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Home cold storage and cooking

Phases subsequent to slaughter and meat processing require an increase

Cooking

in the number of hypotheses to obtain precise results. This consideration is

Data regarding this phase is approximate, because it entirely depends on

even more important for phases such as home cold storage and cooking. The

consumer tastes and habits. For hypothesis, raw consumption and two

environmental impacts estimation associated with these two phases follows

different cooking types were taken into account: cooking a steak in a pan for

what is suggested in the PCR reference document.

5 minutes (the Carbon Footprint is 0.49 kg CO2 eq per kilogram of beef) and a
roast in a pot, for two hours (whose Carbon Footprint is equal to 3.22 kg CO2

Home cold storage

It was estimated that beef meat, after being purchased by the customer, may
be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days. The Carbon Footprint related to
home cold storage, based on these assumptions, is equal to 0.19 kg CO2 eq
per kilogram of meat.

Page 15

eq per kilogram of beef).

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Results interpretation
Carbon Footprint of Coop labelled beef meat
Environmental impact data have been rigorously calculated up to the slaughterhouse phase included.
After this phase, many factors may affect the final result making non-unique impact attribution per kg of meat.

kg CO2 eq

Carbon Footprint of meat at slaughterhouse gate (dressed yield 59%).

per kg of carcass

18.5

Carbon Footprint of meat at the retail store. In order to evaluate this impact, it is
necessary to consider boneless meat yield, intended to be 82%. This yield is not a fixed
value and it depends on the desired beef cuts.

per kg of meat at the retail store

23.4

per kg of ready-to-eat meat

24.1
considered
scenario

Page 16

26.8

Impact of ready-to-eat meat taking into account home cold storage and cooking. Since
cooking procedures and habits could be very different, data are presented as a range
whose extremes are: raw consumption (24.1 kg CO2 eq) and two hours cooking in the
pot (26.8 kg CO2 eq).

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Results interpretation
Renewable energy produced in Coop farm suppliers
Final total results reported in this product declaration do not reveal the environmental interventions carried out by farmers and focused to reduce the
environmental burden of animal raising, considering that the farm management has a limited weight on the total life cycle impact (about 1-2%). For this reason,
some consideration on environmental sustainability of farms were done. One important aspect related to many Coop farm suppliers is the production of energy
from renewable sources; 2012 and 2013 data is compared below.
Energy mix used in the analysed Italian stables that raised cattle for Coop:

100%

23%

80%

53%

63%

BIOGAS
60%

2013

24%

40%

24%

FARM
energY
20%

24%

0%

13%

PHOTOVOLTAIC

23%

53%

2012

2013

ENERGY FROM BIOGAS COGENERATION

ENERGY FROM PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM
NATIONAL GRID

Page 17

ENERGY FROM NATIONAL GRID

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Additional indicators

mother cow
management

feed

manure
and enteric
fermentation

farm phase
and other

primary
packaging
production

slaughterhouse
and meat
processing
activities

final
processing
and transport

primary
packaging
end-of-life

TOTAL

48.9

39.5

< 0.01

0.7

0.5

4.5

1.9

0.1

96.0

Green Water in liters

14,361

7,926

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

22,287

Blue Water in liters

153

1,107

< 0.01

22

29

41

< 0.02

1,354

Grey Water in liters

120

1,957

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

< 0.01

2,076

Totale in liters

14,634

10,990

< 0.01

22

29

41

< 0.02

25,717

ADDITIONAL INDICATORS

Virtual Water
Content

Ecological Footprint global m2

Page 18

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Glossary

male cattle

Male cattle aged over 12 and under 24 months, raised for meat production.
For Coop, the age range is between 16 and 22 months.

female cattle

Female cattle aged over 12 and under 24 months, who has not given birth yet.
For Coop, the age range is between 13 and 22 months.

adult bovine

It generically means the beef cattle, both male and female, more than 12 months old.

acidification potential ap

It is a form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses substandard levels of pH. It can
have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of SO2,
NOx and NH3. The acidification potential is measured in grams of equivalent Sulfur Dioxide (SO2).

eutrophication potential ep

It is an extreme proliferation of vegetation in the aquatic ecosystem caused by the addition of nutrients into
rivers, lakes or ocean, which determinates a lack of oxygen. Eutrophication potential is mainly caused by
emission into water of phosphate and nitrates. It is expressed in equivalent grams of PO4-.

photochemical ozone
creation potential pocp

Chemical reactions brought about by the light energy of the sun. The reaction of nitrogen oxides with
hydrocarbons in the presence of sunlight forms the ozone in the troposphere. The indicator mainly consists of
VOCs (Volatile organic compounds) and is usually expressed in grams of equivalent ethylene oxide (g C2H4).

global warming potential GWP

Also known as Carbon Footprint (CF), it represents the total amount of greenhouse gases produced along the
entire Life Cycle. It is expressed in mass equivalent of carbon dioxide (CO2 eq).

Page 19

Beef Meat EPD 2013-10-30

Additional information
This declaration and further regarding information are available at: www.environdec.com
References

PCR review

Contacts

International EPD Consortium;

General Programme Instructions (EPD);
ver. 2.01 of 2013/09/18

conducted by International EPD System

Technical Committee

For additional information relative to Coop activities

or in regards to this environmental declaration, please
contact:

PCR for Meat of mammals, fresh chilled

or frozen; ver. 2.0 of 2013/07/22

Indipendent verification

Claudio Mazzini
Coop Italia Innovation, Sustainability and Values
Manager

ISO 14040/14044:2006, ISO series on

Life Cycle Assessment, www.iso.org
IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Volume 4 Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land
Use chapter 10 emissions from livestock and manure
management, www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp
Software SimaPro ver. 8
www.pre.nl

Technical report
Coop Italia Life Cycle Assessment of Beef
and Veal Meat, detailed hypothesis, rev.1.3.

Francesca Guarnieri
Coop Italia Innovation, Sustainability and Values Area
francesca.guarnieri@coopitalia.coop.it
CCPB srl
Viale A. Masini, 36 40126 Bologna
www.ccpb.it

Nicola Brina
Coop Italia Coop Meat and Fish Product Manager

Accreditation approved by:

Accredia

Sara Daga
Coop Italia Meat and Fish Supervisor

Independent verification of the declaration

and data, according to ISO 14025:2006

Technical support and graphic design

LIFE CYCLE ENGINEERING

EPD verification

EPD Process verification

we support your sustainable business

Life Cycle Engineering srl Italy

www.lcengineering.eu

Environmental declarations published within the

same product category, though originating from
different programs, may not be comparable.

Page 20