Foreword

How Ardo feeds the future through a sustainable approach

In the 1960s, two West Flemish brothers from the small Belgian town of

Ardooie, planted the seeds for the business, now known as Ardo .

From a small-scale family farm, our company has grown into a world leader in the production and sales of fresh-frozen vegetables, fruit and herbs . And while our structure has changed significantly, our values have remained the same .

These values have steered our focus toward sustainability, a topic high on the public agenda as climate change intensifies and our environment suffers . As the frontrunner in our industry, driven to feed the future, we aspire to provide a sustainable pathway for others to follow . It is at the heart of our mission and vision .

How do we see sustainability?

Three decades ago, the renowned Brundtland report published the guiding principle for sustainable development . A definition that is as relevant today as it was back then and which serves as the foundation of our sustainability approach:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

We strive to create a double positive impact

Nature provides us with food, water, and materials to live a healthy life . At Ardo, every decision we make is a conscious choice to preserve those gifts . As we care for natural resources, we protect our planet and communities – including the next generations .

To leave our mark, we continue to invest heavily in a healthy plant-based offering and a minimal environmental impact .

Committed to serving healthy plant-based foods

As society’s awareness has grown about the environmental impact of our dietary choices, so have the insights about the health benefits of plant-based nutrition . These developments have accelerated the global movement towards a healthy, well-balanced plant-based diet . Our contribution to this shift is our sustainably produced plant-based offering . Grown in the open air and frozen locally right after harvest, our products retain maximum flavour and nutritional value .

Committed to minimising the environmental impact

In a world overshadowed by climate change, companies like ours are rightfully expected to take action . In recent years, we have set up multiple initiatives to reduce our ecological footprint .

One of these measures is the optimisation of our water and energy resources . ‘Circular economy’ is a key phrase in our production process: the 150,000m³ reservoir in Ardooie that stores discarded filtered process water for crop irrigation, our new BEN (almost energy neutral) headquarters, and biomethanisation installations at several of our plants are a few examples .

In addition, we have reduced packaging waste and increased biodiversity on our fields . And as part of our MIMOSA+ programme1, we use innovative farming techniques to maximise crop quality while minimising our environmental impact .

To achieve our goals, we apply what we have learned from the organic industry . As a result, the majority of our conventional crops contain no detectable residues, and our organic production has more than doubled since 2015 .

Sustainability and leadership are intertwined

Leadership is vital to achieving our sustainability objectives . It is no coincidence that our perspective on sustainability seeps into our approach to leadership . “Leadership is to serve others to achieve their meaningful goals,” says Harvard Professor Robin Ely, demonstrating that leadership is about serving others as well as future needs .

At Ardo, our team pursues a common purpose . As we leverage each other’s strengths, we firmly believe the whole is greater than the sum of its parts .

Together, we feed the future.

Gabrielle Kalkwijk, CEO at Ardo