GNT has published externally verified data showing it reduced the average carbon footprint of its plant-based EXBERRY® Coloring Foods by 19% in the first year of its sustainability plan.

The company becomes the first Coloring Foods supplier to issue a Greenhouse Gas Verification Statement as it aims to become the leader in its field on sustainability.

The statement details GNT’s carbon footprint from 2019 to 2021. The auditor SGS verified the emissions data according to the internationally recognized ISO14064 standard, which includes emissions from carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide across six different reporting categories.

As a result, the company can now provide comprehensive, benchmarked information on EXBERRY® Coloring Foods’ organizational footprint to customers.

In 2022, GNT announced that it plans to achieve a total of 17 sustainability targets over the course of the decade. These include cutting the environmental footprint for EXBERRY® product ranges by 25% between 2020 and 2030 as well as reducing its factories’ CO2-equivalent emissions by at least 50%.

The new figures show the company is making significant progress toward those aims. Production volumes saw a double-digit increase between 2020 and 2021, but GNT’s overall carbon footprint remained flat. This meant the average footprint per kilogram of EXBERRY® Coloring Foods decreased by nearly a fifth over the course of the year.

Rutger de Kort, Sustainability Manager at GNT Group, said: “We’re committed to setting new standards on sustainability and the Greenhouse Gas Verification Statement highlights the work we’ve done so far. This external verification for our emissions data enables us to build trust and communicate our efforts in a truly transparent manner.”

The Greenhouse Gas Verification Statement shows GNT’s total carbon footprint dropped by 3,427 metric tons to 38,656 between 2019 and 2021. This is largely due to the use of green electricity at its production sites, which represents an important step in its efforts to reduce CO2-equivalent emissions at its factories by 50%.

The biggest contributors to GNT’s carbon footprint are direct emissions from natural gas and indirect emissions related to the purchase of heat and steam. Emissions related to purchased goods – such as raw materials, ingredients, and packaging – and waste streams are also important factors.

The company is now using the information from the Greenhouse Gas Verification Statement to identify further possibilities to cut its carbon footprint in areas including transportation and purchased goods.

Rutger de Kort added: “The move to green electricity has delivered major improvements, but we need to go further to achieve our goals. Our main focus now is trying to end our reliance on gas to generate heat and steam. We’re already working on ways to electrify the process, including the use of industrial heat pumps and other new technologies, such as filtration.”

Suitable for almost any food and drink application, EXBERRY® Coloring Foods are made from non-GMO fruits, vegetables, and plants using physical processing methods. The crops are grown by farmers working as part of GNT’s vertical supply chain using sustainable methods.

For more information on GNT’s sustainability plans, visit: Sustainability Report 2021