SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable acting as an expression of corporate responsibility is also becoming increasingly important at Heidemark. By sustainability, we understand the development of a future-proof turkey husbandry system that takes economic, ecological and social factors into consideration. Our actions of today are also intended to secure the needs of future generations. A self-critical view is a matter of course for us as the market leader. We wish to operate in a manner as resource-conserving as possible, cooperate with customers, suppliers and partners on a long-term basis in a spirit of trust, and offer our animals good husbandry conditions. In our actions, we are committed to the principles of the German Sustainability Code. Our corporate philosophy has firmly established these principles as part of our day-to-day business.
We wish to improve internal structures, methods and processes step by step through systematic and shared sustainability planning. This helps us assume long-term responsibility in the areas of animal welfare, environment & resources and team & society, and to put sustainability management into active practice.
ANIMAL WELFARE
Our entrepreneurial diligence and our responsible way of acting serve the welfare of the animals. This is why we launched the Heidemark initiative “Animal Welfare Tested” with research and agricultural experts in 2010 and thus made animal welfare verifiable through key indicators. On this basis, a bonus system has been put in operation. Measurable animal welfare indicators, such as the condition of the turkey footpads, form the basis of our own bonus system. The better the animal welfare indicators turn out to be, the higher the bonus payment for the respective turkey farmer. The turkey farmers receive this bonus payment in addition to the usual animal welfare programs.
For the sake of animal welfare, we continue to make steady progress and work constructively with important animal welfare associations and NGOs. Together we are looking for ways to further enhance the relationship between maximum animal welfare and economic sustainability. To improve animal welfare, we are working intensively on the following topics:
Animal health – immunoprophylaxis instead of medication
Husbandry conditions – Extension of the Animal Welfare Farms Initiative
Installation of spray cooling systems to optimise the stable climate in the summer
Final transportation of the turkeys from the farm by means of an animal-friendly loading conveyor
Research projects for the abandonment of beak trimming
Animal transport is only carried out by competent and trained drivers
Animal-friendly CO2 anesthetization
Improvement of our camera-based recording of animal welfare indicators for each and every animal
ENVIROMENT & RESOURCES
Consistent waste avoidance, a conscious use of drinking water and energy-saving measures do not only protect the enviroment, but also improve our economic performance. Taking this into consideration, sustainability is a question of corporate responsibility, and compliance with the enviromental regulations becomes a matter of course. Here are some of the additional measures we are taking for the sake of our resource-preserving business activities:
Economical use of drinking water, and water treatment in our own wastewater treatment plant (Objective 6 of the SDGs)
Targeted animal nutrition in order to improve digestive processing
VLOG certification along the value creation chain
Complete abstention from the use of palm fat and palm oil in our products
Full utilisation of raw materials (Objective 12 of the SDGs)
Environmentally friendly use of packaging
Energy management system ISO 50001 since 2012 (Objective 7 of the SDGs)
Photovoltaic systems on the house roofs
Digitization along the production processes
Conversion of our logistic vehicle fleet to the EURO 6 pollutant emission class
TEAM & SOCIETY
Rooted in the region - internationally successful: This is Heidemark. We also like to share our success and set an example as a leading company in the poultry sector. That is why we are firmly committed to the best interests of our employees, the regional enviroment of our locations and society as a whole. This active practiee of responsibility governs the actions of our employees, who interact independently, sincerely and respectfully with customers, consumers, suppliers and colleagues.
We are therefore intensely involved in various committees, associations, working groups and research projects in order to work on our sustainability goals in a cooperative and interdisciplinary context. It is important for us to have an open culture of dialogue with our stakeholders. We therefore wish to offer all interested parties the opportunity to take a bird’s eye view of our transparent production process by participating in our visitors' tour at the site in Ahlhorn. We also wish to emphasize the importance of our sustainability measures in terms of social welfare:
Honesty, respect and a sense of responsibility as guiding values
Strengthening each individual employee as part of the team
Sedex certification for ethical and social sustainability since 2018
Halal certification
Practised transparency and open communication
Weekly donation to the regional food banks