Baked by the sun: Dr. Oetker to produce Fossil-Fuel Free in future

Bielefeld, November 2024 – Time to rethink: At Dr. Oetker, we want to produce pizza, cakes and desserts without fossil fuels in the future and thus only with renewable energy – from the oven to the freezer, from filling to storage. This is another step on the way to our goal of operating net-zero worldwide by 2050. For example, our pizzas should be produced entirely with renewable energy by 2030. A little later, the conversion of our ambient plants will follow. We already obtain the electricity at our sites exclusively from renewable energies - including from our photovoltaic systems. In 2023, we already used over 3.5 million kWh of self-generated electricity on our systems, which corresponds to the electricity consumption of more than 1,000 German households. With the new project, we also want to completely dispense with the use of gas, among other things.

Step by step towards climate-neutral production: baked by the sun

"We have big plans: to become "net zero" by 2050. To achieve this, we have to start changing our ways of working at our own sites now. And that means working without fossil fuels such as gas,” says Tobias Bauer, Senior Executive Manager Pizza Production Unit. In Europe, our pizza production includes the Wittenburg and Wittlich plants in Germany, where around 2.3 million pizzas roll off the production line every day, as well as Łebcz in Poland and Leyland in the United Kingdom. Outside of Europe, we produce pizzas in London, Canada, in Johannesburg, South Africa and Pancar, Turkey. In addition to the pizza plants, we produce Dr. Oetker products at 26 other locations worldwide, from muesli and baking mixes in Germany, to pretzel snacks in France, to mayonnaise sauces in India.

Free of fossil fuels - reaching our goal with four levers

1. Consume less energy

The less energy we consume, the smaller the challenge in total – so we have to reduce our energy consumption. We have already been able to implement this in our pizza factory in Wittenburg, among other places: 10% less energy consumption on a pizza line was the result of an intensive process in which the team optimized the settings of the pizza oven. "Optimized adjustment of all flaps in the furnace meant that we were able to significantly reduce the temperature in the combustion chamber, improve the bak-ing result and thus save energy," explains Hauke Hack, Executive Manager Engineering.

2. Generate our own energy

By 2030, we want to cover at least 10% of our electricity needs worldwide with self-generated green energy. Photovoltaic systems already make a considerable contribution to this at 15 locations worldwide. "We want to generate as much electricity as possible for our plants independently and emission-free and are constantly working on setting up photovoltaic systems at other locations as well," explains Roland Kuhnke, Executive Manager Construction & Environment.

3. Using the energy generated in our own plants

Numerous measures ensure that we can also use the renewable energy generated in our plants ourselves. For example, heat pumps can convert waste heat into hot water instead of gas. “A different ap-proach is to work with electric furnaces in production in the future, instead of gas furnaces. These could then be powered by self-generated electricity from renewable energy sources", Lukasz Swat, Executive Manager and Head of Strategic Programs Pizza Production Unit.

4. Storing self-generated energy

The project will be made easier if we can store our self-generated renewable energy. This means we don't have to use all the energy on sunny or windy days and during the week, but can ‘pre-produce’ it. We currently ensure this with standard power storage solutions, but also aim to add further measures for this.

“In addition to a very comprehensive approach and outstanding cross-location collaboration, these measures represent a considerable investment, both financially and in terms of the additional workload for our employees over the next ten years. This is one of the first steps on our SBTi decarbonization roadmap, which will be followed by many more.” Alexander Sack, Executive Manager Sustainability

Our project 3F – Fossil-Fuel Free

The "Fossil-Fuel Free" project (3F for short) contributes to our major goal of no longer polluting the climate by 2050, i.e. to act "net zero". This is enshrined in our Dr. Oetker Sustainability Charter and publicly stated through our SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) Commitment, in which we commit to science-based climate targets and continuous reporting in accordance with the criteria of the globally recognized network.

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