Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods has presented its 2022 sustainability report. The company’s ambition is to be climate-neutral throughout the chain by 2050. In 2022, CO2 emissions from its own factories in Gorinchem and Scharsterbrug were 2.4% lower than in 2019. The company generated 1400 megawatt hours of solar energy with its own solar panels. Water consumption per tonne of product was reduced by 10% through a water-saving plan.
More than 95% of the dairy farmers who supply milk to Vreugdenhil participate in the company’s sustainability programme. Among other things, they receive a premium for generating sustainable energy. In 2022, 34.9% of the dairy farmers generated at least 50% of their own energy consumption sustainably. In 2021, this share was still 26.9%. This increase is mainly because dairy farmers invested in solar panels.
The average lifespan of cows among dairy farmers was 6 years, 1 month and 24 days. This is 29 days more compared to 2020. In 2022, the proportion of farms with outdoor grazing was 89.6%. This is 1.5 percentage points lower than in 2021, but the percentage is well above the Dutch average of 84%.
