04.01.2021

Holistic sustainability strategy: Climate-neutral WIESENHOF products

Increasing the visibility of climate protection for the consumer: from 4 December onwards, the PHW Group will be offering climate-neutral poultry products with self-service packaging under the WIESENHOF poultry brand in the fresh produce range. “Climate-neutral products are another result of our consistent strategy of climate protection. In order for a product to be climate-neutral, all CO2 emissions generated along the entire value chain must be calculated, reduced and offset”, explains Peter Wesjohann, CEO of the PHW Group. “Our medium-term goal is to offer all products under the WIESENHOF brand on a climate-neutral basis. Moreover, our intention over the long term is to expand the number of climate-neutral products across the whole portfolio of our PHW brands”. The PHW Group is again assuming a pioneering role by becoming the first company to offer climate-neutral poultry products. Already since the start of this year, the six WIESENHOF production sites in Germany for chicken, turkey and sausage products have been operating on a 100 percent climate-neutral basis. In specific terms, this means that all poultry specialties produced at these locations are already climate-neutral products.

With its first climate-neutral products, the PHW Group has achieved another green milestone. “With the step towards climate-neutral WIESENHOF products in the self-service fresh produce range, the PHW Group has shown how consistently the company is addressing the issue of climate-protection”, says Robin Stoffers, Carbon Offset Services Manager at ClimatePartner. “By first recording and offsetting emissions from production processes and, in a second step, from the products themselves, the PHW Group remains, on the one hand, responsible for reducing emissions at the company, while on the other, it is also providing consumers with an opportunity to actively take part in climate protection. That is an important signal in the food market”.

Expansion of the climate-neutral range

It all starts with the fresh produce range in self-service packaging available under the WIESENHOF brand: Germany's leading poultry brand is now offering all-natural chicken and turkey specialties on a climate-neutral basis. “We are firmly convinced that, over the coming years, even more attention than is already the case will be paid to the sustainability of every product. Thanks to this endorsement, we can now inform customers about our sustainability benefits directly at the point of sale, where they make a purchase decision. The use of the ClimatePartner label makes it clear that the product has been verified by an independent body and ensures transparency and credibility”, explains Peter Wesjohann.

Longstanding investment in sustainability and climate protection

In 2008, the PHW Group became the first, and so far only, poultry company to calculate its product carbon footprint (PCF) for poultry across the entire production chain. This calculation has been carried out six times already. The PCF represents a key basis for determining the climate-neutrality of a product. Right from the very beginning, the PHW Group has implemented a wide range of measures to reduce and avoid CO2, while at the same time continually working to develop additional possibilities. Despite many successes, there remain certain unavoidable CO2 emissions. However, thanks to two climate protection projects organised by ClimatePartner, one of the leading providers of climate protection solutions, these can now be offset in full: in addition to a cookstove project in Ghana (certification pursuant to GS VER), WIESENHOF has also committed to supporting a forest protection project in in Peru (certification pursuant to VCS and CCBS Standard). The company has been supporting the latter since the beginning of this year as part of its participation in the voluntary “ZNU goes Zero” climate protection initiative.