SUMMARY:  Due to consumer demand and pressure from public administrations, the food, agriculture and farming sectors are increasingly interested to show that their products are sustainable (EC, 2018; Fusi et al., 2016, Zufia, 2008). This means not only the manufacturing stage but also the production of raw materials and ingredients, packaging, transport and distribution, etc. This paper describes an investigation into the life cycle sustainability of an industrially produced bean stew.

OBJECTIVES:

This investigation aims to investigate the sustainability of an industrially produced bean stew, as a representative example of the ready-made food industry. The analysis covers: 

• environmental assessment of the bean stew using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology

• economic assessment of the bean stew using Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Coste Benefit Assessment (CBA) methodologies

• Evaluate the contribution of different ingredientes

• Produce a sensitivity assessment for the stew containing ingredientes produced in different geographical locations