Affordability and accessibility of products

Good, sustainable food should not be a luxury, but must be accessible to everyone. That’s why we aim to keep the additional costs of making our supply chains and products more sustainable as low as possible.

This refers to the price of the products Van Loon Group brings to the market. The emphasis is on products from our own supply chains and products with a sustainability claim.

Our policy focuses on ensuring product affordability and accessibility, so that sustainable choices remain within reach for consumers. We aim to ensure that more sustainable alternatives are never  more than 10% more expensive than existing products.

We are seeking innovative solutions to limit additional costs associated with making our products and supply chains more sustainable and communicate transparently about any potential price differences and the added value of our sustainable choices. By organising our production and logistics processes as efficiently as possible and applying sustainability measures wherever we can, we aim to achieve economies of scale and lower costs per product, allowing us to strike a good balance between sustainability, affordability, and availability.

We involve our customers in setting pricing levels to ensure our products align as closely as possible with the needs of customers as well as consumers. To achieve our objectives, we work closely with our chain partners. Together, we develop innovative and sustainable market concepts, where additional costs or savings are shared fairly throughout the supply chain, ensuring products remain affordable and accessible for consumers.

When introducing new hybrid meat products, price difference between the new product and the comparable meat product is calculated. Each quarter, performance is reviewed according to the OGSM methodology and adjusted if necessary. Progress is published annually in the CSR annual report.

• ESRS S4 – Consumers and end users

Making products more sustainable in an affordable way

CEO

In 2024, we began introducing hybrid meat products: minced meat products enriched with plant-based fibres. With this, we contribute to the protein transition and to reducing the CO₂ footprint of our products.

We aim to ensure that the products are no more than 10% more expensive than comparable meat products. This was achieved for 87% of the introductions. 5% were cheaper than comparable meat products, and 13% were more than 10% more expensive at the time of introduction. We expect that through scaling up, we will be able to achieve our target in 2025.

In 2025, we will focus on the further development of our hybrid meat products. We will also be actively promoting these hybrid products to our food service customers, and plan to significantly scale up with our retail clients.

By increasing the scale of production, we aim to improve efficiency. Additionally, we plan to develop new products that contain a higher proportion of plant-based fibres in the final product, without compromising on taste and texture. Both goals contribute to keeping the end  products affordable.

Finally, we will conduct research into consumer behaviour regarding the purchase of hybrid meat products. By gaining a better understanding of what motivates consumers in their choices, we can support sustainable growth in this category and encourage acceptance of these products.