August 4, 2024
Dummen Orange reveals ambitious sustainability goals
With the publication Growing Together 2024, Dümmen Orange underlines the company's continuous sustainability efforts. Using a number of concrete examples, the magazine shows how and where Dümmen Orange is working to achieve the ambitious sustainability goals that the company has set for itself.
Dümmen Orange's sustainability strategy revolves around three key areas: Environment, with an emphasis on minimizing ecological impact; Social, with an emphasis on the wellbeing of employees and the communities in which the company operates; and Technology Development, which focuses on investments in research and technology that drive sustainable progress across the value chain.
As an innovative breeder, the company's focus is on the development and commercialization of stronger, disease-resistant flower and plant varieties. This is done under the Intrinsa label. Intrinsa — developed at Dümmen Orange's Breeding Technology Center in the Netherlands — uses natural genetics for traits such as disease resistance, better plant performance and improved plant resilience to develop crops for a more sustainable future.
“We are strongly committed to encouraging sustainability and promoting responsible business practices throughout the value chain. We don't just do this with Intrinsa. We also pay attention to the sustainability of our own business processes,” said Ellen Mackenbach-Lakeman, CHRO and responsible for sustainability at Dümmen Orange. “This involves, for example, reducing CO2 emissions, maintaining healthy and safe working conditions at our propagation locations in Africa and Central America, and properly organizing and controlling processes and working methods. A good example of the latter is Integrated Pest Management, the integration of environmental, biological and safe chemical practices to control insects.”
In recent years, Dümmen Orange has provided extensive insight into its sustainability ambitions, activities and results through annual reports. Mackenbach- Lakeman adds, “As a result of the upcoming European guidelines, this annual reporting now becomes part of our financial annual report. We just don't want to stop there and are committed to show current developments to a broader group of interested parties — not just to readers of financial annual reports. That is why we developed this magazine.”
Growing Together 2024 can be found on the Dümmen Orange website.