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Akzente<br />

News from <strong>Nordzucker</strong> | Issue 2 | July 2013<br />

175 years of <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

Sustainable. Dedicated. Together.<br />

EU sugar market regime<br />

Decision made: The sugar market regime will be extended<br />

for the last time by two years until September 2017.<br />

Previous year surpassed again<br />

Revenues and earnings rose significantly<br />

for the third year in a row.<br />

Follow us<br />

Sustainability Report submitted –<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> saves energy and CO 2<br />

.


| Rubrik | Reihe oder Ergänzung |<br />

80,000,000<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> is investing EUR 80,000,000 across the entire Group<br />

in this financial year, surpassing the previous year once again.<br />

2


| Editorial |<br />

“We are on the lookout for ways in which<br />

we can develop the company further so<br />

as to continue to be able to operate as<br />

successfully as we are today even in a<br />

different environment.”<br />

Dear Shareholders, Dear Readers,<br />

The previous financial year will go down in the history of <strong>Nordzucker</strong> as the most successful<br />

to date. We saw significant growth in revenues and earnings for the third year in<br />

a row. However, none of this would have been possible without an outstanding team<br />

that brings ideas and energy to the entire Group.<br />

Our excellent earnings are most certainly a reason to celebrate. Yet there is another<br />

one: 175 years! The first sugar factory in the present-day <strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s region was<br />

established in Klein Wanzleben 175 years ago and is still in use now. This makes it one<br />

of the foundation stones of today’s company. In the years and decades that followed,<br />

more and more factories were built. Early shareholders had a vision for the future: they<br />

recognised the opportunities presented by new technologies and, through their dedication,<br />

secured a long-term market outlet for their sugar beet.<br />

Today, we once again look to the future together. The markets remain volatile,<br />

meaning that price movements will continue to present a challenge for us in the future.<br />

By the same token, the structure of sugar producers in Europe will undergo changes.<br />

We also now know that the sugar market regime will come to an end in 2017. We are<br />

thus facing changes in many different areas, but we are preparing for all of them. We<br />

are making investments throughout the entire Group – in equipment to save energy,<br />

to improve logistics and for product safety. Furthermore, we are on the lookout for<br />

ways in which we can develop the company further so as to continue operating as<br />

successfully as we are today even in a different environment.<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> was and is a company heading towards the future. The very first<br />

shareholders were aware of this and it is just as important today to continue on this<br />

path together.<br />

I wish you all a pleasant summer.<br />

Best regards,<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> has invested<br />

in a new juice purification<br />

facility at its site in Clauen.<br />

Hartwig Fuchs<br />

Akzente July 2013 3


| CoNtENtS |<br />

Report: Two in one<br />

Since 2008, the annual beet campaign<br />

in the Polish town of Chełmża has been<br />

accompanied by a raw sugar campaign.<br />

20 22<br />

Summertime, berry time …<br />

Europe makes jam – with the help<br />

of products from SweetFamily and<br />

Dansukker.<br />

PANORAMA<br />

6 Sustainable. Dedicated. Together. – <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

celebrates its 175th anniversary<br />

8 Previous year surpassed again – <strong>Nordzucker</strong> continues<br />

to grow strongly with rising revenues and earnings<br />

10 Decision from Brussels: The EU sugar market regime<br />

will end in 2017<br />

11 How will things proceed from 2017?<br />

11 Hartwig Fuchs: “Accelerating towards a new<br />

world of sugar”<br />

12 A late, cold start to the beet year<br />

A LOOK AT THE MARKET<br />

16 European Commission approves additional imports<br />

from the global market<br />

CLOSE-UP<br />

18 20 · 20 · 20: Boosting the competitiveness of beet with<br />

20 tonnes of sugar<br />

19 Responsibility, dedication, courage and appreciation:<br />

four values – one company<br />

20 Two in one – a visit to the Chełmża plant<br />

13 Interview: “Not a record year”<br />

13 <strong>Nordzucker</strong> tests yield potential of the paper pot<br />

method<br />

14 Follow us – <strong>Nordzucker</strong> publishes its third<br />

Sustainability Report<br />

15 Key investments made for the 2013 campaign<br />

SWEET STORIES<br />

22 Summertime, berry time – strawberries are Europe’s<br />

favourite fruit<br />

23 Summer with Dansukker<br />

23 Taste of the year: Make and enjoy jam with<br />

SweetFamily by <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

4


Talking to …<br />

People at <strong>Nordzucker</strong>:<br />

Kazimierz Kuśmierek has been working<br />

at the Chełmża plant for 38 years.<br />

IN BRIEF<br />

24 The bright world of <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

PEOPLE AT NORDZUCKER<br />

26 Kazimierz Kuśmierek: Technical Manager<br />

Sugar House and Service Center in Chełmża<br />

CLICKED ON<br />

27 Looking online<br />

RECIPE<br />

28 Rote Grütze compote in mini sponge rolls<br />

26<br />

Prof. em. Dr phil.<br />

Hans Jürgen Teuteberg<br />

was Professor of Contemporary<br />

Economic and Social History<br />

and Director of the History<br />

Department at the University<br />

of Münster.<br />

In 1747, the Berlin-born chemist Andreas Sigismund<br />

Marggraf discovered that sugar from three types of beet<br />

is chemically identical to sugar from sugar cane. His pupil<br />

Franz Carl Achard continued this research and established<br />

the first sugar beet factory in Silesia in 1802. However, it<br />

would be decades before sugar production using sugar<br />

beet would catch on. Three questions for Professor<br />

Teuteberg on the history of sugar.<br />

In 1838, a sugar factory was opened in Klein Wanzleben.<br />

How did the sugar industry develop during the following<br />

decades?<br />

“Between 1840 and 1870, when the German Empire was<br />

founded, the number of German sugar beet factories<br />

increased more than fivefold, from 54 to 304. At the same<br />

time, the amount of beet processed rose from 26,080<br />

tonnes to three million tonnes. At the end of the 1850s,<br />

beet sugar production had already reached such a level<br />

that it exceeded domestic demand and began to be<br />

exported.”<br />

What helped to drive this development?<br />

“In addition to the fiscal environment, successful sugar<br />

beet breeding and advancing industrialisation were driving<br />

forces. In the middle of the 19th century, the Frenchman<br />

Louis de Vilmorin discovered that the sugar content of<br />

beets can be increased by means of systematic breeding.<br />

At the same time, it was possible to significantly cut<br />

production costs in the sugar factories by using steampowered<br />

machines and conveyor belts.”<br />

What did this mean for sugar consumption?<br />

“Until the middle of the 19th century, most people didn’t<br />

consume sugar because they simply could not afford to pay<br />

the high prices. Sugar is a typical product of industrialisation<br />

and, together with the potato, represents the biggest<br />

change in our eating habits since the late Middle Ages.”<br />

Akzente July 2013 5


| PaNoraMa |<br />

1<br />

1838<br />

The Klein Wanzleben<br />

sugar factory is founded<br />

– a foundation stone of<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

1865 – 1900<br />

Start-up boom in Europe: The<br />

factories in Nordstemmen,<br />

Clauen, Schladen, Uelzen,<br />

Nakskov, Nykøbing, Arlöv,<br />

Örtofta, Chełmża, Opalenica<br />

and Trenčianska Teplá are<br />

opened<br />

Sustainable. Dedicated.<br />

Together. – <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

celebrates its 175th<br />

anniversary<br />

The sugar factory in Klein Wanzleben was<br />

the start of <strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s 175-year-long<br />

history. Changing legal and ownership<br />

structures, conversions, wars, destruction<br />

and ultimately a completely new building<br />

have not changed the fact that the sugar<br />

factory founded in 1838 in Magdeburg<br />

Börde is the foundation stone of all<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> factories still in existence<br />

today. <strong>Nordzucker</strong> has steadily evolved<br />

out of individual factory companies.<br />

Courage and an entrepreneurial spirit<br />

have shaped its history at many stages<br />

and played a key role in moving the company<br />

forward. Today, more than 15,000<br />

farmers from all over Europe supply 13<br />

sugar factories in seven countries with<br />

sugar beet.<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> has taken this special<br />

