About the project
The ENOUGH project is committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the food sector by 2050. This comprehensive initiative aims to decarbonise the entire post-harvest food supply chain, including processing, distribution, retail, storage and consumers. Through innovative technologies such as energy-efficient refrigeration, renewable energy, heat recovery, and digital monitoring, ENOUGH supports the European Green Deal and EU Farm to Fork strategy. The project features 21 demonstrators and showcases scalable solutions across sectors like dairy processing, fish freezing, transport refrigeration, and retail – fostering collaboration and best practices across Europe.
Description of success
The ENOUGH project has developed clear and actionable roadmaps for key sectors: food retail, catering, domestic, cold storage, and transport. Roadmaps for processing will also soon be launched, further supporting the transition to carbon neutrality. These roadmaps outline detailed pathways for 2050, providing stakeholders with practical measures that can be implemented immediately.
Each roadmap includes:
Technology and strategy reviews to identify technologies and strategies that have the most potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the relevant sector.
Mathematical modelling to assess impacts from 2020 to 2050 under various scenarios that compared doing nothing versus applying the identified technologies and strategies.
Predicted energy saving and CO2 emissions reductions.
Roadmap recommendations for the relevant sector to reduce carbon emissions.
Figure 1: Recommendations from the roadmap to decarbonise the food service sector by 2050
ENOUGH’s achievements have been recognised internationally with multiple awards being won by contributors to the project. Research engineer Elias Eid received multiple prestigious awards for his innovative work on decarbonisation strategies in supermarkets and quick-service restaurants. These awards included two International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) awards and the prestigious Ted Perry research award from the Institute of Refrigeration (IOR). Elias was also shortlisted for the Early Career Researcher of the Year award at the London Southbank University Research & Innovation (LSBU R&I) festival. ENOUGH celebrated Elias’ achievements by giving him a recognition award at its annual meeting.
Judith Evans, a key contributor to ENOUGH and leader of the work package that developed the roadmaps, earned the Outstanding Impact Award at the LSBU R&I festival for her role in driving collaboration and integrating cutting-edge research into the roadmaps. Together, their achievements underline the impact of the ENOUGH project in advancing sustainability across the food sector.
Figure 1: Judith Evans and Elias Eid at the 1st LSBU Research and Innovation Festival, where Judith won the "Outstanding Impact Award" for her work on the ENOUGH Project. (left)
Figure 2: Elias Eid receiving a recognition award at the ENOUGH annual meeting in Paris (July 2024) for his exceptional contributions to the project. (right)
Highlights
Published roadmaps outlining pathways to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 for food retail, catering, cold storage, transport, and domestic sectors.
Demonstrated practical solutions such as R-744 refrigerant and chilled cabinet doors, achieving a 36% reduction in supermarket emissions and significant energy savings.
Showcased innovative measures for restaurants, like energy-efficient refrigeration and kitchen equipment, leading to a 15.6% emissions reduction, integrated into the catering roadmap.
Received international recognition through awards for Elias Eid and Judith Evans for their contributions to decarbonisation research and leadership.
Outputs
The roadmaps published by ENOUGH are available on its website, and factsheets on the roadmaps are available to download for two sectors: retail and catering. Other materials have been published such as conference papers and journal articles. These roadmaps can be reviewed and used as a tool by stakeholders in each sector to enact transformative changes that reduce carbon emissions in line with net-zero.
Impact
The ENOUGH project is setting a global benchmark for decarbonising the food supply chain. Its roadmaps provide actionable strategies to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 while demonstrating the immediate benefits of practical measures like energy-efficient refrigeration and renewable energy integration.
Recognition of key contributors highlights the importance of research and collaboration in driving progress. Elias Eid’s award-winning work in the retail sector and Judith Evans’ leadership have been instrumental in ensuring the success of the roadmaps. These efforts support the EU’s climate goals and illustrate the potential for transformative change within the food sector.
Lessons
As well as the considerable impacts being made in decarbonising the food industry by the ENOUGH project, several lessons can be highlighted that contributed to the success of its work:
Collaboration among diverse stakeholders is essential for developing scalable solutions.
Real-world demonstrations of technologies prove their potential and encourage wider adoption.
Creating clear, actionable roadmaps with achievable short-term goals helps drive immediate progress.
Recognising individual contributions, such as those of Elias and Judith, boosts visibility and momentum.
Continuous monitoring ensures roadmaps stay relevant.
These lessons provide valuable guidance for other projects and can be applied across other topic areas and sectors to achieve the European Green Deal target of making the EU climate neutral by 2050.
Other information
When developing the roadmaps, ENOUGH faced challenges aligning diverse stakeholders with varying priorities. Additionally, it was difficult to integrate emerging technologies into real-world applications. These challenges were tackled by fostering strong collaboration, demonstrating immediate benefits through pilot programmes, and addressing data gaps through careful coordination. By adapting to these challenges and engaging stakeholders, the project is successfully developing scalable and actionable solutions for decarbonisation across the food sector.
