The Group has already taken a major step towards achieving that goal, and now offers numerous products produced from 100-percent sustainably grown fruit. In order to provide consumers more helpful guidance in this context, Eckes-Granini has also introduced the “100% sustainably grown” quality seal on a Group-wide basis. Brazil orange juice from Finland is the first brand to display the Eckes-Granini sustainability label. Over the course of the next few months, the seal will begin to appear on the packaging units of other leading orange juice brands in the European retail trade, including Joker in France, Elmenhorster in Lithuania, Pago in Austria and God Morgon in Sweden.
According to the provisions of the SJC, fruit and vegetable producers practise sustainable cultivation in keeping with relevant environmental, social and economic standards if their operations meet the requirements for the bronze level in the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) conducted by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) or if they present evidence of a comparable certification. “Our declared goal is the systematic optimization of our delivery chain – in terms of sustainability”, explains Eckes-Granini Sustainability Director Dr. Karl Neuhäuser. “In cooperation with our suppliers and partners, we have progressed during the past twelve months to the point at which the majority of the Brazilian orange farms from which we buy our fruit have now completed the SAI / FSA successfully.” Top-quality fruit is the most important raw material for the Eckes-Granini Group. “As producers of a natural product and as a family-owned enterprise, we recognize the need to protect and preserve natural resources”, notes Thomas Hinderer, CEO of the Eckes-Granini Group. Only in this way can sustainable fruit cultivation be guaranteed in the long run. “With our engagement within the framework of the SJC we, as the leading European fruit-juice producer, aim to make a visible contribution to ensuring that conventional fruit cultivation and processing become significantly more sustainable world-wide.”
Taking the lead in sustainability as well The Eckes-Granini Group is clearly focused on its primary goal. The family-owned enterprise based in Nieder-Olm (Rhineland-Palatinate) intends to establish itself step-by-step as one of the most sustainable fruit-juice producers. Thus, the commitment to 100-percent sustainable juice production by 2030 in accordance with the SJC plays an important role with respect to the Group’s procurement guidelines. Yet it is only one component of Eckes-Granini’s “Sustainable Sourcing Policy”. The Group’s new sustainable procurement guidelines also provide, among other things, for the exclusive use of sustainable packaging materials, an increase in relative rPET content to 50 percent and intensive cooperation with suppliers certified by independent institutes such as Ecovadis and SGF. “On the whole, we plan to reduce the size of our ecological footprint along the entire value chain and purchase only sustainable raw materials for our products to the greatest possible extent”, explains Dr. Karl Neuhäuser.