year as an opportunity to reflect on its<br />

roots, as well as to look forward and<br />

generate new momentum.<br />

Official celebration<br />

The official anniversary celebration on 26<br />

September represents the culmination of<br />

the year’s events. Around 500 national<br />

and international visitors are expected in<br />

Braunschweig, including customers, politicians<br />

and various representatives from<br />

associations and the general public. The<br />

day’s event will be kicked off by a ceremony<br />

accompanied by music and greetings<br />

from a number of people including<br />

the Honorary President of the German<br />

Farmers’ Association, Gerd Sonnleitner,<br />

the Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt,<br />

Dr Reiner Haseloff, and the State Secretary<br />

from the Federal Ministry for Food,<br />

Agriculture and Consumer Protection,<br />

Dr Robert Kloos.<br />

Speeches and panel discussion<br />

“Living and doing business in a sustainable<br />

way: are we living up to our responsibility?”<br />

– This is the question being<br />

addressed by the former Federal Environment<br />

Minister, Klaus Töpfer, in a talk<br />

on sustainability in the early afternoon,<br />

helping to steer the gaze of the guests<br />

towards the future. A high-profile panel<br />

will shed light on this issue from their<br />

own perspectives and thereby add to<br />

the thought-provoking nature of the<br />

anniversary event: Carl- Albrecht Bartmer<br />

will participate to provide the farmers’<br />

1985<br />

Zucker-Aktiengesellschaft<br />

Uelzen-<br />

Braunschweig is<br />

founded<br />

1996 – 2000<br />

The company’s involvement<br />

in Eastern Europe begins in<br />

the Czech Republic, followed<br />

by Slovakia and Poland<br />

2003<br />

Union-Zucker joins<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong><br />

2012/13<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong>’s most<br />

successful financial<br />

year to date ends with<br />

record earnings<br />

2<br />

3<br />

4<br />

1939 – 1945<br />

Sugar is deemed “vital to the<br />

war effort”. Beet farmers and<br />

the sugar industry are called<br />

on to increase production<br />

1990<br />

Five companies join<br />

together to form the<br />

Zucker-Verbund Nord <strong>AG</strong><br />

1997<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong> is formed<br />

2009<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> acquires<br />

Nordic Sugar and truly<br />

becomes a European<br />

company<br />

6


1 2<br />

4<br />

You can find more information<br />

here:<br />

Historical commemorative publication:<br />

The commemorative publication “175 Years of<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong>. A History of Sugar.” will be presented<br />

on 26 September as part of the anniversary. The<br />

150-page book provides details of the key moments<br />

in the company’s history in an easy-to-read format<br />

over five chapters. Research includes interviews with<br />

contemporary witnesses. The book will be available<br />

in English and German. You may order a copy of the<br />

book on the internet: www.175Jahre-<strong>Nordzucker</strong>.de<br />

(nominal fee of EUR 10).<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> will publish brochures in the respective<br />

local language for regional events which provide<br />

a summary of the key milestones in <strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s<br />

history and which each contain one page devoted<br />

to that country.<br />

3<br />

You can find additional information about the company’s anniversary, as well as news on regional anniversary events being held at <strong>Nordzucker</strong> plants in August and September at<br />

www.175Jahre-<strong>Nordzucker</strong>.de.<br />

perspective, Ulrik Nehammer from<br />

Coca-Cola will give the customers’<br />

point of view and Professor Luci Reisch<br />

will discuss on behalf of consumers.<br />

Dr Klaus Schumacher will represent<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s perspective.<br />

Inka Schneider, the well-known<br />

journalist from NDR, will lead guests<br />

through the day with entertaining interviews<br />

and small cultural treats. The celebration<br />

will be brought to a pleasant<br />

end with dinner in smaller groups.<br />

Events for all employees<br />

All 3,300 employees are celebrating with<br />

us – at their own dedicated events, which<br />

range from breakfast and a family picnic<br />

to parties in the evenings. Guests from the<br />

surrounding regions and the local public<br />

are invited to the events. <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

would like to express its thanks to its<br />

entire staff for their dedication and performance,<br />

and hereby recognises the<br />

contribution of each and every person<br />

to the success of the company. tsd<br />

Akzente July 2013 7


| PaNoraMa |<br />

Previous year surpassed again<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> continues to grow strongly with rising revenues and earnings<br />

We have reduced net<br />

debt to EUR 59 million.<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> is in very<br />

good financial condition.<br />

Dr Michael Noth, Chief Financial Officer<br />

cant increase in revenues and profit<br />

thanks to the good market situation<br />

and a number of its own profit-boosting<br />

measures. Revenues rose by more than<br />

20 per cent to EUR 2.4 billion in the<br />

2012/2013 financial year. Similarly,<br />

earnings reached a new high of EUR<br />

360 million. This means that <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

comfortably surpassed the very good<br />

earnings of the previous year once again.<br />

“This is by far the best result in the history<br />

of our company,” summarised the<br />

Chief Financial Officer of <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

<strong>AG</strong>, Dr Michael Noth. “And what is particularly<br />

pleasing to see in this anniversary<br />

year: We were successful across all<br />

regions.”<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s shareholders will also be<br />

pleased about the good performance –<br />

the dividend proposed to the Annual<br />

General Meeting in July 2013 will be<br />

EUR 1.80 per share. Last year, EUR 1.00<br />

per share was paid out. In this way,<br />

shareholders enjoy a fair share of the<br />

company’s good earnings, and the company’s<br />

financing is strengthened at the<br />

same time.<br />

Earnings increase by EUR 152 million<br />

Compared to the previous year, <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

was able to increase consolidated<br />

revenues by EUR 424.8 million to EUR<br />

2.443 billion in the 2012/2013 financial<br />

year. This translated into a net income of<br />

EUR 360 million for the Group. Following<br />

EUR 208 million in the previous year,<br />

this represents a clear rise in earnings<br />

of EUR 152 million.<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> benefited above<br />

all from comparatively favourable<br />

conditions in the market with higher<br />

prices for quota sugar and a larger<br />

volume of non-quota sugar sales.<br />

Earnings were also helped by<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> has posted outstanding<br />

earnings for the third year in a row. The<br />

company was able to achieve a signifilong-term<br />

savings which took effect<br />

across the Group. These are the result<br />

of the “Profitability plus” programme,<br />

which has been running for three<br />

years. It consists of a range of measures<br />

designed to last five years and with<br />

which <strong>Nordzucker</strong> intends to boost its<br />

competitiveness. “We have made the<br />

most of market opportunities and resolutely<br />

continued on our course without<br />

neglecting the ongoing development<br />

of the company. This course is paying<br />

off,” emphasises CEO Hartwig Fuchs.<br />

Share of business abroad rises to<br />

56 per cent<br />

Once again, <strong>Nordzucker</strong> generated<br />

more than half of its revenues outside<br />

Germany. “We are a strong European<br />

company established in attractive regional<br />

markets,” says Michael Noth and refers<br />

to the trend of revenues in the three<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> regions: In the 2012/2013<br />

financial year, 44 per cent of consolidated<br />

revenues came from the Central Europe<br />

region (previous year: 47 per cent),<br />

40 per cent from the Northern Europe<br />

region (previous year: 40 per cent)<br />

and 16 per cent in the Eastern Europe<br />

region (previous year: 13 per cent).<br />

Equity rises above the one-billion mark<br />

The good earnings made it possible for<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> to strengthen its equity further,<br />

lifting it above the one billion Euro<br />

mark for the first time to EUR 1.316 billion.<br />

“We set ourselves the goal of increasing<br />

the equity ratio three years ago,” explains<br />

Michael Noth. “In 2012/2013, we were<br />

able to achieve an even better equity ratio<br />

of 55 per cent – despite a greater balance<br />

sheet total.” Moreover, <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

made the most of the good year and<br />

reduced net debt to around EUR 59 million.<br />

Michael Noth is happy about this<br />

8


Annual Report 2012/2013<br />

Hartwig Fuchs, Chief Executive Officer <strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong><br />

