1 Ratio of net debt to total equity.
2 Average number of full-time equivalents in the reporting period.
At the Annual General Meeting on 7 July 2023, the cornerstones of the AGRANA growth strategy were presented. Against the backdrop of climate change and sweeping transformations in the entire value chain of food production – from agriculture to the end customer – we have the following priorities for the coming years: 1) Strengthen the core business through a greater focus on innovation, comprehensive customer orientation and new sales channels; 2) Develop new growth markets and product applications based on natural, renewable raw materials; 3) Advance the organisation; and 4) Achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3) by 2050 at the latest.
In the coming months we will continue to work intensively on defining the specifics of the company's strategic and organisational direction.
Over decades, the people at our company have earned a strong reputation as bridge builders between agriculture and the industries that we supply. This is a valuable asset especially in these volatile times, and will become even more important in the future: Thanks to supplier and customer relationships built on trust, and with excellent access to raw materials, with new models of collaboration and our strong innovative power, we are the natural choice as solution developers for our partners.
With the future in mind, our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility remains one of our guiding principles. In this context, we are pleased that in autumn 2023 the Science Based Targets initiative – SBTi, the globally recognised non-governmental organisation – completed its review of the AGRANA Group’s ambitious climate targets and officially confirmed that they are in line with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris climate agreement. At the beginning of September 2023 this made us the first food company in Austria with validated emission reduction targets. By 2030|31, under these targets, AGRANA plans to cut emissions from its own production operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 50% and reduce those in its upstream and downstream value chain (Scope 3) by about 34%.
We continue to invest in initiatives aimed at reducing our environmental impact, improving resource efficiency and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Thus, in the third quarter of 2023|24, another regular round of verification of the Farm Sustainability Assessments was successfully completed at AGRANA’s contract growers of beet, potatoes and corn (maize) in Austria and of apples in Hungary. As well, the ISO 50001 certifications of our sugar and starch factories were renewed.