14.5.2021 Press release
Gold&Green Food’s factory in Järvenpää, Finland achieved the CarbonNeutral® building certification. Paulig aims to make all of its ten production sites carbon neutral by 2023. As part of Paulig, Gold&Green Foods is proud to be committed to the Paulig’s sustainability approach and long-term ambitions, including the science-based climate targets. Paulig’s ambition is to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations by 80% by 2030 from a 2018 baseline. With this milestone, the work continues towards the common goal of becoming sustainability frontrunners in the food industry.


 

“Climate actions are urgently needed and food industry is an important player to drive carbon emission reductions in food value chain and by making first it's own operations carbon neutral it can drive this change proactively”, says Lea Rankinen, Paulig’s Sustainability and Public Affairs director. 

Paulig and Gold&Green Foods have taken a step forward in their sustainability journey by achieving CarbonNeutral® building certification for the Gold&Green Foods factory in Järvenpää, Finland. The factory has been certified as CarbonNeutral® building by Natural Capital Partners in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol – the leading global framework for carbon neutrality. 

In 2020, the Järvenpää factory switched to sourcing renewable wind electricity, which reduced the greenhouse gas emissions from production by 96 %. The remaining emissions from steam production, refrigerant leaks and generated waste have been offset by funding third party verified forest conservation and reforestation projects in Columbia, Indonesia and East Africa. 

Gold&Green Foods aims to be frontrunners in climate action and the company is always looking for ways to do even better when it comes to saving the planet for future generations. In addition to the certification, Gold&Green Foods continues to work towards improved energy efficiency of their operations, increasing the recycling rate at the factory, as well as continuously reducing food loss. They are also looking for ways to reduce the climate impact in the first parts of the value chain together with partners and suppliers.  

“Gold&Green was founded in 2015 with the vision of making a healthier tomorrow for the people and the planet. For us, sustainability isn’t just something we have to do because everyone else is – it’s been our reason for being right from the start. The need for dietary change has become obvious as people have understood the massive impact that food has on people and the planet. Our product portfolio is 100 % plant-based, and we’ll continue to develop and create new innovations that are even better for both people and the planet”, says Maija Itkonen, the founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Gold&Green Foods.  

 

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Ambitious sustainability goals for Paulig Group 

In April 2020, Paulig announced an ambitious approach towards 2030 which is based on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The company has chosen three focus areas with the following goals:   

1. Products and services that enable the health and well-being of people and the planet: By 2030, 70% of the company’s net sales will come from products and services that enable the health and well-being of people and the planet.    

2. Climate action and circularity: By 2030, the company will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations by 80%, and from our value chain by 50% from the 2018 baseline. Paulig’s science-based targets are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative and the targets are consistent with reductions required to keep warming to well-below 1.5 C. Paulig has also started to use carbon-neutral pallets. Paulig has set a target to use recyclable and renewable or recycled materials in its packages by 2030.    

3. Fair and inclusive way of working: The company’s aim is to be a fair and inclusive partner and employer throughout its value chain. All of Paulig’s coffee is already 100% from verified sustainable sources and the company aims to extend this work to also cover other raw materials. The goal is for 100% of the raw materials from high-risk areas to come from sustainable sources verified by external parties by 2030.   

 
 
For further information, please contact:  

 

Laura Toppinen  

Communications Manager, Gold&Green Foods  
+358 406207183  
laura.toppinen@goldandgreenfoods.com

 

Lea Rankinen  

Director, Sustainability and Public Affairs, Paulig Group  
Tel. +358 41 539 4609  
lea.rankinen@paulig.com