Annual revenues<br />

increased further<br />

In EUR m<br />

2,443<br />

2,018<br />

2011/2012<br />

2012/2013<br />

Thanks to positive conditions<br />

in the market, revenues rose<br />

by more than 20 per cent<br />

to EUR 2.4 billion in the<br />

2012/2013 financial year.<br />

Net income at record levels<br />

and believes <strong>Nordzucker</strong> is “in very<br />

good financial condition”.<br />

Sound foundation for sustainable<br />

growth<br />

With an eye on rising stock levels,<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> expects global sugar prices<br />

to remain at the currently low level, which<br />

means that <strong>Nordzucker</strong> expects a decline<br />

in revenues and earnings in the current<br />

financial year. The company will continue<br />

resolutely on its chosen course for growth<br />

and improved efficiency. “This is our key<br />

to sustainable strength and competitiveness,”<br />

emphasises the CEO. sdp<br />

In EUR m<br />

91<br />

2010/2011<br />

208<br />

2011/2012<br />

360<br />

2012/2013<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> posted<br />

record earnings for the<br />

third year in a row. This<br />

resulted primarily from<br />

higher prices for quota<br />

sugar, a greater volume<br />

of non-quota sugar sales<br />

as well as savings in production<br />

and administration<br />

in 2012/2013.<br />

Living our values.<br />

Creating growth.<br />

For more details, please<br />

refer to our Annual Report<br />

– also available online at<br />

www.nordzucker.de<br />

Akzente July 2013 9


| PaNoraMa |<br />

After more than<br />

45 years, the sugar<br />

market regime is<br />

coming to an end.<br />

EU sugar market regime<br />

to end in 2017<br />

Four more campaigns under the usual<br />

conditions<br />

Now it’s official: in just four years – on<br />

30 September 2017 – the EU sugar<br />

market regime will permanently expire.<br />

This market system, the core elements<br />

of which have been in existence since<br />

1968, will not be extended beyond this<br />

date. This was the agreement reached<br />

by the EU agriculture ministers at the<br />

end of negotiations with the European<br />

Commission and European Parliament<br />

on 26 June in Luxembourg.<br />

According to this, the market<br />

period valid until the end of the sugar<br />

marketing year 2014/2015 will be<br />

extended for one last time by two years<br />

until 2016/2017. This decision forms<br />

part of the comprehensive reform package<br />

which has been passed by the three<br />

EU bodies for their Common Agricultural<br />

Policy (CAP).<br />

The negotiations leading to the<br />

end of the sugar market regime represent<br />

a compromise. On 13 March 2013, the<br />

European Parliament had called for it<br />

to be extended by five years until 2020,<br />

whereas the European Commission<br />

wanted to let the sugar market regime<br />

expire in 2014/2015 without any extension.<br />

The EU agriculture ministers also<br />

spoke out in favour of an extension to<br />

the regime in March, but only until<br />

2016/2017.<br />

It has now been decided to allow<br />

the quota system to expire at the end<br />

of the sugar marketing year 2016/2017.<br />

The compromise is the result of protracted<br />

and difficult negotiations. Fulltime<br />

refineries will retain their exclusive<br />

access to imports of up to 2.5 million<br />

tonnes of raw cane sugar for the first<br />

three months of the sugar marketing<br />

year until September 2017.<br />

Less planning security<br />

The end of the sugar market regime and<br />

the associated discontinuation of the<br />

quota system on 30 September 2017<br />

means that <strong>Nordzucker</strong> and its beet<br />

farmers will lose a certain degree of<br />

planning security. The EU will also<br />

continue to collect the controversial<br />

production levy amounting to EUR 12<br />

per tonne of sugar, which has been in<br />

place since the 2006 reform, until 2017.<br />

Easier access to the global market<br />

Just how much the end of the sugar<br />

market regime will impact on the EU’s<br />

current ability to meet 85 per cent of its<br />

own demand, which has up to now been<br />

guaranteed by production quotas, remains<br />

to be seen, as does how sugar prices<br />

in the EU will be influenced by greater<br />

exposure to the global market in the<br />

future. Access to the global market will<br />

become easier for EU sugar companies,<br />

as the end of the quota system also means<br />

that the 1.37-million-tonne limit on exports<br />

of EU sugar by the World Trade Organisation<br />

will also be lifted. It also remains<br />

to be seen how the European market for<br />

isoglucose will develop following the<br />

end of the sugar market regime. sdp<br />

10


COMMENT BY HARTWIG FUCHS<br />

Accelerating towards a new<br />

world of sugar<br />

Two years, four years or seven years: how much time will the<br />

EU allow for changing the system of the EU sugar sector – a<br />

sector which is in many areas still dealing with the aftermath<br />

of the drastic reforms carried out between 2006 and 2009? At<br />

the end of June, we learned the answer: after four more campaigns,<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> will enter a new sugar industry – without<br />

a market regime. We have been given two more years than<br />

originally feared to prepare for the change – but three years<br />

less than we would have liked. A compromise. No reason to<br />

celebrate, but also no cause to stick our heads in the sand.<br />

Quite the opposite!<br />

How will things proceed<br />

from 2017?<br />

Following the drastic reforms in 2006, the time following the end<br />

of the sugar market regime will once again present major challenges<br />

for beet farmers and the sugar industry in the EU. The focus of<br />

the coming years will also be on boosting the efficiency and competitiveness<br />

of beet cultivation and sugar production. In addition to<br />

this, new systems of contracts for beet cultivation will be required<br />

to be able to manage the two-year period between crop planning<br />

and sugar sales without the market regime instruments which had<br />

previously applied. <strong>Nordzucker</strong> will continue to negotiate beet<br />

cultivation and delivery terms with the agricultural associations. A<br />

key issue will be what forms of price hedging for sugar will be in<br />

place in four years. Under consideration are systems such as those<br />

commonly used for rapeseed and wheat, for instance. Protection<br />

against sugar imports to the EU which will remain valid after 2017<br />

is also important for sugar production in Europe. This means that<br />

sugar must continue to be excluded from talks on bilateral and<br />

multinational trade agreements. <br />

sdp<br />

Quickly becoming more commercial and competitive<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> must become more commercial and competitive<br />

at a much quicker pace. That’s the key message! The fact that<br />

we have the strength required for this is a testament to the<br />

enormous progress we have made in recent years. We set<br />

our course early on – to improve efficiency and profitability<br />

on a continuous basis. Now it is for us and our beet farmers<br />

to continue on this path with dedication and resolution. And<br />

now we have a fixed deadline – which is good for us all.<br />

With the discontinuation of the quota system and the<br />

WTO export limit, the EU market will be influenced to a<br />

greater extent by events in the global market after 2017. The<br />

EU currently covers around 85 per cent of the sugar required<br />

for the food industry from domestic production. After 2017,<br />

all of the sugar produced in the EU will be available for use<br />

in food. Moreover, we will be in greater competition with isoglucose<br />

among our customers as this will also no longer be<br />

subject to a quota system. Last but not least, beet must hold<br />

its ground over the long term against competing crops in the<br />

field and also compete with a potential rise in imports of cane<br />

sugar. However, not only does the end of the sugar market<br />

regime bring new tasks, it also brings new opportunities. The<br />

lifting of the WTO limit on sugar exports means that we will<br />

be able to benefit much more from the export market – provided<br />

of course that we do well and prices allow for this. It is<br />

also certain that there will be another wave of consolidation<br />

in the EU. And <strong>Nordzucker</strong> will be actively involved in this.<br />

