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Case Study: Shwee Shwian Food Co., Thailand Cleaner Production at a Medium-sized Ginger Factory |
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Source: Dr. Suporn Koottatep, Chiang Mai University, and Dr. Wanpen Wirojanagud, Khon Kaen University
Contact: Dr. Suporn Koottatep Chairman Chiang Mai Green Productivity Group Department of Environmental Engineering Chiang Mai University Thailand E-mail: suporn@chiangmai.ac.th
Dr. Wanpen Wirojanagud Associate Dean for Research Faculty of Department of Environmental Engineering Khon Kaen University Thailand E-mail: wanpen@kku.ac.th |
About the Company A cleaner production program was implemented in the Shwee Shwian Food Co., a medium-sized ginger factory in northern Thailand. The factory produces preserved ginger for export. Ginger was taken fresh from farms and washed by machine. The Problem To Be Solved The major problem at the factory was that raw ginger has a high soil content, which required large amounts of washing water and therefore generated high volumes of waste water. It was estimated that about 12% of the weight of the raw ginger was actually soil coating the outside of the ginger. The Solution: Greening the Supply Chain It was concluded that a supply chain greening program should be introduced to reduce soil content and thereby decrease the amount of water used for washing.
The Implementation The company set new specifications for incoming raw ginger that required a lower soil content. However, convincing the suppliers to deliver raw ginger with less soil content was not simple. The factory divided the suppliers into three groups:
The Results The results showed that the incentive program linked to benefits gained by the company through better control of ginger quality led to better results than the awareness programs. The farmers could benefit from improving the quality of their ginger, lower their operating costs, and improve their productivity as well. |
