Zero Waste, Less Fats and Less Salt, among Lamb Weston / Meijer's Sustainable Development Goals

Jolanda Soons-Dings, Sustainability Program Leader at Lamb Weston / Meijer, has presented with the occasion of Europatat Congress, in Brussels, Belgium, the principles of the company included in their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

“The key themes in SDG, having the largest impact on our core business and making a difference in our total supply and value chain, are water, energy and emissions, potato & zero waste, employees, food safety & quality, and nutrition & health,” she said.

According to Soons-Dings, Lamb Weston / Meijer has goals to reduce water intensity with 50%, energy and emissions intensity – with 30%, the utilization of potato to increase with 10% and zero waste, to improve workplace safety and create a great place to work for the employees, to improve consistency and to deliver safe food, but also to improve nutritionals and offer clear nutrition information.

Regarding potato processing, Lamb Weston / Meijer says that its goals are: zero waste to landfill, meaning less than 0.5% incinerated waste; to maximize the reuse of by-products and waste streams; to stimulate conscious consumption in the total value chain; and to reduce the ecological footprint (and needed to grow raw materials).

Speaking about nutrition & health goals, Soons-Dings mentioned that Lamb Weston / Meijer improved the nutritional value by having 84% of products fried in healthy sustainable oil and reduced oil content. “Since 2012 we have removed 10 million kg of saturated fat per year, (vs 2008) from our total parfried potato products portfolio,” according to the presentation.

The company’s representative also showed a reduction of 80% trans fats in Lamb Weston / Meijer products, since 2005. The salt contents have decreased by 50% since 2007, while in premium fries (PR, Stealth) the contents are 20% lower, compared with 2009.

More than that, the saturated fats have decreased by 75% in total portfolio of the company, compared with 2012. By comparison with 2015, the percent of salt in premium fries decreased by 10%, and by 30% in potato specialties.

The goal of the company is to reduce total fat, develop non-fried 5.7% oil (average) and to increase fiber content in 2017-2020.