Current interview

LowHub: A sustainable transport solution for London's food

Where are you based?

Lowhub is based in New Covent Garden Market in Central London

What kind of organisation are you (eg. academic, business, NGO etc)?

We are a private Limited company, part of a broader group of companies under the ‘Chi Group’ umbrella. The Chi Group is focussed on generating solutions to combat increased carbon emissions and confront climate change issues

What is your/their broad area of expertise?

Lowhub is a specialist food delivery company, delivering wholesale food on behalf of local collectives, wholesale market traders, and independent producers. We deliver to restaurants, large retailers, hotels & delicatessens across Central London.

Importantly, Lowhub is a sustainable delivery company, providing low carbon delivery in electric vehicles, or fuelled with biodiesel produced from used cooking oil.

As part of our deliveries, Lowhub collects used cooking oil from restaurants, hands it to an independent processor, who creates biodiesel, which we then use to power our larger vehicles. Our electric vehicle is powered using grid electricity, but produces 4 times less carbon than a diesel equivalent vehicle on each route.

Give a range of the projects you are you currently working on.

Lowhub operates an independent delivery service in New Covent Garden Fruit & Veg Market, the Flower Market & New Spitalfields Market, as a shared resource for every wholesaler. Consolidating deliveries on behalf of each supplier immediately offers a more sustainable method of delivery, because it prevents multiple vehicles delivering to a number of destinations within a small geographical area.

By providing this service, Lowhub is actively reducing the number of vehicles in each wholesale market, reducing congestion and related emissions of greenhouse gases. And because these deliveries are made in our low-carbon vehicles, the carbon reduction benefits are increased.

Within Borough Market, Lowhub operates a tailor-made delivery scheme that promotes efficiency by encouraging collaboration, operating at high levels of capacity, and route optimisation. By grouping their distribution needs together, all members have benefitted from the scheme, by being rewarded with low delivery charges.
Suppliers have also seen buyers react positively, with increased flexibility, when informed that the deliveries are carried out efficiently and in an environmentally friendly way.

External to London, Lowhub is working with East Anglia Food Link (Nick Saltmarsh) on the provision of a local food ‘HUB’ promoting local, seasonal and organic food. The food hub aims to bring in marginalised local suppliers to the capital, and in doing so, re-connect Londoners to their food and its production. The sustainable distribution of this food will be a key element to the project.

What aspect of your work with relevance to the food-climate change issue would you like to feature? 

The fact that logistics companies have a responsibility within food supply networks. A combination of efficiency, collaboration and use of low-carbon fuels must be put to work to lessen the environmental impact of the food network. The ever-increasing urban population requires food, and the growing dis-connect between food consumption and production should be met head-on by logistics and distribution methods.

Please describe the work in more detail – how it started, what stage it is at, who has/have been involved and their different roles.

The company was incorporated on 5th September 2007, the directors are Kevin Tullett, James Anwyl and Peter Thompson. We employ 2 full-time managers (Mike Grove – New Business, and Robert Morrison – Transport Manager), alongside 5 delivery drivers.

After an initial ‘pilot’ period (within New Covent Garden Flower Market) running on biodiesel (locally sourced and processed) Lowhub transformed its fleet of vehicles to include electric power in Nov 07. The company began wholesale deliveries for Borough Market traders in Dec 07, and recently began operating from New Spitalfields Market. Our tailor-made schemes have developed into efficient ‘hub’ models of distribution within Central London.

Lowhub is currently working alongside 2 regional food groups to develop logistics solutions for food ‘hubs’ around Central London. In this way, we hope to re-connect consumers to ‘local’ food, and address the enormous disconnect that London in particular has with its regional food supply.

In terms of support, Lowhub has numerous relationships founded on sustainability of food supply. Chi (London) Ltd, as the parent company and incubation facility for Lowhub, has provided the drive and strategic direction for Lowhub. Lowhub has utilised specific skills in sustainability and carbon emissions analysis within the group to support our work. Other organisations that are partners, forming our support network, are the Corporation of London, Sustain and London Food Link. Support and help has also been found through our customers, who have helped to grow our social network, and word of mouth has served to grow our customer base substantially.

This social network has proved as important to Lowhub as the delivery itself. The network of buyers and sellers has grown, and through referrals and a shared interest in sustainable transport, Lowhub has been able to introduce custom and increase the level of business performed by our own clients.

What do you see as the big questions for the food climate research community at the moment?

We need to seize the opportunity presented to us by the growing awareness, in government and private sectors, of food security issues and the urgency of climate change. The ecological footprint of food production, distribution and consumption is second to none and reducing it must be given the priority it deserves, both politically and financially.

We must communicate both the true value and true cost of our food. The current model is unsustainable and totally reliant on fossil fuels, both to grow it and deliver to consumers tables. To solve this problem will require significant political will and a sea change in consumer behaviour.

We therefore have to answer two dominant challenges; (a) How should we produce and consume food? (b) What is the true cost & value of food?

What are the big questions you feel you are seeking to answer at the moment?

Each member of the food supply chain must take responsibility for its own addition to carbon emissions, and address the ingrained inefficiencies within the network. Lowhub is trying to answer the question of whether sustainability can improve a business’s bottom line. Efficient transportation of produce will reduce imbedded costs, and CAN improve the bottom line.

Is there any expertise you feel you lack and would you welcome help/collaboration with others?

Collaboration with low carbon vehicle manufacturers and connections to experts in viable low-carbon transport technology. Expertise in transport management, route efficiency.

Those people actively involved in the development and creation of VIABLE food hubs is key to our business.

What are your plans for the immediate future as regards this work?

To work alongside regional food networks, develop hubs internal and external to London.

What are the milestones might we look out for (e.g. report publication; launch event; conference, etc.)?

Launches within other London wholesale markets and the creation of regional food hubs.

What are the insights / skills / data (big or small) you can offer to the rest of the research world on food and climate change?

We have data showing carbon emission reductions produced by using (1) collaborative distribution techniques (2) low carbon vehicles.

Also featured recently after winning Sustainable City Awards – 2009 Leadership in Sustainability & 2009 Award for Traffic Reduction and Transport Management.

Contact details:

kevin@lowhub.com / mike@lowhub.com
Office 258, Flower Market, New Covent Garden, London SW85NA.
W 0207 720 7788 / m 07767 663 990