Sustainability
AUTHENTIC
It’s our humanistic duty to protect our planet, and AGRANA Fruit takes that duty to heart. We’re continually implementing substantial improvements to ensure we operate more sustainably.
ASPIRATIONAL
We’ve set ambitious, companywide goals that are tangible, realistic and in alignment with our short-term and long-term environmental responsibilities.
ALTRUISTIC
We make decisions that go beyond what’s best for our company. Our products are also made with a selfless concern for our planet, as well as our communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS AND TARGETS
of electricity used in AGRANA Fruit in 2021|22 is renewable
reduction of waste to landfill across all AGRANA Fruit sites since 2019|20
reduction of water consumption at AGRANA Fruit Poland due to closing the open water cooling circuit
single use plastic packaging for products delivered to customers in France, Germany and Poland
SOCIAL COMMITMENTS AND TARGETS
of AGRANA Fruit managers were female in 2021|22
of raw materials (volume based) were sourced sustainably* in 2021|22
of our fruit (volume based) was sourced from SEDEX compliant suppliers in 2021|22
* Sustainable sourcing is an integral part of AGRANA Fruit’s strategy. We want to ensure visibility of where our raw materials come from and how they are produced while also promoting ethical, social, and environmental sustainability in our supply chain. We guarantee that the sustainable raw materials we source have been produced in accordance with our sustainability principles as outlined in AGRANA’s General Principles for the Procurement of Agricultural Raw Materials and Intermediate Products.
Energy Management System
In these days and age, energy saving is one of the most important topics in Germany. It is also a relevant area of focus as part of the AGRANA Climate Strategy. In 2016, we introduced an Energy Management System in our AGRANA Fruit plant in Germany, in order to run our operations more efficiently from both an environmental and economic point of view.
The improvements in our production processes, the introduction of modern monitoring systems and the replacement of inefficient items by new technical equipment (e.g. pumps, compressors and LED lights) have enabled us to reduce our energy consumption with approximately 2% per year within the last five years. The next step now is to install a new photovoltaic system on the roof our buildings.
Wastewater treatment and biogas generation
Our anaerobic wastewater treatment system is an important aspect that defines how AGRANA Fruit Germany is implementing our sustainability strategy. It consists of a hydro sieve, two aerobic pre-treatment tanks for mixing and pH-adjustment and one anaerobic fermentation tank. The high amount of organic waste in the wastewater is reduced by fermenting microorganisms. After our handling, the wastewater is directed to the wastewater treatment plant in Konstanz, Germany. Our degradation of the organic material provides an easier process for the city wastewater treatment plant, and it bring us a financial benefit due to the economized wastewater fees.
We generate biogas in our wastewater treatment plant at AGRANA Fruit Germany. It consists of approximately 60% methane (CH4) and 40% carbon dioxide (CO2). At first, all organic waste which serves as raw material is broken down in the aerobic pre-treatment tank by a variety of microorganisms. They chiefly produce organic acids and molecular hydrogen as well as carbon dioxide. These organic acids are then broken down by methane-producing organisms in the anaerobic fermentation tank. We use the gathered methane as a sustainable fuel (up to 8% of our total energy needs per year) for steam generation and generate financial savings due to the reduced consumption of conventional combustibles.