We will be able to master successfully the discontinuation<br />

of familiar regime instruments and the transition to a new world<br />

of sugar with passion and courage in the right places – I am<br />

sure of this! The important thing is to stand together with our<br />

farmers. And to have policies that live up to their responsibility<br />

to create new, sensible framework conditions. <br />

Akzente July 2013 11


| PaNoraMa |<br />

A late, cold start to the beet year<br />

Delayed growth particularly in the German and Danish growing areas<br />

“In Denmark crops are lagging around ten days<br />

behind “normal” years. On a positive note, we are<br />

seeing high plant populations per hectare and<br />

excellent herbicide effects in all four countries.”<br />

Christer Sperlingsson, Senior Manager<br />

Beet Supply, Nordic Sugar<br />

“The long winter, wet soil and flooded fields did not<br />

allow for early sowing. We are all the more happy<br />

that our growers in Poland and Slovakia made use of<br />

all available resources and were able to get the beets<br />

planted in just 16 days.”<br />

Dr Gerd Jung, Senior Vice President, Beet<br />

Procurement <strong>Nordzucker</strong> Eastern Europe<br />

“Just like humans, beets don’t like being cold<br />

and wet! Our 2013 beet year is likely to be below<br />

average.”<br />

Volker Bückmann, Senior Vice President, Beet<br />

Procurement <strong>Nordzucker</strong> Central Europe<br />

In 2013, sugar beet sowing began later<br />

than the five-year average in most of the<br />

countries where <strong>Nordzucker</strong> grows sugar<br />

beet. Compared with the very early<br />

compact sowing in 2012, almost every<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> beet office recorded a much<br />

later start to sowing at the beginning of<br />

April and much longer sowing periods<br />

were also widespread. In many places,<br />

orders had to be interrupted on several<br />

occasions due to late frost and heavy<br />

downpours. Sowing was fully completed<br />

in Germany, Poland and Slovakia at the<br />

end of April. Sowing in Denmark was<br />

also eleven days behind the five-year<br />

average. Only in Sweden was it possible<br />

for growers to drill their beet at their<br />

usual times – and even then there were<br />

major differences between growing areas<br />

in the west and the east.<br />

Very good initial conditions<br />

Good soil structure, mellowness due to<br />

frost and sufficient soil moisture ensured<br />

very good initial conditions across the<br />

board and thereby enabled even plant<br />

carpet levels to be achieved with optimum<br />

plant density. Likewise, the effect<br />

of herbicides was very good on the whole<br />

thanks to favourable soil moisture, although<br />

growth delays brought on by<br />

herbicide stress were observed locally.<br />

April and May were persistently<br />

cold and rainy months, particularly in<br />

Germany and Denmark. Sugar beets<br />

grew at a very slow pace and row closure<br />

was only observed at the end of<br />

June in many parts of both countries.<br />

Shortly after Whitsun, Germany was hit<br />

by local flooding and surface siltation<br />

following heavy rains. Low-lying parts<br />

of the beet catchment areas of the<br />

plants in Schladen, Nordstemmen and<br />

Clauen were particularly affected, with<br />

over 100 mm of rain per day and square<br />

metre falling on and around 25 May.<br />

Crops in Finland and Lithuania<br />

developed rapidly and very well under<br />

12


Not a record year<br />

In almost all of <strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s growing<br />

areas, beet was sown later in<br />

2013 than in previous years. How<br />

big is the actual “delay”?<br />

Dr. Pörksen: Across the Group, beet<br />

seed was sowed between two and three<br />

weeks later this year than in the previous<br />

year. However, when compared<br />

with the five-year average, we are only<br />

an average of ten days late. There was<br />

a late spring in all growing countries,<br />

which was particularly pronounced in<br />

Germany and Finland, where beet sowings<br />

were completed on average three<br />

weeks later than in 2012.<br />

What is the current situation in the<br />

beet fields? Do you see any chance<br />

for stocks to make up lost ground?<br />

Dr. Pörksen: Definitely not. The delay<br />

can no longer be recovered. Persistently<br />

cold weather, a lot of rain and not<br />

enough sunshine meant that the crops<br />

persisted for too long in the two-leaf<br />

and four-leaf stage. This was compounded<br />

by growth delays brought on by the<br />

outstanding effect of herbicides on the<br />

moist soil during 2013. Moreover, many<br />

of our growers in Germany had to deal<br />

with heavy rainfall at the end of May,<br />

including some flooded fields and siltation.<br />

Fortunately, there were not many<br />

cases of complete losses. Nevertheless,<br />

beet growth has been impacted by<br />

extremely warm, sunny weather conditions<br />

with sufficient rainfall, which<br />

meant it was also possible to partially<br />

compensate for the late sowing here<br />

and, as in Sweden, to achieve stock<br />

levels on a par with the five-year average.<br />

In Poland and Slovakia, warm<br />

weather conditions following sowing<br />

together with sufficiently moist soil conditions<br />

and regular rainfall ensured rapid<br />

field emergence and good development<br />

of crops. Growth here was also slowed<br />

by a cold snap in the latter part of May.<br />

these additional factors in many of these<br />

areas.<br />

From today’s perspective, what<br />

does this mean for the 2013 beet<br />

harvest and campaign?<br />

Dr. Pörksen: It is clear that this beet year<br />

will not be a record year. <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

will process a significantly smaller beet<br />

harvest. If everything goes well, we will<br />

achieve maximum yields on a par with<br />

the five-year average. The decision as<br />

to when we will begin processing the<br />

beets will depend on the results of the<br />

lifting tests in August. What I can say is<br />

that, from today’s perspective, I do not<br />

see any reason to start the campaign<br />

early. <br />

Interview by Susanne Dismer-Puls<br />

Overall, stock levels in both countries<br />

are healthy. Approximately half of the<br />

areas sowed saw row closure by 10<br />

June, with the remaining areas following<br />

around ten days later.<br />

Harvest outlook: about average<br />

Overall, beet development in Germany<br />

and Denmark at the end of June points<br />

to a generally below-average beet year<br />

in 2013. <strong>Nordzucker</strong> expects average<br />

yields in Sweden, Finland and Lithuania,<br />

and solidly average yields in Eastern<br />

Europe. <br />

sdp<br />

The amount of<br />

beet to be processed<br />

will be<br />

much smaller in<br />

this campaign.<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> tests yield<br />

potential of the paper<br />

pot method<br />

Early sowing and a long period of<br />

growth are the keys to success for sugar<br />

beet cultivation. The longer the frostsensitive<br />

beet can grow, the greater the<br />

chances are of achieving above-average<br />

yields. To what extent can the yield be<br />

increased through longer growth periods<br />

made possible by using young beet<br />

plants grown in advance? <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

investigates this question as part of its<br />

20 · 20 · 20 initiative in a field trial in<br />

Schleswig-Holstein.<br />

Eight-week head start<br />

In Kronprinzenkoog in Dithmarschen,<br />

around 7,000 young beet plants were<br />

transferred from the greenhouse on<br />

10 April 2013. The plants were transferred<br />

using a cabbage transplanter by<br />

the farmers Björn Göser and Hans-Reimer<br />

Thießen and have a growth advantage<br />

of up to eight weeks over the sugar beet<br />

usually drilled in Schleswig-Holstein.<br />

The plants were sown early in the<br />

greenhouse in paper pots on 19 and<br />

26 February. The paper pots are around<br />

15-centimetre-high containers made<br />

from paper that dissolve in the soil.<br />

sdp<br />

Akzente July 2013 13


Sustainability Report 2012/2013<br />

| PaNoraMa |<br />

Sustainable production from the field to the end<br />

product is becoming increasingly important.<br />

Defined product, environment, safety<br />

and social standards are documented.<br />

Follow us: take an interest in our work<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> publishes its third Sustainability Report<br />

