Long-term sustainability goals for danish meat production

Today, the Danish meat company Danish Crown announced its ambitious long-term sustainability goals, targeting a 50% reduction of the climate footprint per kilogramme of pork by 2030 and to become a completely climate-neutral value chain by 2050.

According to climate scientists worldwide, meat represents one of the greatest challenges to the Earth’s well-being, the climate and the living conditions of future generations. This is a fundamental challenge for all meat producers, and it means that Danish Crown, among others, finds itself at a crossroad.

Today, Danish Crown announced its ambitious long-term sustainability goals, targeting a 50% reduction of the climate footprint per kilogramme of pork by 2030 and to become a completely climate-neutral value chain by 2050.

Jais Valeur, Group CEO, says: “We believe that we’re going to see a huge market for sustainable meat in future. We want to capture this market and create a brand as the most sustainable producer of meat-based food products. We have a strong starting point, as our Danish owners are already leading the way on very many parameters, and this is something that we must now build on”

Between 2005 and 2016, Danish farmers have reduced the climate impact of producing one kilogramme of pork by 25%, thus already being on track to reach Danish Crown’s goals.

“Pork has unjustifiably been in the firing line for the climate impact. We’re going to change this because we now know that we could have been talking about sustainability from as early as the mid-2000s. We cannot turn back the clock, but the results are there for all to see, and what we’re going to do is launch a concept which we, as well as our customers, can communicate, and which is going to win the support of consumers, because at the end of the day, it’s the choices being made by consumers that will drive the transition,” added Jais Valeur.

The road towards a sustainable future for meat is long and pitted with challenges. Carbon-neutral abattoirs are part of the strategy and a necessary step, but it is not enough. As Danish Crown set out to become the world’s most sustainable meat producer, the 7,000 farmers will play a key role. An individual sustainability certification will be part of ensuring that their efforts are aligned with the rest of the value chain and by the end of 2019, 90 per cent of all pigs supplied to Danish abattoirs will already come from certified farms.

Source: Euro Meat News, Danish Crown