Greggs has launched its first eco drive-thru fitted with a range of new sustainability initiatives.
The new site on Easton Lane, Winchester, is focused on reducing the environmental impact of operations by limiting waste, using less water and lowering energy usage.
Speaking exclusively with The Grocer, Greggs property director Tony Rowson said the food-to-go retailer had "ambitious targets" to reach new locations and build on its sustainability credentials.
The eco-drive thru will act as a test site, with successful features to be rolled out across other shops.
The site, which opened its doors on 21 January after 18 months of planning, features low-energy light fittings and sun tubes, which direct sunlight from the roof into the store to reduce artificial lighting.
Daylight harvesting technology with a wireless control system has also been installed, which adapts to lighting in real time through smart sensor nodes.
The food-to-go retailer has also installed solar panels to power all in-store digital signage throughout the year, and a rainwater harvesting unit that has the capacity of 3,000 litres and is expected to reduce water usage by around 13%.
Heat pump air conditioning and overdoor heater systems have been added, alongside a heat recovery system, which utilises warm air from refrigeration extraction to warm the air, and a heat pump system that uses surrounding air to warm water.
While the first of its kind as a drive-thru format, the Winchester site marks the second eco-shop for Greggs, having launched its first in Northampton in 2022.
The store trialled initiatives including knee-operated sinks, under-counter water heaters, energy efficient ovens and more sustainable refrigerant gas.
However, Rowson said the new drive-thru location has allowed the retailer to trial more external eco-features, including millboard cladding around the outside of the property and outside furniture, all made from recycled plastic.
Last year, Greggs exceeded its target of having eco-shop elements in more than a quarter of its stores by the end of 2025, instead reaching more than 700 shops (27% of its estate) by the end of 2024.
The retailer, which plans to open more than 260 new stores this year, now has a target for these elements to reach 30% of its estate by the end of 2025.
"We have over 50 drive-thrus so we can benchmark this against very similar style shops and because we've got such a fast-moving programme, we can start moving a lot of these features into not just drive-thru shops, but purpose-built pods, industrial estates, supermarkets, all the different locations that we're opening up," Rowson said.
"We have a lot of old legacy shops and this year we'll refit between 160 and 170 shops. We have a big advantage that we're already reviewing and refreshing our estate so we can therefore put the equipment in."
In choosing what aspects of the Winchester store are successful and will be rolled out further, Rowson explained that Greggs had a system in place that would notify the retailer "very quickly" on what was working well and how much electricity was being used, for example. "It allows us to make decisions quicker than we normally would," he added.
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