Follow us<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s<br />

Sustainability Report:<br />

available in print and<br />

online.<br />

“Follow us” is the confident title of <strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s 60-page<br />

report. The idea is for people to follow us or “take an interest<br />

in our work”, as people do on social media sites such as Facebook<br />

or Twitter.<br />

“We no longer need to call for this,” laughs Chief Operating<br />

Officer Axel Aumüller. There has long been an interest in what<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> does when it comes to sustainability. “And this interest<br />

is rising,” he emphasises. In importance and commitment.<br />

“The number of customers coming to us with questions about<br />

the sustainability of our production is increasing. This trend has<br />

been led by large customers,” explains Axel Aumüller. “Particularly<br />

food producers that buy and sell around the world have developed<br />

very clear requirements.” <strong>Nordzucker</strong> is expected to introduce<br />

defined product, environmental, safety and social standards<br />

in its production – and for these to be clearly documented.<br />

In focus: the entire process chain<br />

Indeed, with such requirements, <strong>Nordzucker</strong> customers also safeguard<br />

their own sustainability approach. “And this now extends<br />

along the entire supply chain for an increasing number of our<br />

customers,” highlights Axel Aumüller. “From the field to our<br />

factories and, finally, to the end consumer.”<br />

Setting an example for generations<br />

“Follow us” also means “follow our example”. A number of the<br />

interim results documented by <strong>Nordzucker</strong> in its current Sustainability<br />

Report are truly trend-setting. It is no coincidence that<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> will celebrate its 175th anniversary in the days and<br />

weeks to come. Wherever beet grows, it has been growing for<br />

generations: up to today with sustainably rising yields and the<br />

decreasing use of resources. “This anniversary would be unthinkable<br />

without the generations of farmers who have been<br />

investing in the fertility of their soil over the long term – certainly<br />

something which is not to be taken for granted,” summarises Axel<br />

Aumüller. By the same token, the high standards in <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

factories achieved by continuous improvements in energy efficiency<br />

and CO 2<br />

savings are also recognised. “In this respect,<br />

we are a popular model for others. But we are also in a good<br />

position across the Group in matters relating to product safety.”<br />

14


Energy efficiency and CO 2<br />

savings at <strong>Nordzucker</strong> set an example.<br />

Dedicated: <strong>Nordzucker</strong> provides a comprehensive<br />

summary in its Sustainability Report.<br />

Values provide guidance in daily business<br />

In its Sustainability Report, <strong>Nordzucker</strong> provides interesting<br />

insights into all stages of the sugar production process: points<br />

of contact for discussion and orientation by way of the guidelines<br />

according to which <strong>Nordzucker</strong> works. Key objectives how to live<br />

the <strong>Nordzucker</strong> values and how to incorporate our sustainability<br />

goals into daily work will be dealt in the <strong>Nordzucker</strong> Code of<br />

Conduct which will be available online soon.<br />

Voluntary compendium, not just for customers<br />

“Our Sustainability Report is not something that is required by<br />

law,” emphasises Marion Schaefer energetically. “This is something<br />

we do voluntarily and which our business partners really<br />

want to read,” explains <strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s sustainability coordinator.<br />

“It’s a compendium for experts and anyone who wants to know<br />

more about us.” There is particular interest within the company<br />

from sales, according to Marion Schaefer. Externally, the report is<br />

on hand during every customer audit. In future, there will also be<br />

an abridged version for customer talks. It is also useful during discussions<br />

with banks or in the factories if a visit from the environmental<br />

authorities is due, for instance. <strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s 2012/2013<br />

Sustainability Report has been in print since the beginning of<br />

April and is also available online: anyone can leaf though it<br />

virtually at <strong>Nordzucker</strong>/<strong>downloads</strong>. <br />

sdp<br />

Key investments<br />

for the 2013 campaign<br />

Energy, water, product safety, logistics<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> concludes two large, multi-year investment projects<br />

for the 2013 campaign: The new EUR 17.5 million evaporation<br />

dryer is entering service for the first time at the Danish plant of<br />

Nakskov; the Clauen factory also is launching the new juice purification<br />

system installed at a cost of EUR 5 million. At the same<br />

time, preliminary work to install an additional evaporation dryer<br />

and a vertical crystallisation tower (VCT) will be completed in the<br />

Swedish factory of Örtofta – two new large projects with a total<br />

volume of EUR 23.3 million, which will both be ready for use in<br />

2014. Energy and CO 2<br />

savings are also top priorities in 2013. The<br />

evaporation dryer in Nakskov will cut annual energy consumption<br />

across the entire plant by a quarter in the future thanks to the innovative<br />

technology used to dry pulp. Furthermore, <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

is investing around EUR 3.7 million in the enhancement of product<br />

safety. Starting in autumn, packaging machines and loading<br />

stations at all <strong>Nordzucker</strong> factories are to be equipped with socalled<br />

all-metal recognition. Ongoing projects for the futureoriented<br />

treatment of wastewater have also taken big steps. A<br />

further EUR 1.7 million has been invested in the Nordstemmen<br />

plant for the third construction phase of the project launched<br />

there to improve odour emissions. After having completed the<br />

anaerobic system in the previous year, the Polish <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

plant in Opalenica will complete the modernisation of its wastewater<br />

treatment plant with the commissioning of the aerobic<br />

system. The new facilities in Opalenica were installed for a total<br />

of EUR 3.9 million. Moreover, a new, 80,000-tonne silo is currently<br />

under construction in Uelzen, which will enter service during the<br />

next campaign <br />

sdp<br />

Akzente July 2013 15


| A LOOK AT THE MARKET |<br />

THE SUGAR MARKET<br />

European Commission<br />

approves additional imports<br />

from the global market<br />

European Commission:<br />

1.2 million tonnes of<br />

additional sugar.<br />

Since the 2006 amendment to the EU sugar market regime,<br />

the EU has only been able to meet around 85 per cent of its<br />

needs in the food industry from domestic production. The EU<br />

has since become a net importer of sugar and, in particular,<br />

has become dependent on imports from so-called ACP / LDC<br />

countries (ACP = former colonies of France and the UK in Africa,<br />

the Caribbean and the Pacific; LDC = least developed countries).<br />

However, these imports do not come automatically. If the<br />

world market price is above the prices which can be achieved<br />

in the EU, there is only a limited incentive for the ACP / LDC<br />

countries to sell their sugar to the EU.<br />

In order to prevent a potential shortage of supply in the EU<br />

market, the European Commission has the option of ensuring<br />

a greater supply of sugar. There are two particular instruments<br />

available here: on the one hand, the conversion of non-quota<br />

sugar to quota sugar which may then be used in the food sector<br />

and, on the other, allowing additional imports with reduced<br />

import duties. As Akzente reported, the European Commission<br />

already made use of both of these instruments in the two previous<br />

sugar marketing years.<br />

Approving sugar for human consumption would relieve the<br />

market<br />

Given that the European Commission also expects supplies<br />

to be tight in the EU’s sugar market in the current 2012/2013<br />

financial year, it decided in January 2013 in the Management<br />

committee to bring an additional 1.2 million tonnes of sugar<br />

to the EU market. “With human consumption of around<br />

16.9 million tonnes, this amounts to around seven per cent<br />

of annual sugar consumption in the EU’s food sector,” says<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> market expert Dr Klaus Schumacher. Half of this,<br />

