Soy has various uses in global food production, where more than 70% of the finished soy products are used for animal feed. With more than 1 million square kilometres of land currently cultivated for soy production, it also represents challenges from a sustainability and climate point of view.

The global demand for especially animal foods is increasing. Consequently, more land is being cultivated for soy production, leading to deforestation in some areas and in some cases causing damage to local ecological environments leading to loss of biodiversity or harming local communities.

Being rich in protein, soy is an essential ingredient in animal feed and a source of important income for farmers in meat producing countries. Denmark is a world-known exporter of livestock and meat products and thus also a big importer of roughly 1.5 million tonnes of soy annually. With an increasing focus on sustainability globally, it has become more important to ensure that soy purchased for feed from Danish agriculture is sourced responsibly.

Leading the transition to more responsible soy imports

The Danish agriculture sector has increased its efforts for sourcing responsible soy with the collaborative platform ‘Danish Alliance for Responsible Soy’. The alliance consists of 20 partners ranging from retail and food producers to NGOs and government authorities and is facilitated by Ethical Trade Denmark.

The alliance aims to support and increase the import and use of responsibly produced soy. The vision is to ensure that all imported soy has been produced responsibly and without deforestation.

‘Danish Alliance for Responsible Soy’ consists of 20 partners ranging from retail and food producers to NGOs and government authorities

Action plans to achieve results

All participants in the alliance have committed themselves to a binding agreement. For companies this includes the publication of action plans that include agreements with suppliers, acquiring certification credits compensating for soy consumption, working towards traceable soy supply chains, and investigating alternative supply options to current soy import, such as locally produced grass proteins. Furthermore, companies commit to report on their progress annually.

This is not an easy transition and requires action from all stakeholders in the supply chain. Therefore, the partners in the alliance will continue to collaborate to identify pathways and opportunities to achieve their common vision.

For more information regarding the alliance, visit this page.

With a new tool that can calculate climate impact in canteen and industrial kitchens, companies can set ambitious emission reduction goals based on specific data. This is possible thanks to a joint initiative between the two Danish companies, Rambøll and Meyers.

UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 encourages urgent action to combat climate change and the resulting increase in global temperatures. One of the primary focus points is to limit the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and achieve carbon neutrality.

The foodservice company Meyers and engineering company Rambøll have developed a climate footprint calculator to combat this issue in industrial and other larger kitchens.

It is now possible to calculate the impact on the climate of the raw ingredients

Providing accurate and specific climate impact data

Meyers and Rambøll have cooperated in the development of the climate footprint calculator. It is now possible to calculate the raw ingredients’ impact on the climate as well as the impact of the kitchen’s daily operations.

The calculations are based on life cycle assessments that details the climate impact on all levels of a raw ingredient’s supply chain. The data originates from EXIOBASE, which is the most complete and detailed database model for calculating CO2 footprints.

Easier to set specific reduction goals

The first version of the “climate footprint calculator was rolled out in all 90 of the kitchens managed by Meyers across Denmark in 2021. These kitchens are now able to document their climate impact and set goals for emission reductions based on the data gathered from the climate footprint calculator.

Rambøll’s canteen kitchens are taking charge with the most ambitious goal of all the kitchens using the climate footprint calculator: a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2021. This is a vital step in their continuous effort to reduce CO2 emissions wherever it is possible across all aspects of their business. Rambøll is utilizing the climate footprint calculator in all three of their canteen kitchens in Denmark.

Through public-private partnerships, Denmark has succeeded in significantly increasing the availability of whole grain products and increasing consumers’ knowledge and awareness of whole grain products. This success has only been possible due to the joint efforts of authorities, health NGOs and the food industry. The goal now is to inspire the international community to take similar actions.

Consumption of dietary whole grains helps prevent non-communicable diseases such as overall cardiovascular, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and mortality. Despite these benefits, most of the global adult population does not meet recommendations for whole grain intake. In fact, whole grain intake decreased between 1990 and 2010, also in Denmark. Therefore, the Whole Grain Partnership was established to counteract this development and it turned out that the public-private partnership played a vital part in changing the way people eat.

