T h e I n T e g r at e d n o r d z u c k e r a p p r o a c h

Transcription

1 The Integrated Nordzucker Approach

2 2 Nordzucker Sustainability : Letter from the Executive Board Dr Michael Noth Dr Lars Gorissen Hartwig Fuchs (Chairman of the Executive Board) Axel Aumüller Mats Liljestam Dear readers Sustainability is the top priority for Nordzucker and for many of our clients. As a producer of foodstuffs, environmental and social topics are a natural part of our daily business. Continuing to develop a sustainability value chain together with our suppliers, service providers, employees and customers is vital to our business and top of our agenda. Traceability, quality and reliability provide a guarantee for our customers that they have found the right partner in us when it comes to sugar. We want to grow with our partners and continually improve all aspects of our performance together. The changes to the sugar market regime and the internationalization of the markets, present challenges and opportunities for us and our partners along the value chain that we must actively manage together. with supplier audits to ensure quality, particularly for the sugar we import from countries outside of the EU. Together with our farmers in Europe, we also improve the efficiency and sustainability of beet growing every day. Our primary objective is to be a sustainable and reliable partner for our customers. In this folder as well as on our website you will find evidence of performance that demonstrates our dedication to sustainability. However, we have also placed an emphasis on highlighting our challenges and strategies alongside our objectives.continuous improvement in sustainability is one of our main strategic targets. Nordzucker AG The Executive Board For example, continued dedication to reducing our energy use as well as our CO 2 emissions are important components of our sustainability strategy. We are increasingly working

3 Intro & Strategy : Nordzucker Sustainability 3 It s all about integration Our Board is heavily involved in the development and execution of our sustainability strategy which is supported by policies, commitments and action plans that cover all parts of our organization. Intro & Strategy Growing together We want to grow together with our partners along the value chain, building on our strong values, sustainability and business propositions as has always been the Nordzucker way. This is only possible through close collaboration with all of our stakeholders along the value chain. Learning and developing together is our way of ensuring that we will meet the demand for our products in the most sustainable way. Supporting current and future development efforts regarding growth, efficiency, profitability and sustainability is the key to our future success. Managing the fundamental change The current sugar market regime is ending in This fundamental change will lead to increasing competition within the EU sugar market. It makes the improvement of the sustainable value creation from beet grower to consumer more important for us than ever before. After the market deregulation, global mega trends will impact our business even more. Volatile world market prices will influence our business. Emerging markets and a growing middle class are causing an increase in the demand for sugar in developing countries. As a consequence, Nordzucker is facing an increasing number of threats and opportunities. Supported by our sustainability strategy, we will work with them. Our approach is supported by our public commitments, which are listed below. Our Code of Conduct and Supplier Code of Conduct are aligned with the UN Global Compact and ETI Base Code. > Signed UN Global Compact > Comply with German Corporate Governance Code > Member of CEFS (the European Sugar Industry) > Member of Bonsucro > Member of Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) > Respondants to Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and Water Disclosure Project > Ecovadis > Member of SEDEX and subject to third-party SEDEX-audits In order to focus our efforts in managing sustainability, we have a materiality process to identify the sustainability challenges that are most relevant to us. By communicating regularly, we aim to give our stakeholders a clear picture of the evolving challenges we face, and what we are doing to address our material issues: climate change, water risks, compliance towards permits, carbon and water footprint, well-being/ health and safety, community engagement and social affairs, sugar and health, sourcing, human rights, business ethics, and growing interest from customers in biodiversity.

4 4 Nordzucker Sustainability : Growing & Sourcing Growing & Sourcing Sharing expertise is the key Nordzucker uses a diverse network of beet growers and suppliers. To drive sustainable improvements throughout this supply chain, we work in partnership with our beet growers and suppliers to raise awareness of best practice and ensure that they are meeting the requirements of our Code of Conduct. We do this by sharing our expertise, and carrying out regular audits tonnes per hectare Our Issue We need to further increase the sustainability of beet growing by improving efficiency while reducing the environmental impact. Our customers expect us to guarantee high standards of sustainability throughout our whole value chain, including our network of suppliers. Our Challenges The increasing globalization of our supply chain is bringing new sustainability challenges, as we are sourcing from countries with different traditions and standards. Within beetgrowing, our ambition by 2020 is that 20 per cent of our top-performing beet growers will have a 20-tonne sugar yield per hectare. Our Strategy We invest in R&D and share new knowledge and best practice with beet growers so they can optimize production and increase yields in a sustainable way. Luckily, sugar beet is in itself an environmentally friendly crop. By working closely with beet growers, we are able to make it even more sustainable. Our initiative is one powerful tool to achieve both: a significant increase of the yield while reducing the impact on the environment focuses on the five areas; plant breeding, cultivation methods, harvest, storage and cultivation structure. We also find uses for every part of the plant, everywhere, ensuring nothing goes to waste. For the cane sugar we use, we aim to make sure that it too meets the same sustainability standards we expect from beet growing. With our sourcing strategy, we set out our requirements and expectations to suppliers through our Supplier Code of Conduct, which forms the basis of our relationship with suppliers, defining clear standards and helping to drive sustainability through out the value chain. To ensure its efficiency and practical execution, we follow-up with a risk-based audit programme.