totalling 600,000 tonnes, comes from the conversion of nonquota<br />

sugar to quota sugar. The applications for this approval<br />

were made by the sugar producers (maximum 50,000 tonnes<br />

per legally independent corporate entity). The European<br />

Commission divided the release of the 600,000 tonnes into<br />

four tranches, each with 150,000 tonnes. In view of the fact<br />

that the volumes applied for were much higher, allocation was<br />

made on a pro-rata basis. If non-quota sugar is released then<br />

levies must be paid. These are below the usual rate as a result<br />

of the special measures taken (see image). The remaining<br />

600,000 tonnes approved in January may be imported from<br />

any non-EU country with reduced import duties. This volume<br />

may not be imported all at once, but must be divided into a<br />

total of four tender procedures.<br />

Four tender procedures in 2013<br />

“In these so-called import tender procedures, the interested<br />

companies make a bid as to the amount of import duties per<br />

tonne they would be prepared to pay for a certain quantity of<br />

additionally imported sugar. Approval is then given to the bidder<br />

who offered to pay the highest import duties,” explains<br />

Klaus Schumacher. In the course of these four tenders, offers<br />

were accepted for a total of 371,000 tonnes of raw sugar and<br />

174,000 tonnes of white sugar. The reduced import duties<br />

were between EUR 141 and EUR 195 for raw sugar per tonne<br />

and between EUR 161 and EUR 240 per tonne for white sugar.<br />

The European Commission expects that the additional<br />

supply of 1.2 million tonnes of sugar will ensure sufficient stock<br />

levels until the end of the 2012/2013 sugar marketing year,<br />

and thereby ensure adequate supply in the market. tm, nt<br />

16


731 per tonne [as of April 2013]. As a<br />

result, it is above the reference price of<br />

EUR 404 per tonne.<br />

Interview<br />

In contrast to the situation around two<br />

years ago, when the global market price<br />

was sometimes above the EU price, it<br />

is currently at EUR 391 per tonne, well<br />

below the EU market price and even on<br />

a par with the reference price. The gap<br />

is therefore now widening significantly<br />

in the other direction. However, the<br />

statistics do not tell the whole truth, as<br />

they reflect prices from contracts which<br />

are currently in effect and which were<br />

signed last year in some cases. The market<br />

situation today is different. Prices for<br />

new contracts and for spot sales have<br />

fallen.<br />

Global market prices are currently at<br />

a much lower level than in July 2012.<br />

The reason for this is that harvests have<br />

been good, leading to an increase in<br />

stockpiles in the global market. Nevertheless,<br />

the European Commission expects<br />

supplies to be tight in the EU’s<br />

sugar market during the current sugar<br />

marketing year. Reasons cited for this<br />

include higher consumption levels than<br />

previously expected and the resulting<br />

smaller stockpiles. Consequently, the<br />

European Commission has introduced<br />

measures to bring an additional 1.2 mil-<br />

lion tonnes of sugar to the EU market by<br />

means of import tenders and allowing<br />

non-quota sugar to be used as well.<br />

Nina Tatter spoke to the Chief Marketing<br />

Officer, Mats Liljestam.<br />

How high are sugar prices in the<br />

global and EU markets at the moment?<br />

Mats Liljestam: The average EU market<br />

price as indicated in the EU Commission’s<br />

price reporting has been very stable in<br />

recent months and is currently at EUR<br />

What do you think of the release<br />

of 600,000 tonnes of non-quota<br />

sugar by the EU and the lower customs<br />

duties for imports of another<br />

600,000 tonnes of sugar from the<br />

global market? What does this<br />

mean for <strong>Nordzucker</strong>?<br />

Mats Liljestam We have been involved in<br />

the process to release non-quota sugar<br />

but, in actual fact, this measure wasn’t<br />

really necessary as the market has a sufficient<br />

supply of sugar. On the contrary,<br />

these steps result in increases of stockpiles<br />

in the EU and we had to inform our beet<br />

farmers that they should grow less beet<br />

for the 2013/2014 campaign. <br />

Measures used by the European Commission to avoid supply shortages in the EU<br />

Measure 1: Allowing additional imports with reduced<br />

import duties:<br />

Measure 2: Approving the conversion of<br />

non-quota sugar to quota sugar for use in<br />

the food industry:<br />

Reduced customs<br />

duties for imports in<br />

2012/2013:<br />

(in EUR per tonne)<br />

Raw sugar 141–195<br />

White sugar 161–240<br />

Normal customs duties<br />

for sugar imports to<br />

the EU:<br />

Duties levied for the<br />

European Commission’s<br />

special measures:<br />

between EUR 148 and<br />

EUR 224 per tonne<br />

Normal duty:<br />

EUR 500 per tonne<br />

Raw sugar 339<br />

White sugar 419<br />

Akzente July 2013 17


| CLOSE-UP |<br />

Boosting the competitiveness<br />

of beet with 20 tonnes of sugar<br />

20 · 20 · 20 meeting in Reinstorf<br />

Dr Niels Pörksen:<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> is preparing<br />

for the future with<br />

20 · 20 · 20.<br />

What adjustments need to be made so<br />

that 20 per cent of beet farmers are able<br />

to produce 20 tonnes of sugar per hectare<br />

in 2020? The beet procurement team<br />

is investigating this question across the<br />

entire Group. A large 20 · 20 · 20 meeting<br />

took place in Reinstorf on 13 June.<br />

The motto of the day was “Agri and<br />

beet shape the future”, since in order<br />

for beet to remain competitive with<br />

other crops, yields need to be increased.<br />

“This is the starting point of<br />

our project 20 · 20 · 20. Since the project<br />

was launched in 2011, we have already<br />

handled a variety of different issues,<br />

such as the autumn strip tilling process<br />

on heavy soil, combined drilling or avoiding<br />

harvest losses. Now the task is to<br />

think ahead with our entire <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

team of advisers,” says Chief Agricultural<br />

Officer Dr Niels Pörksen.<br />

The task in the future, even more<br />

so than today, will be to increase the<br />

competitiveness of beet – one of the<br />

conclusions of the meeting. Just how<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> benefits from international<br />

exchange was evident in the working<br />

groups. Colleagues from the various<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> countries came together to<br />

discuss the issues of increasing yields,<br />

cultivation advising, communication,<br />

sustainability and cooperation with<br />

farmers.<br />

“Conditions are different in every<br />

natural environment. However, there are<br />

regions in our Group that are comparable<br />

to each other. As a result, sharing<br />

and discussing the results and findings<br />

from various countries with colleagues<br />

is a key part of our international cooperation<br />

in the Group. Together we will<br />

achieve our objective,” underscores<br />

Niels Pörksen.<br />

The aim of the meeting in Reinstorf<br />

was not just to discuss what had<br />

already been achieved and how the<br />

results could be used in other natural<br />

18


Four values – one company<br />

Responsibility, dedication, courage and appreciation<br />

Senior Vice President Jannik Robin Olejas<br />

led the discussion.<br />

Together and international: <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

colleagues from every site exchanged views<br />

and ideas.<br />

Which values guide our actions? Employees<br />

at all <strong>Nordzucker</strong> sites have<br />

been discussing and examining the<br />

four values of responsibility, dedication,<br />

courage and appreciation for more<br />

than a year. The aim is to turn these<br />

values into a common framework for<br />

action across the entire Group.<br />

In order to achieve this, last year’s motto<br />

was “The values are being discussed”. The<br />

values were discussed in all <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

countries and at every level in order to<br />

develop a shared understanding. The<br />

focus of this second year is now to see<br />

that they become a standard part of<br />

everyday work at <strong>Nordzucker</strong>. The aim<br />

is to live out the values in matters both<br />

big and small – forming the basis of our<br />

actions in negotiations, meetings or employee<br />

appraisals. The same applies to<br />

Group guidelines and standards, which<br />

are also set on the basis of these corporate<br />

values. “With our values, <strong>Nordzucker</strong> is<br />

in the process of creating its own <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

culture that transcends both cul-<br />

tural and national borders. With their help,<br />

we will work together even better, regardless<br />

of whether we work in Germany,<br />

Poland or Finland, in an office or a factory.<br />

The values bring us closer together and<br />

this will strengthen <strong>Nordzucker</strong>. I am proud<br />

of the level of dedication our employees<br />

have brought to the process and its development,”<br />

said CEO Hartwig Fuchs.<br />

Discussing and reflecting on the values<br />

is not an end in itself: “Each of us has<br />

our own individual set of values, of which<br />

we may not even be fully aware. By talking<br />

about this, we develop a shared understanding<br />

and raise awareness for the application<br />

of these values. The values are also<br />

a good tool if, for instance, decisions need<br />

to be made,” says Bianca Deppe-Leickel,<br />

project manager in the values team.<br />

The fact that the values process at<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> is being supported by the<br />

