Finnish dairy manufacturer Valio will aim to be carbon neutral by 2035, in a move to provide sustainably produced food ingredients to food manufacturers.
As an ingredient supplier, Valio claims that offering a sustainable production chain will provide its customers a competitive advantage in the market.
“Instead of just compensating for emissions, we are making major changes in our production chain in order to bring the carbon footprint of dairy down to zero in the future,” said Timo Pajari, SVP of Valio’s Food Solutions Sales.
Pajari added: “Our 2035 goal − carbon neutral dairy − means that the same amount of emissions is reduced and removed from the atmosphere as is generated on the farms, in transportation, at the plants, and in package manufacturing.
The Finnish company says traceability and transparent procurement are important customer requirements in ingredient sales.
Pajari said: “Transparency is in the heart of Valio’s operations. All milk is traceable back to an individual farm.
“In Finland, the production of carbon neutral milk is an achievable goal, as the production methods differ from those elsewhere. For instance, cows are fed mainly grass instead of soy.”
Other climate measures carried out by Valio include the development of its new Carbo grass seed mix that claims to improve the carbon binding ability of grasslands and the usage of biogas to replace fossil fuels.
As part of its sustainability agenda, Valio has developed its plant-based packaging and commenced use of recycled plastic in its food packaging earlier this year. The dairy manufacturer is currently working towards using cow manure to produce biogas.
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