THAILAND – CP Foods, one of the world’s largest food and beverage conglomerates, has opted to shift focus on innovation of healthier products and ensuring food safety, as part of meeting its sustainability goals.

Unhealthy food is responsible for 8 million premature deaths worldwide each year and contributes to healthcare costs related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) estimated to exceed USD 1.3 trillion annually by 2030, says Dr. Sommai Tachasirinugune, Executive Vice President of Product Research and Development and Head of Ambition – Sustainable Food.

As a result of the increase, it is expected to trigger a global economic crisis.

“In Thailand alone, the public sector spends THB302.4 billion (US$8.5 billion) annually on treating non-communicable diseases. The solution to this problem is to develop nutritious foods that meet the requirements of consumers of all ages,” Dr. Sommai said.

The company aims to develop 50% of all new products in Thailand by 2030 to be healthier and more nutritious than current products.

“CP Foods believes in research and development. We use science, technology and innovation to develop nutritious foods for consumers of all ages.

“Some examples include poultry products where sodium has been reduced to less than 600 mg per serving and saturated fat has been reduced to 3 g or less per serving, depending on the product,” Dr. Sommai highlighted.

The company has also innovated products such as meat-free plant-based meat alternatives, U Farm antibiotic-free meat, CP Delight calorie-controlled RTE meals, Inno-Weness health drinks, and CP flour and tar-free sausages.

To keep its products healthy, the company has not only turned to new innovations, but is in the process of establishing a set of internal food standards to ensure that food safety aspects are addressed.

“CP Foods aims to achieve a single global food standard. We integrate quality, food safety and sustainability across the value chain, as well as international standards such as Good Hygiene Practices (GHPs), CODEX, ISO 9001 and ISO22000, ” said CP Foods Global Standard System Center VP Kularb Kimsri said.

Kimsri revealed that the company’s pilot project, the Korat Model in Thailand, recently received BSI certification for the entire integrated poultry business in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, from feed mills to food processing plants.

“Our next step is to expand the CPF Food Standards to cover chicken and duck businesses in more regions…the products they are buying.

“CP Foods has also applied blockchain technology to develop a digital traceability system within this framework,” he said.

Water management

The business invests a lot of time and energy into water management because it sees it as a crucial part of its environmental sustainability plan.

CP Foods also has a project named “Fertilizer Water Sharing” in addition to more general waste reduction and water recycling.

In essence, this entails recycling the water generated during the manufacture of biogas on pig farms for agricultural uses.

A biogas system uses animal manure to produce electricity or heat for other operations, and also cleanses the wastewater that is created so that farms may feed water to their crops. It is reused for sowing. This treated water is called “fertilizer water”.

This is because to the phytonutrients it contains, which help increase the production and growth of the plants utilized for watering.

The company also puts a lot of effort into water management, which it believes is a very important component of its environmental sustainability strategy, as reported by Singapore Times.

In addition to more general water recycling and waste reduction, CP Foods also has a project called “Fertilizer Water Sharing”. This essentially involves reusing the water produced from biogas production on pig farms for agricultural purposes.

“This fertilizer water will not only help farmers increase productivity, but also reduce their dependence on chemical fertilizers. It also contributes to environmental sustainability.

“So far in 2022, 63 farmers have used more than 544,000 cubic meters of fertilizer water to water about 2.6 million square meters of crops. We reported a total cost savings of 1.8 million baht (50,941 USD), which we should have,” said Somporn Jermpong, Executive VP of CP Foods.

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