Reduced climate impact from chickens – from farm to fork

Climate goals throughout the value chain

In 2021, Scandi Standard became a signatory to the Science Based Targets initiative, and in 2022, science-based climate goals were developed for the entire the value chain. These were submitted to the Science Based Targets initiative and are awaiting validation. The base year for climate goals is 2021, and the target is to halve Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and to halve Scope 3 emissions during the same period. Although these are ambitious climate goals, they are necessary for achieving the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree limit.

We are working and acting to reduce our climate impact at every stage of our value chain. In terms of the entire lifecycle, the cultivation and production of feed, and feed conversion, along with the rearing of chickens account for the vast majority of our carbon footprint.

In 2021 and 2022, in addition to our work to develop climate targets, we also calculated the carbon footprint at the product level for 282 products in all of Scandi Standard’s domestic markets. These calculations were made jointly with the specialist, the Carbon Trust, which has developed a customised model for Scandi Standard’s value chain. The calculations have also been certified by a third party and will be used for the climate labelling of products in stores in 2023. The aim and focus of this intensive and time-consuming work has been to increase transparency for customers and consumers regarding our climate impact, to better respond to increasing requests from customers, and to ensure that our initiatives to improve are focused where they can do the most good.

Biodiversity

To be able to continue producing chicken sustainably, Scandi Standard is completely dependent on the planet’s ecosystem. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to ensure the protection of biodiversity and to minimise our impact on biodiversity.

Initial analyses of Scandi Standard’s impact on biodiversity have identified feed production – primarily soy production – as the area of greatest impact. In addition, Scandi Standard has an impact on biodiversity elsewhere in the value chain, such as with chicken rearing and around our production sites.

At the moment, soy use is systematically monitored at a Group level, but work has been initiated to develop a biodiversity policy with concrete metrics, which is expected to be completed in 2023.

Climate calculations

Extensive work was conducted in 2022 to map and calculate Scandi Standard’s climate impact throughout the value chain – both at Group and product level. The table below shows the carbon-dioxide emissions per scope according to the GHG protocol, as well as energy usage. 2021 is reported as baseline year, and is also the baseline for Scandi Standard’s climate targets. The calculations are based on primary activity data where possible. Otherwise, secondary data, extrapolations or other available information is used. In scope 3, category 1 – purchased goods and services is, among other things, feed and rearing of the chickens included. Climate impact from the feed is calculated based on emission factors from the feed producers. In the calculation of the climate impact from feed has emissions related to land use change (LUC) been included.

Since climate calculations and specifically, calculations on climate impact linked to land usage and food production, are methods under development, Scandi Standard’s goal is to continuously increase the quality of data and improve the calculation method in collaboration and dialouge with experts and other value chain actors.

Climate-related risks

As a food producer, we depend on a well-functioning agricultural value chain, primarily for the production of feed for our chickens and chicken rearing. At the same time, we are noting changed consumer patterns, new customer requirements and increased brand-related risks linked to climate change. In 2022, work was initiated to identify, evaluate and report risks and opportunities linked to climate change, in accordance with the reporting framework, Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The table below presents the general physical and transition risks that were initially identified. TCFD-related work will continue during the year with the aim of reporting fully in accordance with the framework for 2023.