Sustainability report

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Where we want to go

We are not just a company, but an entire supply chain. Every link in this chain, from research to feed production, meat processing, and logistics, requires us constantly to innovate and acquire new skills if we are to put the best possible products on consumers’ tables.

We have always invested significantly in innovation in every part of our business, taking a long-term view and making continuous improvements.

We believe that maintaining total quality at every stage of the process allows us to confront the challenges of the future, and to achieve consistent financial, environmental and social growth while remaining true to our values and identity.

But we’re not just a faceless production line. Our many employees, suppliers, and farmers work together in pursuit of common principles, which have remained unchanged since the company was founded.

This sustainability report details the results we achieved in 2018 through our commitment to shared objectives.

Key numbers

  • ≈30000

    Approximate number of “white” energy certificates obtained to date

  • -27000

    Tonnes of CO2 emissions saved as a result of energy-saving measures over the years

  • <360000

    Analytical tests carried out

  • 2

    Specialist laboratories

  • ≈120

    Quality specialists

  • ≈70

    Sensory testers

  • 35

    Sensory tests

  • 80

    Veterinary technicians

  • 60000

    Hours of training in 2018

Coltivazioni e rispetto dei coltivatori, della filiera e della natura
01

Integrated quality chain

We have a presence at every stage of the supply chain, ensuring that our products are safe, healthy, and of high quality.

Quality management

We seek to achieve excellence throughout the chain, working with top-quality partners who share our passion.

We use integrated supply-chain management, which involves carrying out strict controls during each production process.

Consumers are at the heart of this chain, and our primary aim is to anticipate and meet their needs.

Acquisto di cereali attentamente selezionati
01.1

Cereals purchasing

We started out as a feed manufacturer, and we know that careful selection of cereals on the domestic and international markets is fundamental to animals’ healthy, balanced growth.

01.1 CEREALS PURCHASING

Constant checks

Before we add cereals to our feeds, our inhouse laboratories test them to ensure that they comply with contractual parameters and group standards. Only if the results are wholly satisfactory do they get sent to our production facilities.

We also carry out further laboratory and production-line checks while the products are being manufactured.

  • Analysis
  • Parameters
  • People
  • Daily inspections

    These are carried out on raw materials, finished products, and production processes. As well as our central laboratories, individual sites have their own inhouse labs in which specialist staff carry out daily checks.

  • Standards verification

    We carry out sophisticated testing on cereals to ensure they comply with contractual and group quality standards.

  • Training for quality

    Our team of highly trained quality specialists ensures that all the feeds we make conform to the same high standards.

Mangimi e corretto apporto nutrizionale
01.2

Feeds

Once they’ve passed our quality checks, the grains are transported to our feed production sites. The formulations are specially created by our research and development department to provide the right nutritional content for each species and age of animal. All feeds undergo ISO 9001-certified quality management.

Key numbers

  • 1°

    Italy’s largest feed manufacturer

  • 8°

    European ranking

  • 36°

    World ranking

  • 23

    Countries we export to

  • 800

    Feed formulations

  • ≈2000

    Products for different species and ages

Allevamenti e rispetto degli allevatori e degli animali
01.3

Farms

Respect for farmers and their animals is one of our key priorities. Each day, we work with thousands of farm operators to achieve the highest standards of animal welfare.

Our success is their success, and they have always been extremely loyal to us. We believe training is particularly important, because skills must be constantly updated to achieve excellence in today’s animal husbandry sector. We see these skills being handed down through the generations, each contributing its own innovations and making the farming business ever more sophisticated.

01.3 FARMS

Our commitment to animal welfare

We’ve set up a team to monitor animals’ welfare at every stage of their lives, working on a daily basis with over eighty veterinary technicians specialising in different species. The technicians also work closely with farmers to achieve continued improvements in biosafety, sustainability, and human and animal wellbeing.

Poultry

Our chickens have lived on the ground, and had freedom of movement, for over fifty years. They are allowed to grow naturally as part of an integrated food chain, from feed to finished product.

We work closely with all the links in the chain, and have carried out a number of projects to improve farm animals’ wellbeing. Many of our products, such as the AIA Oro Natura and AIA Bio ranges, far exceed minimum legal standards, and many of our farms participate in the Tierwohl project operated by Certificazione QS and German retailers.

Pigs

All of our pigs are Global GAP (Good Agricultural Practice) certified. We have carried out a number of projects to maximise their quality of life, and have obtained two important CSQA voluntary certifications:

  • Italian farmed pig welfare and responsible drug use
  • Pigs raised without antibiotics in the last 120 days
Responsible use of drugs in animal welfare

Another fundamental priority is to protect our animals’ health. Our farmers do not use growth promotants for any type of animal, and use drugs responsibly, employing antibiotics only for targeted therapy and on veterinary prescription.

