Column ¦ IDM
January/February 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com · 45
‘Uniting dairy excellence and ambition’ is the EDA motto that
I introduced under and for my presidency. However, it is not only
our motto – it is also our raison d’être, the essence of our industry.
This is true for the iconic European cheeses, like Italy’s Parmigiano
Reggiano, France’s Gruyère, Greece’s Feta or Denmark’s Havarti,
but also for the overall European dairy excellence beyond cheese.
Our dairy excellence is recognized in Europe and worldwide and is
the thriving force of our ambitions.
Although tradition constitutes a reference in our daily work,
the European dairy sector is constantly evolving to meet society’s
demands for safe and nutritious food, acquiring the latest techniques
to ensure resource-efficient dairy processes. We are the
spearhead of dairy innovation, not only in the field of dairy ingredients.
We are also the connection between the rural and the urban
worlds, enabling common understanding between both and helping
to create the cohesion needed in society.
When it comes to sustainability, we are not only fully aware
of the importance of sustainable and future-proof production –
we are the frontrunners. Building a more sustainable production
model has always been part of our business, with a wide range
of actions taken, from ensuring animal welfare to safeguarding
environmental resources or preventing food loss and waste, fostering
this way sustainable circular production. In this sense, all dairy
processors, regardless of their size and structure, have their environmental
sustainability strategy in place and are investing heavily
in their implementation.
Looking ahead: the European Green
Dairy Deal
Milk and dairy are part of the daily diets and lifestyles of the vast
majority of Europeans. Dairy is a pillar in European agriculture, and
also a key ally in the path towards the European Green Deal goals
and the new CAP.
Therefore, we are currently working on our European Green
Dairy Deal, an EU-wide assessment of our role in achieving the
environmental ambition of our political masters and the European
Green Deal to make Europe the first climate neutral continent by
2050.
Building on our dairy excellence and the savoir-faire of our
farmers and processors, we can also assure within our remit the
social and economic sustainability of all actors across the dairy
value chain, from farmers to consumers.
Next to the implementation of our long-standing companyspecific
sustainability strategies, we have to adapt to the completely
new European policy framework, shaped by the European Green
Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy – to
name only the most prominent pieces.
With our European Green Dairy Deal, we will strengthen our
position in the upcoming decades as the global reference for food
safety, food excellence and sustainable production. We will keep
offering the unique and naturally high nutritional quality of our
milk and dairy products, and we will do it in the most sustainable
and efficient ways.
In order to map and continuously improve the European dairy
sector’s efforts to progress on our long-term environmental sustainability,
we have developed, together with the European Commission,
the Dairy PEF (dairy product environmental footprint), a
methodology that measures the environmental footprint of our
products considering a broad array of environmental criteria to
achieve a harmonised approach.
As the European dairy sector, we have the tradition from the
past, the skills from today and the sustainability ambitions for the
future to successfully adapt to the new market realities, to the expectations
of citizens and to the climate goals – and with the European
Green Dairy Deal, we are here to walk the talk.
/international-dairy.com
