As always, our Mid-Year report provides a great roadmap of the road we've travelled in the first half of 2023. We've selected 8 nice to know facts, as we're proud of the progress we've made, only made possible thanks to the hard work and efforts of our associates.
>> Discover our Mid-year report 2023.
1️⃣ The vandemoortele Group revenues increased from € 791 to € 943 million, for the first half of 2023
The Vandemoortele Group has a significant year-on-year improvement in its financial performance during the first half of the year.
2️⃣ Bakery Products had an increased revenue, from € 455 to € 564 million
3️⃣ Plant-Based Food Solutions' revenue increased from € 327 to € 386 million
The key drivers for our profitability are better product and channel mixes in both business lines, our continued strong cost control, our operational excellence and the necessary price rises we implemented to absorb our huge cost increase.
A number of large investments have also been finalised and will contribute significantly to our short-term and long-term growth.
4️⃣ The nutrition profiles of our bakery and plant-based products are further improving
We continued to reduce our average salt and sugar levels, as many projects are ongoing and there remains work to be done. Seeing as the taste of our products is essential, we want to take time to find the best solution for each product.
Generally speaking, we are on track with the number of products that are 'high in unsaturated fatty acids' and can have an additional health claim for most of our margarines. This applies both to our spreading margarines and to our products for cooking.
When it comes to achieving better Nutri-Scores, we are already far above our 2023 target. By decreasing the salt (sodium) levels in our products for spreading and cooking, we improved the scores of several recipes. The number of bread products with health or nutrition claims decreased. We will need to step up our efforts in order to meet our end-of-year target of an 6% increase.
5️⃣ Thanks to the good results in emission reduction of the Bakery plants, our energy intensity has been lowered by 6.9%
This means we have already reached our 2023 ambition for the Group, as our target is -6.0%.
How? In light of our ambition to reduce emissions, we commissioned our solar panel systems in Eeklo and Santa Perpetua and started work on new systems in Worchester, Brunssum and Izegem in the first six months of the year.
6️⃣ Various projects on circular packaging has led to good results for Plant-Based Food Solutions
Our redesigned 450 ml vinaigrette bottle now includes 30% r-PET. The launch of our 3-liter sauce jar with 30% r-PET was delayed after a warehouse fire, but we are back on track and will be launching this product asap. We are also discussing the launch of a 500 ml margarine bottle with 30% r-PET with several customers.
In addition, we joined a project by UGent en Borealis to set up a new recycling stream for industrial and food service polypropylene.
7️⃣ Introducing our Sustainable Value Creation Charter
Over the last months, the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors have further clarified and amplified our Environmental, Social and Governance commitments. This has resulted in the elaboration and publication of Vandemoortele’s ‘Sustainable Value Creation Charter’, which forms the basis for our internal policies and procedures.
It also states our commitments towards our internal and external stakeholders. The charter will be continuously reviewed and further improved when needed.
8️⃣ Our safety performances keep improving
As safety is our first priority, we are happy to share that we keep improving. Regarding lost workday cases, we have already reached our 2023 targets in terms of Frequency (17.9 vs. target 18) and Severity (0.57 vs. target 0.60).