A strong tradition for collaboration

In 2008, 31 Danish partners from authorities, health NGOs, businesses and retail created the Whole Grain Partnership. Due to impressive results, the partnership received international recognition in 2019, when the EU Commission honored a number of ’best practice’ initiatives that have contributed significantly to improve public health, and asked Denmark to share its recipe behind its success through a three-year program.

while there existed around 150 whole grain products in Denmark in 2009 that number has exploded to around 1,000 products in 2024

The WholEUgrain project, which is a European action on Whole Grain partnerships, was launched in November 2019 in collaboration with project partners from four countries (Denmark, Romania, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The aim is to facilitate and transfer some of the Danish best practices for a Whole Grain Partnership to other countries, mainly the countries involved in the project – but also by involving other countries and stakeholders, working to increase the population’s whole grain consumption.

Partnerships are key in developing healthy food solutions of tomorrow

Since the establishment of the Danish Whole Grain Partnership in 2008, the partnership has succeeded in making the average Dane eat 82 grams of whole grains a day, compared to just 6% in 2004. And while there existed around 150 whole grain products in Denmark in 2009 that number has exploded to around 1,000 products in 2024. The hope and ambition is that the strong Danish results can be transferred to other countries, and in that way increase the health of the global population – one whole grain at a time.

Globally we need to rethink how we grow, produce and consume our food. With a growing population, we must take actions to prevent food scarcity, climate change, loss of biodiversity and hunger. There is no silver bullet on how to face these massive challenges, but a holistic approach that not only focuses on production but also at environmental aspects might be part of the solution.

Globally, there is a growing market for plant-based alternatives to meat, but few of them are clean-labeled. The Danish company Organic Plant Protein fills a gap in the market with their plant-based organic brand that is produced without the use of isolates.

Locally sourced plant protein following the organic principles

Organic Plant Protein produces organic, textured plant proteins from peas and faba beans which are sold both to retail, foodservice and as an ingredient to food manufacturers. The raw materials are currently sourced from Nordic and Baltic countries and in few years, Organic Plant Protein expects to locally source their raw materials from Denmark.

The raw materials are extruded exclusively by a mechanical process, which brings the protein content up to 55-58%

The protein concentrates are produced in a dry mechanical process without the use of chemicals. For the extrusion process to work, the protein flour must have a very high protein content. In order not to compromise on the organic principles, Organic Plant Protein has as one of the first in the world been able to extrude plant protein without the use of isolates.

High protein content without the use of chemicals

The raw materials at Organic Plant Protein’s factory are extruded exclusively by a mechanical process, which brings the protein content up to 55-58%. Their dry TVP-product contains 53% protein and around 18% after absorption of water, marinade or another kind of liquid. The product furthermore has a low-fat content of 4%, a high content of dietary fibre of 15%, and is completely allergen free.

When the factory is fully developed, Organic Plant Protein estimates that they can produce 5000 tons of textured plant proteins per year. With 80% of their raw materials coming from peas, they have a very small CO2 footprint compared to other protein-rich plants that can be used for food.

The Danish plant drink company Dryk has one mission: To make it simple for everybody to choose high-quality plant-based drinks without any compromises on nature or biodiversity. 

We need to produce and consume food far more sustainably than we do today. We must find solutions to the global challenges of public health and loss of biodiversity, while reducing global resource consumption for food production. With rapid growth rates of plant-based products, it is important to also be able to offer products with a proper nutritional value composition.

A nutritious plant-based drink

Dryk has a focus on nature, producing vegan drinks from oats and peas. The oats come from the Nordic region and yellow split peas from France. The future aim is to use local sourced materials to reduce their carbon footprint, which is why they do not use almonds or rice as raw materials. Dryk enriches the plant-based milk with B12, calcium, ribuflavin and vitamin D, so it is close to the nutritional value of cow’s milk. However, the plant drinks emit 70% less CO2 than milk, while using 87% less water and 11 times less land usage.

 

The Plant drinks emit 70% less CO2 than cow milk

All Dryk’s drinks, apart from the Organic Oat Barista, are enriched with 1 microgram Vitamin D, 0,38 microgram Vitamin B12, 0,21 microgram riboflavin and 120 microgram calcium. With large parts of the world population being lactose intolerant, and thus used to drinking plant-based products, Dryk’s brand stands strong internationally by also ensuring a proper nutritional value.

Working to Free Wild Nature

Dryk contributes to the Danish Nature Fund that works hard to increase biodiversity and protect wild nature in Denmark. For each DRYK sold, the company donates an amount that will be used to free a little area of wild area in Scandinavia. A measurement of the area can be found at the bottom of the packaging. With large parts of the world population being vegan or climate aware,  Dryk’s brand stands strong internationally by also ensuring a proper nutritional value and emphasis on nature friendliness.

