Danish Crown sets out climate goals, aims to form partnerships

Danish Crown aims to halve its climate footprint per kg of pork by 2030 from a 2005 benchmark, as the company anticipates a “huge” market for sustainable meat in the future.

The Denmark-headquartered company said it is now intensifying its commitment to make its meat products more sustainable. It is currently setting up a number of cross-organisational projects focusing on areas such as energy and water consumption, packaging and transport solutions. The aim is to define goals in all these areas and to establish partnerships with researchers and other companies in the industry.

Before the end of 2019, 90% of the pigs supplied to the firm’s Danish abattoirs will come from sustainability certified farmers, and the vision is for all meat to be climate-neutral by 2050.

Between 2005 and 2016, Danish Crown’s farmers in Denmark reduced the climate impact of producing 1kg of pork by 25%, of which agriculture accounted for 18%.

“We believe that we’re going to see a huge market for sustainable meat in future,” said Danish Crown CEO Jais Valeur.

“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.”

He added: “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.”

The company has not finalised climate goals for beef and veal, but they will be closely aligned with the goals being set for Danish dairy production and the company’s sustainability certification for pork.

In November, Danish Crown secured a five-year deal with Alibaba’s Win-Chain worth approximately €300 million to supply an additional 250 tonnes of Danish pork a week to the Chinese market.