Setting the organic standard

The Organic Basics

It all starts with meeting every legislative requirement. Organic foods are produced in a way that preserves the environment and maintains biodiversity. Organic farmers rear their cows exclusively on 100% organic feed – this keeps them healthy by nurturing their natural immunological defences while preserving the rich biodiversity of their land.

Moving Beyond Legislation: The FrieslandCampina Organic Standard 

Here at FrieslandCampina, our organic farming standards go beyond the legislative basics. They not only meet all regulatory criteria but also go even further, offering our partners and customers extra reassurance and credibility. Our internal FoQus Planet program has been designed to raise the bar – for example, by monitoring the carbon footprint of every single one of our member farms.

FoQus Planeti policies include measures on sustainability that are followed by all FrieslandCampina member farmers, including organic farmers. It focuses on three key pillars: 

Biodiversity and the environment  

We take a unique approach to measuring the biodiversity impact of individual farms. Our advanced sustainability tool is tailor-made for dairy farmers. It eliminates guesswork by allowing them to check their scores on a number of biodiversity criteria, such as nitrogen soil surplus and share of permanent grasslands, and to gain insights on how to improve. The system was specially developed in cooperation with our partners, WWF and Rabobank – and is increasingly upheld as a gold standard tool. 

Climate and energy  

We are the only dairy cooperative that provides complete and credible greenhouse gas emissions data. We can monitor and report the carbon footprint of every single farm. All the electricity used at dairy farm level is green and many of our farmers are also producers of green electricity from solar panels on their buildings or windmills on their land.

Animal health and welfare  

We currently monitor over 100 aspects of each cow’s health and wellbeing. We also hold annual risk assessments of 40 critical control points, giving insights into potential health risks. Here too, we go further. It’s not just about basic health and welfare, we want our cows to be happy and comfortable – right down to the beds they sleep on at night. 

The Dutch approach to organic  

In the Netherlands, we take more care over our organic farming than most other countries. According to De Natuurweideii standards, Dutch organic cows spend 8 hours in the pasture per day on average, with a maximum of 6.5 cows grazing per hectare. A minimum of 5% of farmland is kept in its natural state to protect biodiversity. 

Organic for parents  

At FrieslandCampina Ingredients, we know that organic is increasingly appealing to today’s parents, and that sustainability is just as important. That’s why we focus on establishing high organic quality standards across our supply chain, from the farms right through to our organic production process.   

Want to know more about our organic standards and ingredients? Get in touch today.

References

1.  https://www.frieslandcampina.com/our-farmers/foqus-planet/  
2. http://ikbenbio.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Themas-en-maatregelen-Aanvullende-Normen-1-januari-2020-def.pdf