Jan Vreugdenhil and Nestlé are working together to reduce CO2

Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods and food producer Nestlé are work together on more sustainable dairy production and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In the Low Carbon Farming pilot, they are working with seventeen dairy farmers to identify individual solutions for their farms.

Reduce CO2 by 50 percent!
The experiences gained from the pilot will be taken into account in the further rollout of the project. This group of dairy farmers has already experimented with specific feed measures, sowing herb-rich grassland, and generating sustainable energy. “Although the pilot is still ongoing, the initial results are so positive that we want to expand this approach with another 250 dairy farmers by 2030,” says Patrick Besten, Director of Milk Supply and Communication at Vreugdenhil. “Our approach is to look for customized solutions.”

Generic approach.

A generic approach is fine, but the farmers have different types of soil and operating conditions. “The pilot group is a representation of our farmers. Which package of measures suits a particular farmer best?” For a farmer with high greenhouse gas emissions, for example, management changes could already result in significant reductions, he knows. “For another farmer, ration adjustments might be more appropriate.” The dairy farmers in the pilot project are in charge of this sustainability project, according to Besten. “The farmer knows best what works for the farm and makes a well-considered choice about which measures to apply.”

The aim of this pilot is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030. Nestlé and Vreugdenhil have set aside 50 million euros for this purpose and are supported in the Low Carbon Farming project by scientists from Wageningen University & Research, among others. In recent years, Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods, together with partners in the chain, has taken many steps in the field of sustainability. “More and more dairy farmers are committed to protecting and restoring nature,” says CEO Albert de Groot.

Also elsewhere steps.

Of the approximately nine hundred dairy farmers in total supplying the dairy company, almost 70 percent took additional measures last year to increase biodiversity on their land. Examples include meadow bird management, ditch edge management, and the construction or protection of other landscape elements. More than 94 percent of the dairy farmers supplying to Vreugdenhil participate in the sustainability program. Our ambition is to be CO2-neutral from grass to glass by 2050. Together with internal and external stakeholders, we are working on various projects. The Low Carbon Farming project, together with Nestlé, is an important one to give shape to this ambition.