Drohnenaufnahme von Photovoltaik-Anlage auf Dach

Climate protection at Seeberger: Responsibility for nature and the future

Our sustainable climate strategy

Record temperatures, drought, flooding – the impact of climate change is clearer than ever all over the world. And not just in remote producing countries. Whether hazelnuts from Italy or walnuts from Chile: our Seeberger natural products are grown in many countries severely affected by climate change. The changing climate has an impact on the cultivation and harvesting of our products worldwide. Growth cycles are shifting, and harvests may be smaller or non-existent. Our obligation? To integrate climate protection firmly into our daily processes and strategic decisions. That’s the only way to ensure our products maintain that proven Seeberger quality and are safeguarded for future generations.

We’ve been working on implementing our climate protection strategy since 2013. We’re saving energy wherever possible. We’ve been using 100 % green energy since 2014 and are increasingly turning to e-mobility. We’re producing energy ourselves using modern photovoltaic systems – and much more. We have been recording our emissions since 2013. Every two years, we review the current situation in the form of a climate footprint for CO2 emissions at our site and in production (scope 1 and 2). Our vision is a climate-neutral supply chain. To achieve this, we’re currently preparing an illustrative product climate footprint for our product categories fruits, nuts and coffee, which we will use to plan specific measures and set reduction targets. On this basis, we can plan specific measures and set ourselves reduction targets.

Seeberger climate footprint

Effective climate protection follows three steps: measure, avoid and reduce emissions, and offset the remaining emissions by investing in climate protection projects. That’s also how we work at Seeberger: we’ve been creating our climate footprint for our site since 2013. Every two years since then, we’ve been measuring where CO2 emissions occur at our site and in production and in what amount. The Seeberger climate footprint is the starting point for our climate protection strategy and helps us to determine the effectiveness of our measures. We use it to plan further measures to save emissions and to decide on the ambitious targets for our climate protection strategy..

Measure emissions

Every two years we prepare a company climate footprint (scope 1 and 2), which we use to measure progress and set new targets. To go beyond this and understand where and how emissions are produced along our supply chain (scope 3), we’re currently preparing selected product climate footprints for fruits, nuts and coffee.

Reduce emissions

From 2013 to 2018, we reduced our CO2 emissions by 21 % thanks to energy saving measures, switching to green energy and producing our own energy with photovoltaics. Our goal: to reduce CO2 emissions by a further 10 % by 2025 (base year 2019).

Offset emissions

We also believe it’s important to invest in climate protection projects. Since 2022, we’ve been offsetting the emissions from our site in Ulm (scope 1 and 2). The partnership enables us to protect the environment and support endangered species.

Overview of our infrastructure measures

We’ve consistently been using 100 % green energy since 2014.
Our photovoltaic systems also supply us with green energy and are a cornerstone of our sustainable energy supply.
Use of energy-efficient systems and the latest building technology
Conversion to LED lighting at our facilities
Installation of motion sensors for efficient lighting use
Renovation of the building envelope for improved energy efficiency

Mobility in focus

We’ve developed climate-friendly mobility concepts for our employees:

Free annual travel cards for public transport
The option of a “JobBike” for an eco-friendly commute
Use of the “Twogo” app to build travel communities with neighbouring companies

Efficiency in transport logistics

93 % of our raw materials are transported by ship. We don’t move anything by air. Our containers are loaded as fully as possible. To minimise weight, we dry all fruits in the source country. And last but not least, we use climate-friendly shipping to send our parcels to customers thanks to GoGreen.

From 2024, we’ll be creating product climate footprints for each of our main product categories fruits, nuts and coffee. We’re using this data to take the next step in reducing emissions along our entire supply chain.

Our climate protection goals by 2025

Create an annual climate footprint for the company and create representative product climate footprints to measure emissions

Reduce CO2 emissions by another 10 % compared to the base year 2019

Offset unavoidable emissions

Supply chain milestones –

achievements so far

2013

We’ve been creating a climate footprint every two years since 2013. Since 2022, an annual corporate climate assessment.

2014/16

In 2014, we switched to 100 % green energy; in 2016, we installed the first photovoltaic systems on the roof of our administrative building.

2018

By 2018, we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 21 % compared to the base year of 2013.

2020

Since 2020, we’ve been generating some of our power requirement at the Ulm location ourselves by installing photovoltaic systems. Following the most recent expansion in 2023, we're now at 13 % self-sufficiency. We’re expanding further in 2024, which will allow us to cover 25 % of our total power requirement.

Drohnenaufnahme mit Blick auf weitläufige, waldige Landschaft

The Rimba Raya climate protection project

We’re committed to acting sustainably in every area! In terms of climate protection, this means continually reducing our emissions. We offset the remaining emissions by investing in carefully selected climate protection projects.

The Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve is in southern Borneo in Indonesia. It covers some 65,000 hectares of tropical peat swamp forest. As one of the most important carbon reservoirs on Earth, forests play a role in climate protection, shelter a huge variety of species and are crucial for the conservation of our environment and human livelihood. CO2 is stored by avoiding deforestation and restoring forests, while at the same time preserving and creating important habitats.

The reserve shelters over 300 bird species, 122 mammal species and 180 tree and plant species. It is home to some of the last orangutans in danger of extinction. However, the reserve also provides an ideal habitat for other animals like proboscis monkeys and sun bears.

Forest areas have been heavily depleted worldwide over the last few decades. Forest protection projects are preserving the forests long term. Alongside the local population, project participants are working to protect the reserve. Forest protection projects can create alternative sources of income and education opportunities in this regard.

Reducing emissions: an estimated 3,496,208 tonnes of CO2 are reduced by the project every year.

Verification using SD VISta Standard: the project was verified as contributing to all 17 of the United Nations SDGs and is intended to restore forests, increase carbon stock and create additional habitats for wildlife.

Certifications: Rimba Raya is certified in accordance with the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS).

More information on Rimba Raya