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Conga Foods/Pakval/DC Coffee

By November 16, 2020December 15th, 2020No Comments
Birds eye view of the rooftop of Conga Foods building showing extensive solar panels covering the roof

Based in Coburg North, Conga Foods is one of Australia’s leading private, family-owned companies in the grocery industry. For over 60 years, they’ve been searching the globe for the finest foods and bringing back the best new flavours for Australians to discover and share. The organisation also includes Pakval, a warehousing and stock movement business, and the DC Coffee brand.

1698 Solar Panels!

Conga Foods has high-energy needs to keep their produce cool and their office and warehouse running at a comfortable temperature. In January 2018, they installed a 458kW solar array through the Australian Energy Foundation’s (AEF) solar for business program supported by Merri-bek City Council. The solar power system comprises of 1,698 panels with 16 inverters.

Conga Foods are considering adding further solar to any building extensions they undertake.

Reducing electricity bills by 40% and saving thousands of dollars

Conga Foods’ decision to go solar came after upgrading their lighting to energy efficient LEDs, which reduced their electricity consumption by 13%, reducing their total carbon emissions.

Conga Foods were pleased to see that they saw a drastic drop in their electricity bills straight away. Over the year the system is expected to reduce Conga Food’s energy bills by 40%, which will save the company over 700 tonnes of carbon emissions and thousands of dollars in operating costs each year.

Customers and suppliers have expressed positive feedback about the company’s choice to go solar. One unexpected benefit is how much staff have engaged with the system. The system has monitoring that allows staff to view how much electricity the panels are generating and many of them are keen to view it and discuss the data.

Conga Foods would love to see more solar in Moreland. Their vision is to be able to generate enough power for all their needs and be completely self-sustainable, powered by green electricity.

How can I take similar actions?

If you have a business in Merri-bek, there are many ways that you can make improve the sustainability of your workplace.

For energy upgrades, including finance options to help you make the switch to solar, check out our Energy Switch page for a list of what you can access in Moreland.

To reduce waste at your premises, take a look at some of the resources on our Zero Waste page.