Green Business
5 minute read • sennder Team • September 13, 2021

sennder and AB InBev are partnering to reduce carbon emissions using advanced fuels

Find out how sennder and AB InBev together reduce global carbon emissions to fight climate change and decarbonize the road freight market.
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The global fight against climate change is increasing in urgency and importance every day. According to the Paris Agreement, the world needs to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 °C to reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. That means carbon emissions need to go down now.

sennder and AB InBev are working together to do our part. We want to reduce carbon emissions, fight climate change, and lead the transport industry towards a more sustainable future. Watch the video and read the article below to learn more.

Low-carbon transport is a priority for both sennder and AB InBev

As Europe’s leading digital freight forwarder, sennder believes that we have a responsibility to help shape road freight’s future for the better. This responsibility is also an exciting opportunity for the transport sector as a whole to push for low-carbon innovation in the industry. For sennder, one of the first steps is partnering with a big shipper like AB InBev.

“We’ve been working with AB InBev since 2017” says sennder CEO and co-founder Julius Köhler. “AB InBev was one of the very first companies to put their trust in us and our digital offering.” Part of sennder’s mission is to digitalize the road freight industry. Digitalization done well can lower carbon emissions by improving routing and reducing empty kilometers. “Today, over 12% of global CO2 emissions actually arise from road transportation. sennder plays an important role for our shippers as well as for our carriers in the entire decarbonization process,” says Köhler.

Transport initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and help fight climate change are extremely important for a multinational company like AB InBev. “10% of our carbon footprint as a company comes from transportation,” says Ulysse Bera, AB InBev’s 3PL contract manager. Making changes to the way AB InBev handles transport can have a big decarbonization impact across their entire global supply chain.

Green business at sennder includes both digital and fuel-as-a-service offerings

This is where sennder comes in. When an enterprise client like AB InBev switches their lanes with us to advanced fuels, they can reduce their carbon emissions at scale. We report all carbon emissions to our shippers on a quarterly basis for all transports. That means they can keep an eye on the numbers and understand how their choices affect the carbon footprint of their supply chain. Marta Herrera Casas, AB InBev’s logistics manager in France, says that the sennder partnership will help AB InBev achieve their goal of reducing their overall company carbon emissions by 20% by 2025. Herrera Casa emphasizes that AB InBev “need[s] to deliver our products to our customers in a responsible way.”

sennder’s green business offering is unique in Europe in that it goes beyond digitalization. “We offer our clients the opportunity not only to have high quality transport from a to b, and digitize that transport, but also to run it with advanced fuels,” says Graham Major-Ex, head of green revenue at sennder. Major-Ex calls this fuel-as-a-service. “It means we allow our clients to choose what fuel goes in the trucks that are running their lanes,” he says.

Switching lanes to advanced fuels with sennder helps AB InBev reduce carbon emissions

AB InBev and sennder embarked on this advanced fuels partnership in 2021. The first step was beginning to run the Lille to Paris lane on B100. “B100 is a non-fossil diesel that's produced from crops, mostly rapeseed oil in Europe,” says Major-Ex. That means it has a much lower carbon footprint than fossil diesel. In fact, according to Major-Ex, “The B100 we're using in France with AB InBev reduces carbon emissions by about 60% compared to fossil diesel.”

Running AB InBev’s Lille to Paris lane on B100 instead of fossil diesel will save 30 tonnes of carbon emissions per year alone. That’s the equivalent of 30 flights from Paris to New York.

This is only the beginning for sennder and AB InBev. “The next step will be implementing HVO on the lanes from the Netherlands to France,” says Herrera Casas. HVO has a number of big advantages, adds Major-Ex. “HVO is an advanced diesel fuel that can be substituted for fossil diesel in all diesel engines without any engine modifications. It's produced from food waste products, and it reduces carbon emissions by up to 90%.”

Investing in sustainable transport makes businesses like AB InBev more competitive


For both sennder and AB InBev, it is clear that green business is here to stay. Sustainable choices make business sense, not just environmental sense. sennder firmly believes that switching to advanced fuels helps companies improve competitiveness and accelerate growth. Herrera Casas reiterates the centrality of sustainable transport for green business, saying “The importance of sustainability is just going to keep on growing over the next few years. I believe that as leaders in our industry, we have the responsibility to drive change.” The AB InBev partnership with sennder is a way for both companies to have real, concrete impact in the fight against global warming and to show that they take their leadership positions seriously.

Expanding the implementation of advanced fuels with our enterprise partnerships is one of the key ways sennder is making our industry fit for a sustainable future. As a society, we have about seven years to determine the entire future climate of the planet. When we look back from 2050, what we do today matters.

“I can only see this partnership growing from here,” says Herrera Casas.

Learn more about green business at sennder HERE.

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