Annual report 2023

Well, a lot is cooking and it is all summarized in our NEW What’s Cooking? Integrated Annual Report 2023 also including for the first time our Sustainability ambitions and CSRD performance. 

Absolutely crucial in 2023 was the launch in March of our new strategy which includes a purpose, our core strategic beliefs, the new values and last but not least a new company name to express. 

In this annual report, we dive deeper into our 6 strategic pillars to deliver Sustainable Profitable Growth for 2023 and beyond - while always putting first our must-do target of World-class Safety & Food Safety:

1. It all starts with ‘Engaged People’: without engaged people, no strategic plan can ever be successful! 

2. ‘Rebuild Innovation’ meaning we rejuvenated innovation in order to make a meaningful difference for our customers and consumers in these new demanding times.

3. In ‘Portfolio Refocus’ there were and will be quite some initiatives such as adding new global heroes - besides lasagna -  to our Ready Meals portfolio, and yes, we offer consumers also vegetarian & plant-based alternatives next to our delicious meat-based foods. 

4. ‘Grow Excellence’ underlined the continued program to improve our Operational Excellence, and deploy some activities to build also Sales & Marketing Excellence. 

5. ‘Digital acceleration’ is a statement of the ongoing work to map and harmonize our core processes, and make them leaner, reinforced by the right and modern digital solutions & systems. 

6. Last and surely not least is our belief to ‘Lead our industry in sustainability’ because ‘Yes We Care’. 

We are proud on our 2023 achievements and look forward to deliver our 2024 journey co-building our future together with our employees, customers, suppliers and other partners.

1. Good food for all

By changing the name of our ‘processed meats’ segment to ‘savoury’ (NL: ‘savory’), we are emphasizing how eager we are to add more vegetarian and plant-based products to our range. More specifically, we aim to make 15% of our volume plant-based or vegetarian by 2030. We believe that with a wide range of affordable products and the right information, we can help consumers eat healthily and in a balanced way. As a food company, we care very much about food safety and quality. It is our reason for existence. In addition to being safe and quality, we want our products to be as nutritious as possible.

2. Protect our planet

To combat climate change, we want to significantly reduce our carbon footprint by 2030. Therefore, from 2024 we will only use 100% green electricity. Because global warming also affects water scarcity, we want to use 30% less water per ton of finished product as of 2030 (compared to 2022). In addition, we want to reduce our food product waste by 20% from 2024 (also compared to 2022). The waste we cannot avoid will be recycled as much as possible.

We also want to use as little plastic and packaging material as possible in general, without sacrificing hygiene and shelf life, and without increasing food waste. To be continued!

Whenever possible, What’s Cooking? chooses local suppliers. We buy most of our ingredients in Europe and use 100% RSPO-certified palm oil. In addition, we have an eye for animal welfare. We work closely with our suppliers to implement better farming practices, we only use free-range eggs in our dishes and prefer sustainably caught or farmed fish with an ASC or MSC label.

3. Help people flourish

The safety of our staff is our priority: at executive committee meetings, safety scores are always the first item on the agenda. Our Environment, Health & Safety (SHE) system assesses how our various sites score and helps them improve in this regard. In addition, the engagement index measures the commitment of our staff and examines where there is room for improvement. As of 2028, we aim for an average engagement rate of no less than 80%.

At What’s Cooking? we are committed to the overall well-being and mental health of our employees. Hence our various initiatives across our various sites, such as the Employee Assistance Program, Mental Health Awareness Week and our partnership with Mindlab.

We have a code of conduct for our suppliers. This ensures that the human rights of everyone in the value chain are respected. Our Supplier Sustainability Rating Program focuses on both social and environmental criteria.