Meeting the growing demand for dairy products is a significant challenge in Vietnam, where the agricultural sector continues to modernise. TH Group, a leading Vietnamese dairy producer managing around 20,000 dairy cows, identified a critical barrier to increased productivity: the presence of mycotoxins in animal feed.

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by certain moulds in feed raw materials, and they pose a serious threat to animal health and welfare. These toxins not only compromise the immune system of livestock but also reduce milk yields, making it more difficult for producers to meet rising consumer demand. As such, TH Group needed an effective solution to enhance feed safety and animal health while simultaneously boosting production efficiency.

Danish technology provides measures to optimise feed quality

To address this challenge, TH Group partnered with Danish technology provider SKIOLD, a company with more than 140 years of experience in delivering customised milling and feeding systems to agricultural producers worldwide. The goal was to build a complete, efficient feed mill system that could improve the quality of animal feed by reducing harmful contaminants, thereby optimising the health and productivity of TH Group’s dairy herd.

As a part of the feed mill, they installed an Omega universal cleaning machine from SKIOLD that is capable of handling up to 300 tons per hour when cleaning cereals – and up to 30 tons per hour when grading seeds. The Omega cleans grain and seeds with high efficiency, in part by evenly distributing the material across vibrating screens that follow a unique motion pattern to maximise cleaning performance.

The universal cleaning machine handles up to 300 tons per hour when cleaning cereals – and up to 30 tons per hour when grading seeds

Tailored feed technology drives efficiency and boosts milk yields

Shortly after the feed mill became operational, TH Group began to see measurable improvements. Feed costs were reduced, as cleaner inputs meant less reliance on costly additives. More significantly, milk yield across the herd increased by 10%, demonstrating a clear return on investment and validating the impact of better feed quality on overall production performance.

The new feed mill allowed TH Group to take full control over the feed production process, ensuring that only clean, safe, and nutritionally balanced feed reached their dairy cows. The collaboration was tailored to TH Group’s specific needs, ensuring that the technology was both scalable and aligned with local production goals.

By implementing automation solutions in the food and beverage sector, production facilities can become more resource-efficient thus minimising waste, energy consumption and climate footprint.

When food producers around the world establish new production facilities, there is a particular need to focus on optimal utilisation of scarce resources and high traceability. One solution is to implement an automation solution that can optimise the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) measurement and secure full traceability.

A high-scale optimisation project
The Danish process automation company, Au2mate, develops and delivers high-quality automation solutions in order to optimise processes and minimising waste, energy consumption and climate footprint in the food and beverage sector. Their solutions are designed with a focus on high usability, reliability and optimal utilisation of industry 4.0 technologies.

The solution has resulted in an increase in overall equipment effectiveness of 5%

When the Saudi Arabian company, Almarai – one of the largest integrated dairy food companies in the world – were to extend their production capacity with a new dairy production plant they reached out to Au2mate to deliver a fully automated control and IT solution with SAP integration, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) measurement and full traceability.

Significant improvement of resource effectiveness
The goal for the project was to reduce production line waste and downtime in the processing area and the filling and packaging area while improving performance, resource efficiency and quality. This required a contemporary and future-proof system to optimise production from a cost and resource-saving perspective.

Considering the massive production capacity of the plant, Au2mate’s solution has resulted in an impressive increase in overall equipment effectiveness of 5%.

The successful implementation of the automatic production plant with fully integrated resource planning system has created full transparency of the production site where project instalments included 25 operator stations, 21 barcode scanners, 8 rack servers, 13 PLCs and more.

In the unique agricultural environment around Lammefjorden in Denmark, a small Danish enterprise uses local surplus potatoes to create a vodka that is unique in taste and represents how the Danish food arena puts emphasis on the use of locally grown foods.

One of the key points for food producers around the world is to have a transparent food production that is environmental and sustainable at the same time. Three entrepreneurs use a mix of the local surplus potatoes and the vitamin-rich soil to create a high-end vodka called Nordic Soil, which has taken Danish production to new heights.

Unique production environment

Throughout the last centuries, the geographical fjord area has developed into land with soil that is rich in vitamins and taste which create products with unique taste. This has caused that for example potatoes from this specific area are one of Denmark’s luxury seasonal products.

