Food waste has a substantial impact on the environment. In a circular economy, there is no waste, and the economic and nutritious value remains in the food chain. We create value by producing fries, and we want to share that value throughout the whole supply chain.
For us, this means making the best possible use of the potato. Efficient processing of raw materials has a direct positive impact on the economic value. The small parts of the potato that cannot be turned into fries are used as raw material for other products in our portfolio. Other products like starch and peels are destined to become animal feed.
Our focus is on the potato; that is, using as much of the potato as possible. Starting when they enter the factory, until their departure as fries.
Boundaries
Management approach
Our policy towards food waste is that we first prevent food waste, so we optimise the usage of raw potatoes in fries or other potato-related products, such as pancakes, specialties and flakes. Secondly, we try to retain as much (environmental) value from the streams as possible. We will look for new ways to reuse streams, so they can be repurposed for human consumption or animal feed or used for energy purposes. This will be done in the Green Circles programme, together with knowledge institutions (such as Wageningen University and Research and HAS University of Applied Sciences) and local government institutions (Province of Zuid-Holland). Together we will (re)design the supply chain in order to close the loops and exclude waste. For example, this could be done by looking into the nutritional value of our peels.
In the image, you can see the different streams in the factory. The orange elements represent the organic streams present in the chain.