This document outlines assumptions and calculations to determine the food miles for an aloe vera drink product. It assumes water makes up 92% of the product, sugar is 4%, and aloe vera is 3%. It then calculates the source distances for each ingredient from their points of origin to the processing plant in Kadawatha. Finally, it sums the weighted total source distances for all ingredients to determine the overall food miles were 18,954 miles for the processing plant and 18,968 miles when including distribution to the retail store.

1. Aloe Vera drink
Products

2. Aloe
Vera
Sugar
Water
Aloe Vera drink

3. As this is a multiple ingredient food product the exact weight and the
percentages for each ingredient aren’t available in its label. As well as the
product recipe is secret, it is hard to find exact amount for each ingredient.
So before calculating food miles for this product, it is necessary to make a set
of assumptions in order to obtain a better result.
• Water, Aloe Vera, & sugar are considered as the main ingredients in the
drink.
• Weight of the other ingredients such as Citric acid, stabilizer and other
permitted food preservatives are ignored from the calculation assuming
that ,they are less than 1% percent of final product.
• Water represents 92% of the final product, while sugar and anoda pulp
represent 4% & 3% of the final product respectively.

4. • Only food ingredients are used in calculation, so plastic bottles, lids of
container are not considered.
• Water used in this product is taken from Opan spring company.
• Aloe Vera which is contained in the juice come from the in plantation
owned by the company, situated in Weheragama, Polonnaruwa.
• Sugar is taken from Sevenagala factory of the Lanka sugar company
Pvt. Limited.
• The main processing plant for this product is in Kadawatha which
known as Country Style Foods(PVT) LTD, and the Keels supermarket
which is situated in Wijerama junction in Nugegoda is assumed as the
way to reach the consumers with the end product.

5. Calculating Weighted Total Source Distance (WTSD)
• Determining the weight (W) of each product ingredients
Assuming 92% of the product weight is water and the total weight of the product is 200g. (200ml
PET bottle)
Wwater = 0.92*200g
= 184g = 6.5ounces
Assuming 4% of the product weight is Aloe Vera
Waloe = 0.04*200g
= 8g = 0.3ounces
Assuming 4% of the product weight is sugar
Wsugar = 0.04*200g
= 8g = 0.3ounces

6. • Determining the source location of each ingredient in order to find
the distance(D) to the processing plant.
Distance travelled by Aloe Vera
The source of aloe Vera is located in Polonnaruwa. The company has a plantation in Polonnaruwa
with 335 acres of cultivations used for beverage production
The approximate distance from Polonnaruwa to Kadawatha, where the processing plant is located is
124 miles.
Distance travelled by Sugar
Sugar is transported from Sewanagala sugar factory which is located in Embilipitiya. The approximate
distance from Embilipitiya to Kadawatha is 98.3 miles.
Distance travelled by water
Water is obtained from Opan Spring Company which is located in Attanagalla. The approximate
distance from Attanagalla to Kadawatha is 18.9 miles

7. Attanagalla
Embilipitiya
Polonnaruwa
Source: https://www.mapquest.com

8. • Determining the percent of total amount shipped (T) from each
ingredient’s point of origin
• Single centralized locations were determined for water, Aloe Vera and sugar. Therefore,
Twater = Taloe = Tsugar = 100%
Determining the ratio of weight of amount transported to processed
weight (R)
• For water, aloe Vera and sugar this ratio is not calculated because it is assumed that the entire
volume of the water, aloe Vera and sugar leaves the factories and arrives at the processing plant.
Therefore the ratios are 1:1 for all the commodities.

9. • Calculating the Weighted Total Source Distance for the processed
food product.
WTSD Bev plant = Σ (W * D * T * R) Ingredient
WTSD = (W * D * T * R)Water + (W * D * T * R)Sugar + (W * D * T * R)Aloe
WTSD = (6.5 Oz /container) (18.9mi) (100%) (1) (Water)
+ (0.3 Oz /container) (98.3 mi) (100%) (1) (Sugar)
+ (0.3 oz/container) (124 mi) (100%) (1) (Aloe)
WTSD Bev plant = 18 954 miles traveled – ounce per container

10. • Adding the average distance from the dairy plant to the retail food
store to the WTSD.
• In order to calculate this distance we should pick a specific retail food store and
determine the distance from the processing plant to the store.
• In this calculation, we picked the Keels Super at Wijerama Junction.
WTSDstore = (18 954 + 14.3) miles or 18 968.3 miles – ounce per container
D Store = 14.3 miles
We can add this distance directly to the WTSD:

11. • Calculating the WASD to determine how far – on average – the
ingredients traveled
• To calculate the distance each ounce of ingredient travels on average (WASD), the
total source distance is divided by the number of ounces in a container. This is the
weighted average distance the ingredients travel to the processing plant. Since the
majority of the product is comprised of water (92% percent), the WASD will more
closely reflect the distance milk travels compared to the other ingredients.
WASDplant = 18 954 miles traveled - oz/ 7.1oz = 2669.5 miles traveled per ingredient
WASD Store = 18 968 miles traveled –oz / 7.1oz = 2671.5 miles traveled