The left-over potatoes used by Nordic Soil are unmarketable because nature has made them crooked or angular. Instead of discarding them, the potatoes now make a crucial contribution to the production of vodka. Not only does the use of local potatoes benefit the taste; the use of surplus resources also enhances a more circular economy that keeps waste low and thus contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 about reducing food loss and waste.

Not only does the use of local potatoes benefit the taste; the use of surplus resources also enhances a more circular economy

Bringing the local taste to the rest of the world

The high-end vodka from Nordic Soil is just the latest example of how companies of all sizes enhance a more circular production using local surplus food. We have previously described how Daka Denmark uses food productions’ by-products to produce feed or bio-diesel. With the Nordic Soil Vodka, the Danish food cluster takes it a step further on how Danish companies use local goods.

The Nordic Soil vodka is just another example of how the Danish food cluster collaborates and innovate by using local goods to e.g. minimise food loss and waste. Read more about the Danish culture of collaboration here.

The up-cycling of spent grains from breweries – that would otherwise go to waste – is generating entirely new and nutriotious food products. The process saves resources and is more climate-friendly than other related grain-products.

It is estimated that 8-10% of the world’s total CO2 emissions is associated with food products that is not consumed but wasted. The brewing industry uses a lot of resources to cultivate the grain that serves as the base of their alcoholic drink products.

Beer is one of the most consumed drinks in the world, but unfortunately many useful resources are wasted during the brewing process. More than 42 million tonnes of spent grains – utilised during the brewing process – are either used for animal feed or wasted. However, the Danish company, Agrain, has innovated new exciting products that maximise the spent grains’ value.

Turning spent grains into organic flour
Agrain specialises in the up-cycling of spent grains from breweries. They extract the liquids from the grains, which leaves the dry spent grains that serve as the main ingredient in their organic and nutritious flour.

Agrain has developed a production process that can extrapolate 200 kg of flour from 1 tonne of spent grains

The company produces many types of flour with unique flavours based on the type of beer that was brewed from the grains. Besides IPA-, pilsner- and whiskey-flour, other Agrain-products include granola, crisps and crackers. All these products are 100% organic with no food additives, preservatives, nor artificial colours.

A gentle production process for the environment
Agrain has developed a production process that can extrapolate 200 kg of flour from 1 tonne of spent grains where most of it would otherwise go to waste. The process is also much friendlier to the climate compared to other flour-products with 24-44 kgs of CO2 savings for every 100 kgs of Agrain-flour.

With the innovative field robot from Danish company FarmDroid, farmers and plant growers can reduce costs for sowing and cleaning crops in a CO2 neutral and organic way.

The organic area is growing year by year, and at the same time, there is an increasing focus on reducing pesticides within conventional agriculture. This intensifies the focus on, and need for, mechanical weed control in agriculture.

In organic farming, seeding and weeding are most often done by hard, monotonous physical work and costly manual weeding. Labour costs per hectare are thus high and a general shortage of manual labour in agriculture makes it difficult for farmers to produce economically viable crops.

Get rid of unwanted weeds, sustainably

The Danish company, FarmDroid, has developed a fully automatic seeding and weeding robot to ease the amount of manual labour involved in keeping crops free of unwanted weeds. The FarmDroid FD20 robot has been developed with a focus on automating mechanical weed control between the plant rows, but also in the row itself. In one season, one robot can sow and weed 20 hectares.

The robot prevents a waste up to approximately 20,000 beet sprouts per hectare where the human eye would only remove 20-30%

FarmDroid is powered by solar energy and by using high-precision GPS technology it is not dependent on cameras or sensors for plant and weed recognition, which increases operational stability. The solar cells consist of four batteries that are charged by four solar panels producing up to 1.6 kWh, corresponding to 20 kWh per day, which ensures that the robot does not need external charging.

Short payback period and reduced manual labour

With the FarmDroid FD20 robot, you get precise weeding ensuring the crops optimal growth conditions, without having to struggle unnecessarily with the weeds for nourishment and sunlight. Results from a German sugar beet farmer show that the robot can prevent a waste of up to about 20,000 beet sprouts per hectare compared to manually hoed beet fields, where the human eye will remove 20-30% of the beet sprouts, simply because it is difficult to distinguish between weeds and crops.

As the robot operate fully automatically and does not need to be monitored it furthermore helps eliminate or greatly reduce the need for manual weeding and thus have a repayment period all the way down to a year and a half.