Germany
January 30, 2023
- Extensive investments in operational infrastructure.
- Sustainable further development through climate protection and resilient varieties.
- Joint presentation of all subsidiaries at Fruit Logistica in Berlin.
BayWa Global Produce, the sector-specific portfolio manager, is increasing its own resilience and performance through a clearly defined corporate strategy and future-oriented positioning of its own infrastructure. “With a high double-digit million euro amount we have modernised and further expanded the operational infrastructure of our subsidiaries BayWa Obst, T&G Global and TFC Holland over the past two years,” says Benedikt Mangold, CEO at BayWa Global Produce. “By increasing our sorting, packing, storage and ripening capacities and making our processes even more efficient through the use of state-of-the-art technologies, we are well prepared for the future.”
Increasing efficiency and performance
In December, the modernisation and expansion of the organic pack-house at BayWa’s German fruit business in Ravensburg was completed, where a new sorting system and three additional packing lines, including a pear grading and packing machine, went into operation. “This underlines our high-quality standards for an efficient and forward-looking marketing of organic fruit,” confirms Mangold. “We have doubled both the sorting and packing capacity for plastic-free packaging and are thus able to offer our customers completely plastic free packaging solutions.”
Just now at the beginning of the new year, the entirely new, around 26,000 m² production site of the exotics specialist TFC Holland in the Netherlands was ready to move in. “With this investment, we are not only significantly expanding our capacities, but at the same time are investing in the highest quality standards, efficiency and sustainability,” says TFC Holland’s CEO Falk Schlusnus. Through the expansion of capacities and the level of automation in packaging as well as the extension of AI-supported ripening facilities for mangos and avocados, TFC is achieving a significant increase in its performance in supplying customers with exotic fruits and vegetables.
In Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, the subsidiary T&G Global is investing in a new state-of-the-art pack-house for apples. The first section of this newly built facility will go into operation in March. “This NZD100 million dollar investment clearly underlines our commitment to meeting global consumer demand for our premium apple brands, especially EnvyTM, and building future-fit, highly productive facilities which create value for our people, growers, consumers and shareholders,” says Gareth Edgecombe, CEO of T&G Global. As one of the largest production facilities in the Southern Hemisphere, the pack-house is equipped with world-leading automation technology, with the capacity to pack more than 125 million kilograms of apples per season. The extensive investment project is scheduled for final completion in 2024.
Focus on sustainability and climate protection
As an industry-specific portfolio manager with global activities ranging from plant genetics to high-quality fruits and vegetables, BayWa Global Produce has placed topics such as food security, climate protection and limited available resources at the heart of its strategy. The implementation and further development of the overarching sustainability strategy “People. Produce. Planet” plays a central role. An important element is the Climate Action Initiative.
Climate change-related weather phenomena such as heat waves, heavy rainfall and droughts significantly impact the business activities of BayWa Global Produce, its partners and growers across the sector. As a result, the demand for climate-tolerant fruit varieties is growing. The cross-sector Hot Climate Programme, of which T&G’s VentureFruitTM business is the exclusive global commercialisation partner, addresses the increasing challenges of growing high-quality fruit by breeding heat-tolerant apple and pear varieties. The first commercial variety to emerge from this is HOT84A1, which has been trialled with testing partners across Europe for over five years and undergone extensive consumer and grower evaluation. “We look forward to announcing a significant milestone relating to HOT84A1 at this year’s Fruit Logistica in Berlin,” says Gareth Edgecombe.
BayWa Global Produce has had a climate strategy in place since 2018, with the significant milestone of reaching climate neutrality by 2030. To take the next step, the company has committed to updating its greenhouse gas reduction targets in line with the latest scientific findings as part of the Science Based Targets Initiative. In this context, the internal CO2 price introduced throughout BayWa, providing the business segments with an earmarked budget for the implementation of concrete greenhouse gas reduction measures, supports the acceleration of decarbonisation where it achieves the greatest added value for the climate.
Joint stand in Hall 27
Under the umbrella brand of BayWa Global Produce, BayWa Obst, TFC Holland, T&G Global, Enzafruit Continent, Worldwide Fruit and VentureFruitTM are presenting an attractive portfolio of products and brands at their joint stand C-13 in Hall 27. BayWa r.e. with its innovative agri-photovoltaic technology is also part of the presentation. As in previous years, BayWa Global Produce is also expressing its responsibility for climate protection in a special way at this year’s presentation in Berlin: all CO2 emissions resulting from the trade fair presence will be offset by financial support of high-quality and certified climate protection projects. Among other things, this takes logistics, stand construction, energy requirements, catering and staff travel into account.
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