whole company shows how much the<br />

staff is interested in it. Colleagues who<br />

want to be value ambassadors and<br />

advance the process forward have been<br />

found throughout the company. nt<br />

environments, but also to gather new<br />

ideas. “In the working groups, we<br />

looked for ideas that were a bit off the<br />

beaten track. After all, if you look at<br />

where we are now and where beet<br />

cultivation was 10 or 15 years ago, you<br />

can see that a big leap has been made.<br />

Much of what we do today was unimaginable<br />

back then. This is why<br />

we were looking for ideas for new<br />

things in Reinstorf that would be difficult<br />

to implement today,” says Jannik<br />

Robin Olejas, Senior Vice President Beet<br />

Procurement Northern Europe, who led<br />

the groups. <br />

nt<br />

Responsibility<br />

Courage<br />

Engagement<br />

Dedication<br />

Appreciation<br />

Akzente Juli 2013 19


| CLOSE-UP |<br />

Tomasz Soliwodzki<br />

has been Director of<br />

the Chełmża plant and<br />

sugar refinery since<br />

2004. The factory has<br />

been running a raw<br />

sugar campaign every<br />

year since 2008.<br />

Two in one<br />

The Chełmża plant runs a sugar beet and raw sugar campaign every year<br />

The Dvadesetprvi Maj lies shining with<br />

its red hull and the four white loading<br />

cranes in the port of Gdynia. The bulk<br />

carrier from Africa took about three<br />

weeks to get to the Baltic port to north<br />

of Gdansk. It will take nine days for the<br />

raw sugar in the port to be completely<br />

unloaded, after which the carrier can<br />

depart on a new trip. The raw cane<br />

sugar is destined for the Chełmża refinery.<br />

A visit to <strong>Nordzucker</strong> Polska and<br />

the Chełmża site:<br />

“When we equipped the Chełmża sugar<br />

factory to produce sugar from beet as<br />

well as refine raw cane sugar in 2008, we<br />

were the first sugar refinery in Poland.<br />

Today there is a second and it belongs<br />

to a competitor,” explains Tomasz Soliwodzki,<br />

Director of the Chełmża plant<br />

and refinery.<br />

Between spring and summer, the<br />

refinery turns raw sugar into white sugar<br />

for around two months. The sugar comes<br />

from Central America, South America or<br />

Africa. “The sugar is brought to us by truck.<br />

They reverse up the ramp and unload.<br />

The sugar is brought to the warehouse<br />

by a screw conveyor and conveyor belts,”<br />

continues Tomasz Soliwodzki.<br />

We enter the factory’s raw sugar warehouse.<br />

Around 4,000 tonnes of raw sugar<br />

can be stored here. During our visit, there<br />

is only a small amount of raw sugar in<br />

the warehouse. A wheel loader tips the<br />

brown raw sugar, which resembles sand<br />

from a distance, though coarse grating<br />

onto large piles. Conveyor belts located<br />

below take the sugar to the first stage<br />

of the refining process: “The sugar we<br />

receive needs to be cleaned before it<br />

can be processed. In the affination mash<br />

stage, which we rebuilt in 2008, the sugar<br />

crystals are washed and then spun in the<br />

affination centrifuges to separate them<br />

from non-sugar substances. This is the<br />

first stage of cleaning,” says Kazimierz<br />

Kuśmierek, who led the conversion from<br />

“conventional” sugar factory to combined<br />

factory as production engineer.<br />

This produces the syrup, which is then<br />

purified and filtered before being decolourised.<br />

Decolourisation plays a critical<br />

role in the refining of raw sugar: a special<br />

resin absorbs the colouring. The syrup<br />

is then concentrated, filtered and crystallised.<br />

The decolourisation station in<br />

Chełmża is one of only a few in Europe.<br />

We continue on through the refinery<br />

and Kazimierz Kuśmierek explains:<br />

“The real difference between refining<br />

and campaign operation is that white<br />

sugar is produced simultaneously at<br />

three stages during refining in our plant.<br />

At the same time, three additional products<br />

are created, known as recoveries,<br />

which need to be processed again. They<br />

are dissolved and boiled a second time<br />

until white sugar has formed. In contrast,<br />

we receive one product during the beet<br />

campaign, white sugar, and two products<br />

that need to be dissolved and processed<br />

again at the same time.”<br />

The plant runs a beet campaign<br />

every year in the autumn and winter,<br />

and processes the beet of local farmers<br />

just like other <strong>Nordzucker</strong> plants. The<br />

time between the end of the beet campaign<br />

and raw sugar refining is short<br />

and the window for the necessary conversion<br />

work is correspondingly small:<br />

“In order for the factory to become a<br />

refinery, flow paths between the different<br />

pieces of equipment have to be<br />

changed. This involves resetting various<br />

flaps differently and recalibrating around<br />

200 dummy discs,” explains Tomasz<br />

Soliwodzki. <br />

nt<br />

20


Everything under control: whether in the<br />

midst of raw sugar refining or a beet campaign<br />

– the control centre monitors every<br />

stage of production.<br />

Are the colour values correct? Quality<br />

controls are carried out in the laboratory.<br />

Chełmża is approximately 20 kilometres away from Toruń. Beet was first processed here in 1882.<br />

During the campaign, around 70 trucks bring<br />

their raw sugar to the factory every day.<br />

Raw cane sugar from Africa<br />

Ships carrying raw sugar arrive at the port in<br />

Gdynia in order to supply the refinery with sugar<br />

for its two-month-long refining campaign..<br />

Automated<br />

At the service centre in Chełmża, 1 kg packs, 25 kg<br />

sacks and big bags of up to 1,000 kg are filled. The<br />

service centre’s performance was expanded and optimised<br />

with the addition of the third palletising robot<br />

in 2012.<br />

Akzente July 2013 21


| SWEEt StoriES |<br />

Summertime,<br />

berry time ...<br />

Strawberries are Europe’s favourite fruit<br />

The summer can be stored in jars – in<br />

the form of home-made strawberry,<br />

apricot, currant or blackberry jam. All<br />

you need is fruit, preserving sugar or<br />

normal sugar and jars for the finished<br />

jam. This way you can continue enjoying<br />

summer even in the winter. The methods<br />

used to make jam vary considerably<br />

throughout Europe.<br />

“Polish households mainly use<br />

strawberries, apples and plums to make<br />

jam. This means that tasty jam is made<br />

at home the whole summer long. In<br />

contrast to Germany, most people use<br />

normal sugar and add gelling agents<br />

such as pectin themselves,” explains Mária<br />

Cselková, Marketing & Communication<br />

Specialist at the Slovakian <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

subsidiary Považský cukor a.s. “In Slovakia,<br />

strawberries, followed by peaches and<br />

plums, are the preferred ingredients<br />

when it comes to making jam. The fruits<br />

are brought to a boil and then sugar is<br />

added. We often use normal household<br />

sugar as well as preserving sugar.<br />

Strawberry jam is also very popular in<br />

Germany. It is a top seller for the large jam<br />

producers, and strawberries are preferred<br />

over any other kind of fruit for home-made<br />

jam, just as in Poland and Slovakia.<br />

The season begins a little later in<br />

Northern Europe than in Germany or<br />

Poland. Strawberries are also one of the<br />

preferred fruits in Northern Europe. “In<br />

Finland, most customers use our Dansukker<br />

preserving sugar. Customers in the Baltic<br />

states often use household sugar without<br />

the addition of pectin. The jam is then<br />

boiled for a very long time until it has<br />

reached the desired texture,” explains<br />

Jeanette Nordenhem, Product Marketing<br />

Manager at Nordic Sugar. <br />

nt<br />

22


Summer with<br />

Dansukker<br />

Nordic Sugar gives its customers in<br />

Denmark and Sweden tips on making<br />

preserves with Dansukker products.<br />

The brochures “Det smager af sommer!”<br />

(“The taste of summer!”) form<br />

part of the summer campaign along<br />

with recipes and ideas, as well as a<br />

video on the social media sites You-<br />

Tube and Facebook. Here you can<br />

learn, step by step, how quick and<br />

easy it is to make jam yourself using<br />

fruit and berries. “We invite our customers<br />

to make their own jam. To<br />

do this, we make concerted use of<br />

different channels so that our customers<br />

receive tips in different ways,”<br />

says Product Marketing<br />

Manager Jeanette<br />

Nordenhem. <br />

Tasty: Jam made from fresh<br />

summer fruits.<br />

Make and enjoy jam with SweetFamily by <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