Trasformazione e lavorazione delle carni
01.4

Meat processing

Our highly skilled employees exploit the potential of new technology to maintain the highest standards of processing quality.

  • Analytical testing
  • Parameters
  • People
  • Inspections throughout the supply chain

    In 2018, we carried out 120,000 microbiology and 11,000 chemical tests covering all stages of the production process.

  • Annual evaluations

    We evaluated 340,000 production chain parameters in 2018.

  • Quality technicians

    We have a 65-strong team of highly trained quality control specialists.

01.4 MEAT PROCESSING

Sensory testing

Tester che svolgono un test sensoriale per garantire la migliore qualità dei prodotti

Our inhouse panel of highly experienced sensory testers has undergone specific training from leading experts using latest-generation methods and technology. It carries out continuous testing to monitor the quality of our products. The panel room, forming part of our technical department, is one of the organisation’s nerve centres, and is also available to customers and outside quality control bodies.

Distribuzione e rispetto della sostenibilità
01.5

Distribution

Getting goods from A to B quickly is essential if all the links in the supply chain are to work together effectively. It ensures that our feeds reach farms on time, and our food products are fresh when they arrive on the tables of consumers in Italy and around the world.

  • Food
  • Feeds
  • Locations
  • Fresh logistics

    Ensuring the product is in perfect condition when it reaches the consumer.

  • Farm logistics

    We transport over 10,000 tonnes of feed each day.

  • Comprehensive coverage

    Our vehicles travel a total of some 230,000 kilometres a day in Italy and abroad.

01. Integrated Quality Chain

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Dipendenti del team di Gruppo Veronesi
02

Social sustainability

People are our most important asset. Their skills, passion, and dedication enable us to continue growing and confronting new challenges each day.

04 SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

People

Developing new and different skills is essential if we are to maintain our market leadership, so we continue to recruit and train new employees. As well as onboarding, we placed a particular focus on good poultry production practice in 2018, encouraging individuals to become even more aware of their important part in maintaining high standards of product quality.

  • Employees
  • Cultural diversity
  • Training
  • Collective agreements

    As at 31 December 2018, all 8,145 employees were covered by collective agreements.

  • Building on skills

    We believe that our workers’ range of career and cultural backgrounds is a unique asset that can help our business to grow.

  • Continuous updates

    To increase employees’ awareness of their shared responsibility for product quality.

02. Social Sustainability

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Sostenibilità ambientale e rispetto del territorio
03

Environmental sustainability

We respect the environment, and use natural resources responsibly. We believe that growth should combine increased productivity with reduced environmental impact.

  • CO2 emissions
  • Power generation
  • Biogas
  • Reduced emissions

    Thanks to energy efficiency measures, we have cut our CO2 emissions by 27,000 tons.

  • Our plants

    Our biogas cogeneration and photovoltaic plants generate enough electricity to supply 7,500 households.

  • Anaerobic biodigestion

    Four plants recovering energy from processing waste

Filiera di AIA, Agricola Italiana Alimentare
03.1

Energy

We take care to use energy responsibly. We are carrying out a number of important projects to reduce our consumption, and thus our environmental impact, by introducing new technology and operating methods.

03.1 ENERGY

Key projects

We have four anaerobic digestion plants producing biogas from production waste, which is then used to generate electricity at our production sites. The San Martino Buon Albergo and Nogarole Rocca factories have one generator each, covering 10 and 14 percent of their respective needs. There are two at Villaganzerla di Castagnero, meeting around 50 percent of the site’s energy requirement.

Utilizzo consapevole e sostenibile delle risorse idriche
03.2

Water

We place particular emphasis on water usage, and are constantly looking for new ways of reducing our consumption during the production and distribution processes.

03.2 WATER

Water sources

In 2018, we used 1.243 trillion litres of water, mostly from groundwater and mains supplies. This was a 26.5 percent decrease on 2017.

Filiera di AIA, Agricola Italiana Alimentare
03.3

Waste

We manage and dispose of our waste in accordance with the law, and with ISO 14001:2015.

03.3 WASTE

Waste recycling

Over 90 percent of our waste is recycled or composted, with the remainder being sent to landfill.

03. Environmental Sustainability

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Sostenibilità sociale e valore fondamentale delle persone
04

Financial sustainability

We add value by generating wealth and distributing it to stakeholders. We seek to maintain sustainable growth while maintaining a constructive dialogue with them.

2.0 FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Value added and distributed

We are strongly committed to creating value and sharing it with stakeholders.

 

2.0 FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Investing in productivity

Investimenti e costruzioni produttive e sostenibili

Each year, we invest around €100 million in achieving excellence, making continued improvements in product quality and productivity, remaining competitive, and using resources efficiently. We have always spent heavily on new technology for our production departments, which are the core of our business.

04. Financial Sustainability

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