Nordzucker Post 2/2023 - 24 May 2023
Nordzucker.Together.Sustainable.
Dear Readers,
Nordzucker.Together.Sustainable. That is not just the title of this year`s annual report. These three words sum up what we stand for and what our business success is based on. We have completed a challenging year very successfully – together. With the commitment of our employees and partners – beet growers, logistics partners, suppliers and customers – together we successfully mastered the energy crisis, interrupted supply chains, below-average crop yields and cost increases.
In challenging times, it is particularly important to keep our corporate strategy firmly in focus. We have further sharpened the Nordzucker strategy, which is based on the three pillars excellence, sustainability and growth. Particularly in terms of sustainability along the entire value chain, we have set ourselves ambitious targets and initiated further measures – starting with procurement and extending to production and products. We want to have carbon-neutral production by 2050 at the latest and have already halved our CO2 emissions by 2030. Our sugar comes from nature, and so we have always thought and acted in terms of sustainable cycles. With the energy that the beet already provides, it is possible to produce in an energy-autonomous and climate-neutral way. To do this, we could use biogas from beet pulp, which is a by-product of sugar production. Following the recent decision at European level that residual materials are to be regarded as climate-neutral, the task now is to closely monitor the implementation processes in the respective countries. The important fact is that beet pulp will continue to be available to the market as animal feed.
Good sugar beet yields form the basis for Nordzucker’s business success. To ensure that beet remains an integral part of the crop rotation for our growers and economically attractive in these times, we pay higher prices – for organic beet and for conventional beet. But our commitment to beet cultivation goes beyond that: we support innovations in the field with our Smart Beet Initiative. Together with the Chamber of Agriculture, breeders, the crop protection industry and beet growers’ associations, we are testing practical and sustainable solutions. New methods of soil cultivation and sowing, new strategies in weed control, new ways of controlling pests are the focus of the trials and discussions at this year’s Field Days.
With our projects and initiatives, and with our strong financial situation, we at Nordzucker believe that we are well positioned to consistently continue our path to becoming an even more sustainable company.
Act together and sustainably is for us as Nordzucker part of all our actions.
I would be pleased to welcome many of our shareholders to the Annual General Meeting on July 6, 2023, in Braunschweig – also for a direct exchange. For now, I hope you enjoy this issue of the Nordzucker Post.
Yours, Lars Gorissen
