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Improving sustainability on a daily basis Becoming a truly sustainable business is all
tomer demands. Until a couple of years ago,
about continuous improvement in every
most of our products were still packed in sim-
domain, harvesting low-hanging fruits and
ple flow-packs. Today, there is a wide range
planting the seeds for more difficult changes.
of packaging types available tailored to the preservation needs for each product – from
These changes always start with people who
the minimal banderols for bananas to modified
are enthusiastic, curious, open and willing to
atmosphere packaging for lettuce. We have
make the right choices together with our cus-
“We investigate every opportunity to reduce
learn every aspect of a process. In this report
developed extensive packaging expertise over
tomers.” – Merel Noorts, Product Manager
waste to an absolute minimum in every step:
we are giving them the opportunity to share
the years and a lot of practical experience on
how can we optimise the product flow between
their experiences and tell the story from their
how to improve shelf life.
different machines? Can we automate parts of
perspective. Some of them have only recently
The battle against food waste
the process to minimise waste? Can we find
joined Greenyard, others have been with us for
“Many efforts are being made to further reduce
many years, taking their new colleagues along
(plastic) packaging, and we clearly support this
With thousands of tons of fruit and vegetables
leek and celery? It all starts with observing and
in the wonderful world of fruit and vegetables.
trend. We have been testing many new packaging
going in and out of our warehouses every day,
measuring all parts of the process. Recently, we
We all share the same guiding compass and
options over the past years. However, there is no
we need to know exactly what we have in stock,
started to weigh exactly how much is wasted in
the ambition to work in a more sustainable way,
point in eliminating packaging if it causes the
what the remaining shelf life, origin and quality
every step of our production lines. Measuring
while safeguarding the quality of our products
product to go to waste. This means less pack-
is and what the expected requirements of our
waste not only gives us an indication of how
and meeting the expectations of our customers.
aging is not our only target, as we do not want
customers are. We know how much effort has
much is being wasted, but it also gives us a good
to compromise on the quality or the shelf-life
been put in growing our fruit and vegetables
basis to define KPIs for improvement, and it
of our products. We work closely with suppliers,
and want to prevent food waste wherever we
helps to raise awareness among our colleagues
customers, colleagues from other divisions and
can. We also do this for our convenience plant at
if you can show them the facts.” – Ann-Sophie
research institutes to follow up on the latest
Greenyard Fresh Belgium which has 11 produc-
Paesen, Continuous Improvement Engineer
trends, while Life Cycle Assessments help us
tion lines to wash, cut, slice, and pack different
Packaging that adds real value Packaging is a rapidly evolving domain in terms of regulation, innovation, marketing and cus-
alternative usages for the stems of broccoli,
types of vegetables.
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