5 Production & Quality : Nordzucker Sustainability 5 PRODUCTION & QUALITY Focusing on efficiency We strive to make the process of sugar extraction from beet increasingly more efficient and sustainable. This involves using natural resources as efficiently as possible, as well as reducing energy consumption. We ensure high levels of product quality and safety, and optimize methods of transporting beet from farms to our plants in order to minimize fuel use and carbon emissions. 65% reduction of carbon emissions Our Issue We want to improve our production efficiency while re ducing our adverse environmental impacts. And we want to safeguard and improve the quality and safety of all our products along our value chain. Our Challenges By the year 2020, our target is to reduce energy consumption from sugar production by 45 per cent and carbon emissions by 65 per cent from a 1990 baseline. At the same time, we must also minimize our use of water, energy and other resources. In terms of quality, our ambition is to align activities across all of our plants to make sure that no product-quality or safety incidents ever take place. Our Strategy We are developing new methods of operation and transportation that will reduce costs while also reducing our impact on the environment as a whole. Sugar production is energy-intensive. We invest in energy-saving initiatives in order to reduce costs, lower carbon emissions and mitigate our impact on the environment. By using new boiler technologiess, we are reducing our emissions of air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and dust. Re-using water from the beet plant allows us to meet almost all our own water requirements and keeps consumption to a minimum. Moreover, we work hard to reduce waste and minimize our use of natural resources, re-using materials wherever possible. Transportation also contributes to our environmental impact. We therefore streamline our logistics wherever possible, decreasing transport distances, increasing loads and using rail transport. Knowing that our business depends on the safety and quality of our products, we carry out a range of measures to eliminate risks in our production process all this in close collaboration with colleagues in different countries.

6 6 Nordzucker Sustainability : Colleagues & Communities COLLEAGUES & COMMUNITIES Picking up the baton locally and internationally Nordzucker is both a European and a local company, based primarily in the rural countryside. We aim to give all of our colleagues a rewarding, healthy working environment, where everyone has the opportunity to develop and realize potential. We are also an important partner in local communities, providing employment opportunities and income. We strive to be good neighbours by minimizing any negative impacts of our business, such as heavy traffic, noise and air quality. years of reliable partnership Our Issue Our colleagues are the backbone of our company. To succeed as a business, we need to retain a skilled, knowledgeable and motivated workforce. As a company with an important role in our communities, we also need to make sure that our business operations make a positive contribution to the local area. Our Challenges Changing market conditions call for new thinking in how we manage and develop our people. During our intense fourmonth production season our activities can create heavy traffic, noise and odors. Our Strategy Our new HR approach enables us to equip our staff with the skills they need to succeed in future, while also supporting their personal development. We support our colleagues professional development by giving them the training and tools they need to succeed in our changing market. At the same time we provide a diverse, rewarding work environment, and help them balance the demands of work and home life. We want all of our employees to be safe and healthy and are aiming to be industry leaders in this area by creating an entirely accident-free working environment. We strive to mitigate any negative impacts of our business by supporting our communities through employment opportunities, charitable donations and other initiatives. We stay in constant contact with our communities so we can understand their concerns and respond to them quickly. We make charitable donations to support social projects and other good causes in the local areas.

7 Customers & Consumers : Nordzucker Sustainability 7 CUSTOMERS & CONSUMERS Responsibility as a food producer Nordzucker s customers include some of the world s biggest food brands companies with a major influence on business, society and public opinion. As a food producer, we see it as our responsibility to bring together customers and beet growers, so we can develop shared sustainability goals and standards and promote a wider awareness of them. We also share information about our products with consumers, so they can make informed, healthy choices about their diet and lifestyles. Our Issue In order to build a sustainable future for our industry, there needs to be common standards across the whole value chain, from field to customer. Lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes are growing health concerns in the western world and must be addressed firmly. Our Challenges The needs of beet growers must be aligned with the requirements of customers while consumers need information to make informed, healthy choices about their diets and lifestyles. Our Strategy We work to bring beet growers and customers together in order to foster understanding and develop shared, mutually beneficial sustainability goals across our entire industry. We share knowledge about sugar to support a fact-based dialogue between the food industry, health professionals and other interested groups. As a leading European sugar manufacturer, we see it as our responsibility to provide knowledge and information about our product, to inform public debates and discussions and help people make educated choices. As a sugar specialist, we can address some common questions and misconceptions and help to tell facts from fiction. 23,000 children and young people every year take part in Nordzucker s health-promotion campaign

8 Nordzucker AG Küchenstrasse Braunschweig Telephone: Telefax: Communications Sven Weber Telephone: Bianca Deppe-Leickel Telephone: ir@nordzucker.de Nordzucker has produced this sustainability report in the interests of sustainable environmental protection. It was printed in a climate-neutral manner in accordance with the Arktik process. All CO 2 emissions which occur directly or indirectly during printing were calculated and offset by investments in renowned climate-protection projects.