Business case on RECP assessment in "Lusia Food"
"Lusia Food" started in 2005 as a food catering service, when a women entrepreneur undertook the challenge of creating a new and specialized service for social events, different than the traditional Armenian food services. The innovative and high-quality “buffet” services designed by Ms. Lusine Baratyan steadily built demand and gained the customers’ trust. In 2016, the family entrepreneurship scaled up investments in the value chain by starting the production of semi-finished food and opening a sale point. Considering its size, the company’s outstanding efforts granted it the “Company of the Year in the Production of Semi-Finished Products” national recognition and the “Quality Mark” prize in 2017. Currently, Lusia Food continues to innovate as it recently launched a new service to train personnel in table design, etiquette, and buffet organization. Motivated to achieve more energy-efficient production, the company participated in the RECP demonstration project under EaP GREEN (2013-2017). This publication shows the company’s experience reported after the monitoring exercise conducted in 2021, four years after the programme ended.
The RECP assessment examined the production site and identified several RECP options. The company then participated in training sessions to create the capacity for the better use of energy, water, and raw materials. The programme’s experts conducted specialized visits to help "Lusia Food" identify practices and strategies to implement resource efficiency in its operation and growth plans. The following five RECP measures have been implemented:
1. Improved management of energy supply: the company changed its electricity tariff to a two-tier metering system to better distinguish between daytime and night-time consumption.
2. Improved isolation of windows and glazed surfaces: this led to a reduction of heat exchanges and their subsequent energy losses in the internal and external environment. The new facilities were then covered by thermal insulating films which reduced the energy consumption by 10-15 %.
3. Installation of a natural gas boiler for hot tap water and other heating: While extending its premises, the company opted for natural gas heating instead of electric.
4. Reuse of waste biomass as fresh forage for livestock: in addition, the company is seeking cooperation with other partners to implement compost (here, investment in equipment is needed).
5. Renovation of the old, worn-out, main production equipment: the company has been immersed in a renovation process. The old energy consumers such as refrigerators have been replaced by new ones to prepare products more efficiently and reduce energy consumption․
At the time of monitoring, "Lusia Food" was already remodeling its production plant, so it started embedding the RECP measures in its expansion plans. In this process, it expects to achieve environmental benefits through the principles of minimization, neutralization, recycling, and management of resources and waste. Among other steps, the following RECP options (identified during the RECP project) are under consideration once the plant is fully renovated: the incorporation of solar water heating for domestic and production needs; the installation of a small on-grid PV system on the building's roof to substitute approximately 40 % of the annual electricity consumption; and production of compost from the biomass waste. As an added value to its services, "Lusia Food" also plans to dedicate all needed efforts to become environmentally friendly. The implementation of more advanced technological processes, improved equipment, incorporation of new practices (such as timely maintenance and waste recovery), and the future use of renewable energy - have all resulted in a positive change in the company’s mindset and will be used to improve its marketability and competitiveness, to open new production lines, and to access new markets in larger cities and across the country.
