Bringing our customers into the field

Prior to the annual conference of the SAI (Sustainable Agriculture Initiative) at the end of April in Aarhus, Nordzucker invited SAI members - especially Nordzucker customers – on an excursion to demonstrate beet cultivation and sustainability directly in the field and to discuss future issues.

The excursion was organized through our Agri Center in Denmark and the Head of Agri Center Bo Secher, was leading the excursion and the dialogue between grower, customers and other SAI members.

The guests visited two farms - a Danish organic beet grower and a beet grower who participated in a third party SAI FSA audit in 2016. Topics of discussion were the instruments of the FSA (Farm Sustainability Assessment) from the perspective of farmers, suppliers and customers, but also the future of sugar beet cultivation and possibilities of digitalisation.

Sven Sielhorst, SAI FSA Programme Lead, said on site: "The field trip that Nordzucker organized for our SAI Platform members gave them some great insights into the reality of Danish arable farming. The level of sustainability performance is relatively high in Denmark - although that message does not always transcend to the consumer. We had a rich discussion about the need to better engage society and consumers in sustainable farming, through inspiring narratives that are underpinned by solid evidence. This is critical to catalyze the resources and policy support towards making farming more resilient, sustainable and profitable.”

"As Nordzucker, we were happy to bring our customers to the beet field and show them what it takes to grow beets sustainably and how we ensure that the requirements of sustainable agriculture are integrated into daily cultivation practice," explains Christopher Münke-Svendsen, Agri Sustainability.