October 18, 2021

Way that meat is consumed will change in coming years, says Danish Crown Group CEO

The chief executive officer of Danish Crown Group, Jais Valeur, recently shared with a Danish daily about his views on the development of food trends in Denmark and Europe in the coming years.

According to Valeur, the way meat is consumed "is going to change noticeably in the coming years."

"Climate becomes a "license to produce" in Denmark," he added.

Danish Crown is already well on its way to reach its goal of reducing the climate impact of pork production, the company said. However, concerning beef, the challenge is more difficult. Valeur expects a red steak of veal or beef to be a luxury item like champagne.

"Beef is not going to be very climate friendly. It will be a bit like champagne, namely a luxury product. We will still have a production, but there will be production of beef and veal that comes from dairy cattle, calves and beef cattle that graze in the meadow and create biodiversity. The beef cattle will be a luxury product that we eat on special occasions," Valeur  said.

It is Danish Crowns ambition to become the world's most sustainable and successful meat producer by 2030.

By that year, the company would have reduced the climate impact of its meat production by 50%, and in 2050, Danish Crown would become climate neutral.

Danish Crown have recently signed a commitment letter to the Science-Based Targets Initiative (Scope 1-3). This will help ensure that all sustainability initiatives are driven by knowledge and data. One specific near-term initiative is for three of Danish Crown's largest production facilities to become climate-neutral in May 2022.

"We will announce in detail how we intend to achieve the goals, and we will publish data on how things are going. We will strive to become the most transparent meat producer in the world," said Valeur.

- Danish Crown