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Yes, we care

Our sustainability strategy

Sustainability is high on the menu at What's Cooking? When we call for “YES WE CARE”, we call on all our stakeholders: “Change and Act Responsibly, Everyone”. Sustainability affects the entire value chain, so we include the topic in our partnerships and activities. Our sustainability strategy is based on three pillars: we provide good food for all, while protecting the planet and helping people flourish. Together, we can make a difference!

The three pillars
of our sustainability strategy

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Good FOOD FOR ALL

Our first pillar, Good food for all, lies at the heart of our business. We are making sustainable food consumption a natural choice for everyone. To achieve this, we improve the nutritional profile of our delicious products whilst aiming the overall well-being of our consumers. A central element of our strategy is expanding our portfolio with blended (hybrid), plant-based and vegetarian products to provide more sustainable and affordable choices to all our customers and all consumers on a daily basis.

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Protect our PLANET

Our commitment to Protect our planet reflects our determination to address climate change and reduce our carbon emissions, aligning with the goals set in the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement and SBTI. We recognize the critical importance of minimizing food waste, and we are investing in responsible sourcing, green energy and sustainable packaging.

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Help PEOPLE flourish

The third pillar, Help people flourish, underscores our conviction that our people are the most important asset. Creating a safe and engaging workplace is our first priority. But our commitment extends beyond our company; it encompasses all the individuals involved in our value chain.

Our engagements

We take food seriously, and our social responsibility just as much. We set high ethical standards for our dealings with shareholders, consumers, and suppliers. We ensure a healthy and safe working environment for our people. And we treat our planet with respect.

Find our policies on our key topics (Good Food for All, Protect our Planet, Help People Flourish) to understand our ambition, and join us in putting them into action to contribute to a sustainable and inclusive future.

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Good Food for All

    • Nutritional policy

      We believe that more of the good things, less of bad things is essential, and we are dedicated to providing high-quality products that continuously improve their nutritional relevance, and do meet or exceed our nutritional standards. This Nutritional Policy outlines our commitment to nutritional targets that are operational objectives for product renovation and innovation and are applicable to the whole What’s Cooking? portfolio across geographies and populations.

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    • Food safety charter

      At What's Cooking? we believe that food safety is never to be compromised.

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    • Product Integrity Policy

      A committed advocate for product integrity in the food industry: a transparent supply chain from sourcing to production, excellence in quality, food safety, integrity throughout the supply chain, up to distribution of our products – and which we do so for our suppliers and customers, consumers and other stakeholders.

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    • Environment, health & safety charter

      At What's Cooking? we believe that all incidents are preventable. Each of our employees should return home safely to their loved ones.

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Protect our Planet

    • Environmental policy

      Recognizing the impact of our operations, we strive to address Scope 1 & 2 emissions, energy consumption, water usage, and the responsible management of materials, chemicals, and waste. Our commitment to the environment reflects our purpose to make sustainable food consumption second nature.

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    • Packaging policy

      Our packaging policy reflects our dedication to minimizing environmental impact of our packaging activities, ensuring product freshness and food safety, bringing value to our customers and providing convenient solutions for our consumers. Our Packaging policy outlines our commitment to our targets that are operational objectives for product & packaging renovation and innovation and are applicable to the whole What’s Cooking? portfolio across geographies and populations.

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    • Whistleblowing policy

      The What's Cooking? group is committed to conducting business operations in accordance with the highest standards of ethical and legal business conduct. The purpose of this Policy is to encourage Employees and Third Parties to promptly report suspected Breaches which may affect the European and UK subsidiaries of What's Cooking? providing safe channels to report them without fear of retaliation with the aim to strengthen the compliance and information culture.

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    • Business code of conduct for suppliers

      This Business Code of Conduct for Suppliers specifies and helps the continued implementation of What’s Cooking? - Group’s corporate and social values by establishing certain non-negotiable minimum standards of behavior in key areas.

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    • Procurement policy

      This Procurement Policy specifies and helps the continued implementation of What’s Cooking? - Group’s corporate and social values by establishing certain non-negotiable minimum standards of behavior in key areas of Procurement at What’s Cooking?.

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Help People Flourish

    • Sponsoring policy

      This policy provides clarity in what and how What’s Cooking? sponsors. It should make it easier for What’s Cooking?’s employees to manage sponsorship requests in a way that strengthen customer relationships while avoiding ethical dilemmas and ineffective use of What’s Cooking?’s resources.

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    • Anti-bribery and Anti-corruption policy

      This anti-bribery policy exists to set out the responsibilities of What’s Cooking Group and those who work for What’s Cooking with regard to observing and upholding a zero-tolerance position on bribery and corruption.

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    • Whistleblowing policy

      The What's Cooking? group is committed to conducting business operations in accordance with the highest standards of ethical and legal business conduct. The purpose of this Policy is to encourage Employees and Third Parties to promptly report suspected Breaches which may affect the European and UK subsidiaries of What's Cooking? providing safe channels to report them without fear of retaliation with the aim to strengthen the compliance and information culture.

      Read more

    • Code of conduct

      What’s Cooking?’s business practices have always been governed by integrity, honesty, fair dealing and full compliance with all applicable laws. What’s Cooking? employees have always upheld and lived these values and commitments in their everyday responsibilities, and What’s Cooking?’s reputation remains one of the Company’s most important assets today.

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    • Environment, health & safety charter

      At What's Cooking? we believe that all incidents are preventable. Each of our employees should return home safely to their loved ones.

      Read more

2023 Sustainability report

You can explore detailed insights into the KPIs, targets, and actions aligned with our three sustainability pillars in our award-winning Sustainability Report.

Read our 2023 sustainability report

Double Recognition for our Sustainability Commitment

What’s Cooking? proudly holds the EcoVadis Silver Medal for sustainability, placing us among the top 7% of companies worldwide. This recognition reflects our performance across four key areas:

  • Environmental Impact

  • Labor & Human Rights

  • Ethics

  • Sustainable Procurement

This award reflects our progress in making sustainable food consumption second nature, every day.

On top of that, What's Cooking? has received the Belgian Award for the Best First Sustainability Report.

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Local

We prefer to work with local suppliers, so we know exactly where our ingredients come from. Thus, we also boost the local economy. We foster honest and long-lasting partnerships with our suppliers to make sure that they share our sustainability commitments, and that we respect theirs.

Good governance

Yes, we like to get creative in the kitchen. But we also follow the rules - sometimes even helping to improve them or making our team and our suppliers go beyond what is required. Clear commitments that are beneficial to our stakeholders are high on the menu for What's Cooking? Our Board of Directors believes in creating added value in the long term while leaving plenty room for entrepreneurship.

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Greener every day

Our packagings fit right in with the local systems of waste prevention and recycling. Some are made from renewable sources, but we want to step up our efforts, aiming for 100% recyclable or recycle-ready packaging by 2025.
We are determined to let as little as possible go to waste. More specifically, we aim to reduce our non-recovered food waste by 20% by 2024 (as compared to 2022) and to make sure that the food we can’t avoid wasting gets recycled.

By 2023, 50% of our sites will be powered by green electricity, and by 2024, all of them will be running on renewable energy. And did you know that at least 15% of our portfolio will be plant-based by 2030?

There for each other

At What's Cooking?, everybody has a seat at the table. We offer a work environment that attracts talented people, supporting them and encouraging them to become the chefs of their own development, both professionally and personally. Not just through training, but also by sharing knowledge with each other and working together as the team we are.

Moreover, because employee safety is our top priority, we want to reduce the number of workplace accidents by 50% by 2030, as compared to 2022 levels.

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