OUR PATH TO SUSTAINABILITY.
"IMPROVING THINGS FOR PEOPLE & THE ENVIRONMENT. ONE NEVER GIVES UP ON THAT."
Alexander Kühnen, Heiner Opdenfeld, Christian Strey; Managing Directors
Sustainability is a tradition for us as – "The Veggie Company" – and a family business in its 10th generation. For 300 years, we have been producing delicious vegetarian products while working with nature and its goods. Now, we are pursuing this path with even more consistency. And we are setting out in our sustainability strategy what we want to achieve: Among other things, we are working on converting the few products that still contain meat into meat-free, so our portfolio becomes 100% vegetarian. Also we are aiming at turning our production into 100% CO2-neutral and at our packaging materials to be 100% recyclable.
Are we already doing everything right? Certainly not. But we are on the right track – and getting a little better every day.
Alexander Kühnen
Heiner Opdenfeld
Christian Strey
Our goals
Reduce CO2 emissions
100% vegetarian products
100% recyclable packaging
"HOW CAN PICKLES BE CO2 NEUTRAL? LET ME EXPLAIN."
Helen Freund, Product Manager
Our "Pure" Cornichons and „All Natural“ Dressings are the first two climate-neutral products we have launched on the market ("balanced" CO2-neutrality, see below").
Climate-neutral - how does that work? Currently, ClimatePartner calculates how much CO2 is produced in the entire value chain, including production at a Kühne plant. We then offset these CO2 emissions by supporting climate protection programmes – for example, the Pará forest conservation project in Brazil.
This has already earned us what is known as balanced climate neutrality. But we want even more. Our goal is to achieve true climate neutrality. And we will be working towards this goal in the coming years. On the one hand, to reduce the CO2 emissions of our own processes and internal logistics - and to neutralise them where possible.
"100 % RECYCLABLE. A CRYSTAL CLEAR BENEFIT."
Alexander Witt, R&D Senior Packaging Developer
Over 95 % of our packaging is made of glass, which is fully recyclable. As for the remaining 5 %: we want to revamp those in the next few years. The goal: complete recyclability of our packaging.
Also, we want to further decrease the amount of packaging. One way we can reduce packaging is by using lighter packaging overall.
And in addition, we are also aiming to use at least 65% recycled materials or packaging made from renewable raw materials.
"OUR MOST IMPORTANT RAW MATERIAL: TRUST."
Bernhard Ulrich, Category Manager Materials
We share a responsibility that spans generations. We have been working with 90 per cent of our contract farmers for decades. No wonder this results in a special trust among each other. As well as the knowledge that every product is impeccable from seed to harvest. Farmers from Germany are our first choice. We get almost half of our raw materials from them. However, since the climate plays an essential role in cultivation, we also work with farmers in other countries.
Since 2020, a logistics project has gradually shifted the transport of goods between plants and warehouses to rail. The result so far: 60% less CO2 compared to roads.
During the production of vinegar, heat is generated. We already use some of it to heat our production facilities. And we will use it even more in the future.
We use less industrial water – by cleverly reusing it for other purposes. For example, to clean our plants and, in the future, inside the cooling circuits of our production facilities.
Moving forward, we want to make greater use of modern plant concepts (e.g. photovoltaics, combined heat and power). This will reduce CO2 emissions.
We want to significantly reduce our industrial and wastewater consumption in the coming years.
40 % of our employment contracts involve personalised working time models. After all, a good work-life balance is also part of sustainability for us.
"WANT TO KNOW MORE? DROP US A NOTE."
We look forward to your questions:
Franziska.Meintrup@fischerappelt.de
Julia.Hettlich@fischerappelt.de