ESG pioneers – before it became fashionable. Goodvalley History

From the beginning of its operations, Goodvalley has focused on sustainable development, which today fits into the popular concept of ESG. However, you implemented these principles already in the 1990s. What did it look like back then?

Let me start by saying that I was not part of this company in the 1990s – it was during my primary and secondary school years. However, I can tell you what I know from the people who founded Goodvalley, and what we can read today from the history of our company.

Our founders were Scandinavians, specifically Danish farmers. I think this is key information, because the Scandinavian philosophy of doing business, based on sustainable development and social responsibility, has guided our company from the beginning.

In the 1990s, Poland experienced enormous changes – political, economic and social transformation. People had completely different priorities. We fought to simply provide ourselves with basic products, avoid galloping inflation and survive these difficult times. In this context, talking about sustainable development seemed abstract.

However, our company was different. The founder’s vision was based on the belief that food should be produced where there are resources, but also where there are consumers. As a Danish farmer, he saw the challenge in the fact that Denmark, being a small country, imports huge amounts of grain and at the same time exports a lot of agri-food products. He decided to act differently.

What influenced the decision to locate the company in Poland?

After the fall of the Eastern Bloc, our founder visited Poland, Ukraine and Czechoslovakia. He saw huge potential here, especially in agriculture. Poland was then a country where rural areas were struggling with the collapse of state farms. People were left without jobs and prospects, and the village was full of problems. In this context, starting a business was associated with gaining trust and building relationships with local communities.

At the beginning, no one talked about sustainable development in the modern sense of the word. It was more of a collaborative and relationship-building approach. People had to convince themselves that an entrepreneur was not someone who wanted to take advantage of them, but someone who would like to build something valuable together with them.

Goodvalley is considered a pioneer in non-financial reporting. How did it start?

We started non-financial reporting over 20 years ago, before anyone even thought about such regulations. This resulted from our values ​​and the need for transparency. We wanted to show that our activities are consistent with the principles of sustainable development.

Today, when ESG reporting is already a requirement, we are ready for it. We have been counting our carbon footprint, analyzing product life cycles and implementing new technologies for a long time. For us, it is not a separate department or project – it is a way of running the company.

We talked about vision and values, let’s get down to specifics. What actions do you take to reduce your carbon footprint?

Our operating model covers the entire value chain – from field to fork. Everything we produce is made in Poland, mainly in Pomerania.

When it comes to agriculture, we have not used deep plowing for years, which increases carbon emissions. We test non-invasive technologies that help preserve soil structure. A big challenge is the soil in northern Poland, which is low in resources, but despite this we achieve very good results.

Another important element are agricultural biogas plants. The slurry produced during animal husbandry goes to a biogas plant, where it is converted into electricity, heat and organic fertilizer in the fermentation process. Thanks to this, we close the circulation of matter, minimizing methane emissions and reducing the use of mineral fertilizers.

Can the idea of ​​closed loop become a standard in the meat industry?

Definitely yes. In our company, we try not to even use the word “waste”. Anything that may be treated as waste is actually a raw material that can be used in another way. This philosophy should guide the entire industry.

If we manage to introduce such a perspective, we can create a real closed loop. Even plastic, if managed properly, can circulate through the system without having to constantly produce new materials. It is crucial that nothing is wasted and everything finds its next use. It is possible and should become a priority.

What about animal welfare?

Taking care of well-being begins at the employee training stage. Employed people must understand the needs of animals and their natural behavior. It is crucial to provide animals with appropriate conditions and minimize stress, which translates into their health and meat quality.

Animals have more space, access to daylight and special “toys” that allow them to fulfill their natural needs, such as rooting or chewing.

What do such toys look like?

The toy we most often use is a wooden block made of soft wood, suspended on a chain. Animals play with it and gnaw it, which allows them to fulfill their natural need to chew.

These types of toys are available in various sizes, depending on the size of the animals. We also use straw briquettes that are heat treated to avoid the risk of transmitting diseases to the farm. The animals play with these briquettes and eat the straw at the same time, which improves their digestive system. We have had various tests, for example balls for little pigs, but we achieve the best results with these wooden and straw toys.

What are the differences between your farm, with access to toys, and industrial farming??

In factory farming, where animals are crowded and deprived of stimulation, they are more stressed. Stress, understood as the inability to carry out natural reflexes, leads to more diseases, the need to use medications and higher mortality.

In Poland, a huge problem is the excessive use of antibiotics, which affects the environment and contributes to the emergence of resistant bacteria. In sustainable farms, where well-being is a priority, animals are healthier, require less treatment, and the quality of products is clearly better.

And this quality is noticed by consumers, who often emphasize that our products have a real, natural taste. We do not use artificial additives such as monosodium glutamate or flavor enhancers.

At the beginning, customers buy our products because of the values ​​we promote – care for the environment and animal welfare. Then they come back because they are surprised by the quality and taste.

All this requires large investments. Do such activities have an economic balance?

Definitely yes. Better animal welfare means lower technological losses, higher meat quality and lower treatment costs. If animals are less stressed, their meat is of better quality, which is noticed by consumers.

Additionally, our environmental activities, such as optimizing energy consumption or reducing the carbon footprint, bring tangible financial savings. This holistic approach, in which all elements are interconnected, makes the company operate effectively and responsibly.

Finally, I would like to ask about the future. Do you see the possibility of completely closing the cycle in agriculture?

It is 100% possible by answering briefly and decisively. However, I must admit that we ourselves encounter challenges, especially in the case of biogas plants. Producing electricity from biogas, compared to wind or solar energy, is more expensive. That is why we are developing our biogas plants towards new solutions, in particular the production of biomethane.

Although biomethane technologies are expensive today, we are looking to the future. We follow the development of technology and test various solutions, and the energy future points to hydrogen produced from biomethane. Currently, it is an expensive technology, but over time it may become more profitable.

However, producing biogas from waste makes 100% sense, especially where there is actually waste. In our closed loop model that we use, the biggest challenge is heat. Farms are often located far from human settlements, which makes it difficult to effectively use the generated heat.

In winter, we use some of this heat in breeding, but in summer, unfortunately, most of the thermal energy is not used. This is a huge loss, which is why, as part of our strategy, we are developing a project to build three biomethane plants. We want to produce gas instead of electricity because gas can be transported more easily and used efficiently in other places. This avoids wasting energy.

At Goodvalley, we operate comprehensively with the planet and future generations in mind, but we are also active locally, including: using the energy generated by our biogas plants to heat nearby schools and buildings. Our goal is to conduct dialogue and inspire the industry – to show that sustainable activity is not only good for the environment, but can also be profitable for the entrepreneur. As a responsible manufacturer, we want to educate and promote sustainable activities both at the industry level and to the consumer.