Climate neutral pork reaches the market

Animal feed manufacturer Agrifirm and Valleivarken bring the very first climate-neutral certified pork onto the Dutch market. The pork will be available in Marley Spoon's meal boxes from mid-October.

Agrifirm took the initiative. The company is committed to the certification of pork to reduce the ecological footprint. "Consumers demand sustainable, local and transparent food. This meat from the chain concept, which was developed together with Vallei Varken and Marley Spoon, is a good example of this," says Agrifirm CEO Dick Hordijk. The cooperative works together with Vallei Varken, a chain concept in the Gelderse Vallei. 

The introduction of climate-neutral certified pork is only a first step. At the moment the pigs are only kept at Vallei Varkens, but that will soon change. "In the coming months, Agrifirm will be working with chain partners on the possibilities to further expand this concept," the company writes in a press release.

Local food and renewable energy
Agrifrm is committed to sustainability on several fronts within the new chain concept. For the food, use is made of residual flows from the human food sector and local raw materials, including grain. In addition, soy and palm products are banned to prevent deforestation. The pig farmers obtain energy from solar panels and central fermentation of their manure. In this way, the company hopes to keep the emissions of the project as low as possible.

The remaining CO2 emissions are compensated by investments in the climate program Methane Digestion and Energy Generation in the Netherlands. The program is certified by two leading quality marks in the field of CO2 compensation. These quality marks guarantee that the measures taken are in line with existing reduction targets.

Matthew Bremer

Order Boerenbusiness Matthijs Bremer covers the meat markets. He also writes weekly about developments in the energy markets.

m.bremer@foodbusiness.nl

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