Skip to content
Lending a hand to the environment with innovative ‘SuperFreezer’

Press release -

Lending a hand to the environment with innovative ‘SuperFreezer’

Chr. Hansen’s partnership with a major global dairy customer in Brazil has resulted in a streamlined and sustainable supply chain, significantly reducing transportation costs and environmental impact.

“We were invited by our customer to come up with feasible ideas for reducing costs in the supply chain for frozen cultures. The result is a so-called SuperFreezer, which is a special transportation container working as a cold chamber with a constant temperature of minus 60 Cº,” explains Sten Estrup, Regional Vice President, Chr. Hansen, South America.

The SuperFreezer ensures the final product quality during the processes of sea transport, storage and handling of frozen cultures, reducing the operational complexity and optimizing the costs – and last but not least it benefits the environment.

Preliminary calculations show that just one shipment in a SuperFreezer container consisting of nine tons of frozen cultures reduces CO2 emissions by as much as 202 tons compared to air freight, equal to the emissions of 20 households per year.

A sustainable win-win

A major element in the effective reduction of our carbon footprint is replacing energy-consuming air freight with cost-effective and environmentally friendly sea shipment.

“We challenged ourselves to optimize the supply chain and identified a range of ideas for improvement, such as transport, packaging size, ordering and delivery frequency. Evaluation and prioritization of the ideas took place in an open process with our customer.

The fact that we actually met our customer’s demand for cost efficiency while achieving significant environmental benefits makes this project a sustainable win-win,” says Sten Estrup.

Large potential for further reduction

It takes a creative mind to solve the challenge of keeping the temperature down to -60º C in a +30º C environment. A number of specialists from Chr. Hansen Brazil as well as from headquarters in Denmark worked closely together over several months to come up with the innovative concept, which is ready to be rolled out in other countries.

Applying the SuperFreezer solution as alternative means of transportation for frozen cultures to just 3-4 selected countries could generate a significant reduction of more than 6,000 tons of CO2 per year, equal to the annual emissions of close to 600 households. Applying the technique more widely will have an even larger potential for reducing Chr. Hansen’s carbon footprint.

A sign of commitment

”This is an excellent example of how Chr. Hansen integrates Corporate Social Responsibility in our business activities, and it underlines our commitment to CSR in the entire company,” comments Henriette Oellgaard, CSR Manager.

In 2010 Chr. Hansen established a CSR Board anchored at the top management level of Chr. Hansen, chaired by the CEO. This is a visible statement to the company’s stakeholders that we take sustainability very seriously and intend to broaden our scope in this area.

Read more on www.chr-hansen.com/CSR

Topics


Chr. Hansen is a global bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The products include cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural colors, and all solutions are based on strong research and development competencies coupled with significant technology investments. Revenue in the 2013/14 financial year was EUR 756 million. The company holds a leading market position in all its divisions: Cultures & Enzymes, Health & Nutrition and Natural Colors. It has more than 2,500 dedicated employees in over 30 countries and main production facilities in Denmark, France, USA and Germany. Chr. Hansen was founded in 1874 and is listed on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen.

Contacts

Helle Rexen

Helle Rexen

Press contact Media relations officer +45 20 74 28 40

About us

Chr. Hansen is a global, differentiated bioscience company that develops natural ingredient solutions for the food, nutritional, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. At Chr. Hansen we are uniquely positioned to drive positive change through microbial solutions. We have worked for over 150 years to enable sustainable agriculture, better food and healthier living for more people around the world. Our microbial and fermentation technology platforms, including our broad and relevant collection of around 50,000 microbial strains, have game-changing potential. Matching customer needs and global trends we continue to unlock the power of good bacteria to respond to global challenges such as food waste, global health and the overuse of antibiotics and pesticides. As one of the world’s most sustainable companies, we touch the lives of more than 1 billion people every day. Driven by our legacy of innovation and curiosity to pioneer science, our purpose – To grow a better world. Naturally. – is at the heart of everything we do.

Chr. Hansen Holding A/S

Boege Allé 10-12
DK-2970 Hoersholm
Denmark