Helping the Baltic Sea through food – Fazer renews its Baltic Sea commitment for 2018–2022
Fazer has made a new five-year commitment to the Baltic Sea. The focus areas of the new commitment are circular economy, sustainable grain farming, water stewardship plan and development of Fazer’s offering.
Fazer has made a new five-year commitment to Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG). The BSAG is a non-profit foundation that encourages organisations to work together to save the Baltic Sea. Fazer has pledged to develop its production, operating methods and offering to help promote the ecological balance of the Baltic Sea.
Food production and consumption have a major impact on the environment, and on society and well-being. This is why food also offers the possibility of creating effective solutions.
Christoph Vitzthum, President and CEO of Fazer Group says: “We can make a difference in the various phases of food production so that smaller amounts of valuable nutrients make their way into the water. For example, our Sustainable Grain Farming Principles contain concrete actions to keep nutrients out of water systems by keeping them in the fields where they can be used by crops. Our Baltic Sea commitment brings all these measures together.”
“As a major player in the industry, Fazer’s actions also set an example for others to follow. This is important, because food production has enormous potential to affect both the Baltic Sea and the climate. We are very pleased that Fazer is committed to making food production more sustainable through long-term cooperation,” says BSAG founding member Ilkka Herlin.
Fazer’s solution for the Baltic Sea and nutrient cycles
Fazer’s new commitment covers four areas: circular economy, sustainable grain farming, water stewardship plan and development of our offering.
We support the circular economy through safe recycling of nutrients, reducing the amounts of waste, and improving resource efficiency. We have set targets for each business area for reducing the amount of waste.
We will continue to implement the Fazer Grain Vision and further develop sustainable grain farming together with our value chain. Fazer’s aim is for all of our grain in Finland and Sweden to comply with the principles of sustainable farming by 2025.
We are preparing a water stewardship plan that specifies our goals and the corresponding measures related to water consumption, waste water and reduction of water use in the value chain.
We develop our offering: emphasising domestic raw materials, favouring seasonal produce, increasing the amount of plant-based foods we offer, promoting the use of sustainable sources of protein, and reducing the amount of food waste.
The new commitment lasts five years. There are several milestones within this period, allowing us to keep track of progress towards meeting the overall goals of the commitment.
Good results from the 2013–2017 Baltic Sea commitment
The good results of Fazer’s first commitment to the Baltic Sea, for the period 2013–2017, encourage Fazer to continue on the same path.
In that period, Fazer succeeded in reducing energy consumption by 14% per tonne of product, and the proportion of overall electricity generated from renewable sources increased to 88%. In Finland, Sweden and Latvia, the share of renewable electricity is 100%. In 2017, Fazer produced its sustainable grain farming principles. Fazer created a responsibility programme for Fazer Mills, and Fazer Food Services began encouraging its restaurants to increase the share of vegetables they use through new recipes, nudging methods, campaigns and the Wicked Rabbit vegetarian food concept.
BSAG promotes efforts for rescuing the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) is an independent foundation established in 2008 to bring together all the organisations whose efforts are needed to save the Baltic Sea. This includes the political leadership of all the states in the Baltic region, the authorities in each of those countries, and the private sector. The goal of the BSAG is to restore the good ecological balance of the Baltic Sea.
Further information
Niina Elomaa, Corporate Responsibility Director, Fazer Group, tel. +358 45 354 8611
Fazer’s media phone line is open Mon–Fri from 8 am to 4 pm, tel. +358 40 668 2998
Email addresses are of the form firstname.lastname@fazer.com
Fazer Group
Fazer is an international family-owned company offering quality bakery, confectionery, biscuit and grain products as well as food and café services. Fazer operates in eight countries and exports to around 40 countries. Fazer’s success, ever since its establishment in 1891, has been based on the best product and service quality, beloved brands, the passion of its skilful people and the Group’s responsible ways of working. In 2016, Fazer Group had net sales of 1.6 billion euros and nearly 15,000 employees. Fazer’s operations comply with ethical principles that are based on the Group’s values and the UN Global Compact.
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