Fancy some jam<br />

with a hint of vanilla<br />

and lemon balm?<br />

Try the “Taste of<br />

the Year”.<br />

This year, SweetFamily by <strong>Nordzucker</strong> is offering its customers<br />

in Germany two new products for making jam. A new “Taste<br />

of the Year” and a preserving sugar with reduced calories thanks<br />

to the sweetness provided by the stevia plant.<br />

“Our preserving sugar ‘Taste of the Year’ with a vanilla and<br />

lemon balm taste is particularly suited to strawberries and brings<br />

variety to the breakfast table with its fresh and harmonious combination,”<br />

says Anne Hofmann, Product Manager.<br />

SweetFamily’s stevia preserving sugar is new on supermarket<br />

shelves and combines the calorie-free sweetness of the stevia plant<br />

with the sweetness of sugar. “Home-made fruit spread made<br />

with SweetFamily’s stevia preserving sugar contains 40 per cent<br />

fewer calories than the same amount of a fruit spread prepared<br />

entirely with preserving sugar,” says Anne Hofmann.<br />

For tasty recipes and ideas for jam and jellies, go to<br />

www.sweet-family.de <br />

Akzente July 2013 23


| iN BriEF |<br />

Holdings<br />

Nordharzer Zucker <strong>AG</strong> and<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> Holding <strong>AG</strong> propose a merger<br />

At their Annual General Meetings on 9 and 10 July, Nordharzer Zucker <strong>AG</strong> and<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> Holding <strong>AG</strong> put forward a resolution to their shareholders which<br />

proposes the merger of Nordharzer Zucker <strong>AG</strong> and <strong>Nordzucker</strong> Holding <strong>AG</strong>.<br />

The aim of the merger is to “increase influence over <strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong>, to pool the<br />

interests of agricultural shareholders and to thereby strengthen the voting right<br />

at the Annual General Meeting of <strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong>,” says Hans Jochen Bosse,<br />

Chief Executive Officer of Nordharzer Zucker <strong>AG</strong>, and Helmut Bleckwenn, Deputy<br />

Chairman of <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

Holding <strong>AG</strong>, adds: “We<br />

see the merger as a key<br />

strategic step. A merger<br />

with Nordharzer would<br />

reinforce our influence<br />

over <strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong>.” <br />

ed<br />

Birthday<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> starts the<br />

anniversary year by donating<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong> has provided the local church<br />

and town trust of Klein Wanzleben with support<br />

amounting to EUR 60,000 in its anniversary<br />

year. After all, it was in 1838 – 175 years ago<br />

– that the sugar factory, which has retained<br />

its importance at a European level, was established<br />

in the Magdeburg Börde by 19 farmers,<br />

craftsmen and proprietors. Klein Wanzleben<br />

has since acquired the nickname “Zuckerdorf”,<br />

which means “sugar village”. This connects<br />

the two historically successful developments<br />

of the sugar factory and seed production of<br />

KWS. <br />

ed<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> helps<br />

Donations for<br />

flood victims<br />

“<strong>Nordzucker</strong> helps”, the internal fundraising<br />

campaign for the flood victims, raised almost EUR<br />

20,000 from employees, which the company then<br />

rounded up to EUR 50,000.<br />

“We are very impressed by our employees’<br />

willingness to donate and would like to thank all<br />

donors for their support. This result is evidence<br />

of the wonderful attitude of our employees,” says<br />

CEO Hartwig Fuchs.<br />

The donation will go to the alliance of German<br />

aid organisations “Hochwasser Aktion Deutschland<br />

Hilft e.V.” <br />

ed<br />

20 · 20 · 20<br />

Ideas to put into practice<br />

Lower Saxony beet day in Vinstedt<br />

The Lower Saxony beet<br />

day in Vinstedt, in the<br />

county of Uelzen, took<br />

place on 12 June 2013<br />

on the farm of Friedrich-<br />

Karl Bodin under the<br />

motto “Ideas to put into<br />

practice”. The overriding<br />

objective of the joint<br />

event held by the Lower<br />

Saxony Chamber of<br />

Agriculture, the beet farmers and shareholders’ association (Rübenanbauer-<br />

und Aktionärsverbandes Nord e. V.) and <strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong> was<br />

to present forward-looking, production measures that could help to<br />

optimise the commercial viability of sugar beet further.<br />

“This beet day provided valuable ideas that can be put into practice<br />

in sugar beet production. It is a question of looking at all areas of<br />

production technology from the point of view of increasing yields and<br />

simultaneously cutting costs,” said Dr Niels Pörksen in praise of the event,<br />

which saw the participation of the entire national and international beet<br />

management team. The group was then given an extensive tour of the<br />

facility, kicking off an intensive 20 · 20 · 20 meeting (see report). ed<br />

24


Axel Aumüller<br />

COO <strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong><br />

Personnel<br />

Axel Aumüller is the new Chairman<br />

of the Sugar Industry Association<br />

Axel Aumüller, member of the Executive Board of <strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong>,<br />

was elected Chairman of the Sugar Industry Association (VdZ) on<br />

11 June 2013.<br />

He succeeds Horst W. Mewis, who left office for age reasons<br />

after nine years. The <strong>Nordzucker</strong> COO is delighted to have been<br />

elected and describes the focus of his future work as follows, “The<br />

challenges for the sugar industry are growing constantly; we can<br />

see this particularly in the fields of food legislation, environment<br />

and energy. This means we need a strong Sugar Industry Association,<br />

which speaks with one voice and is committed to representing the<br />

interests of its members externally. And that is something I am proud<br />

to do.”<br />

The Sugar Industry Association, based in Bonn, is the consortium<br />

of sugar-producing companies in Germany. In addition to its<br />

function as an employers’ association, it campaigns for the interests<br />

of the industry in the areas of the economy, law and technology. <br />

ed<br />

Birthday<br />

Säkylä turns 60<br />

In 1953, the Säkylä sugar factory in Finland ran<br />

its first campaign, which means that it celebrates<br />

its 60th anniversary this year. The factory began<br />

its work at a time of rapid economic growth<br />

following the depression after the Second<br />

World War. Its success was also helped by the<br />

fact that rationing of sugar came to an end in<br />

the spring of 1953.<br />

The Finnish factory was able to process<br />

750 tonnes of beet per day during its first<br />

campaign. Over the years, its performance<br />

has improved and today an average of 7,500<br />

tonnes are processed per day during the<br />

campaign. The Säkylä sugar factory belongs<br />

to the Finnish part of the <strong>Nordzucker</strong> Group,<br />

together with the refinery in Porkala. ed<br />

Survey<br />

Farmers satisfied with<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

Positive results in Group-wide<br />

farmer survey<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> launched a Group-wide survey<br />

for all beet farmers last spring. The focus of<br />

the survey this year was questions concerning<br />

advisory services, the quality and use of<br />

informational offerings and satisfaction with<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> as a business partner. Almost<br />

5,100 farmers from seven countries ultimately<br />

participated in the survey. The advice given<br />

by beet offices and communication with<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> received a much better rating<br />

than in the last survey, particularly in Germany<br />

and Poland. The last farmer survey took place<br />

in 2011. ed<br />

Finland<br />

Premiere in<br />

Kantvik<br />

A cargo ship with a shipment of<br />

raw sugar arrived in the Finnish<br />

town of Kantvik this spring. This<br />

shipment is the first raw sugar<br />

transport which <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

“closed”, or carried out, itself.<br />

“This means handling and coordinating<br />

everything from buying<br />

the raw sugar to chartering the ship and transporting it across the sea, as well as<br />

unloading the raw sugar in Finland, was organised entirely by us at <strong>Nordzucker</strong>,”<br />

says Andreas Tausent, Senior Manager Sea Logistics & Operations, and adds: “With<br />

this successful shipment, <strong>Nordzucker</strong> now has the chance to purchase raw sugar on<br />

a more widespread basis and load it directly as well as to optimise planning and<br />

costs.” <br />

ed<br />

Akzente July 2013 25


| PEOPLE AT NORDZUCKER |<br />

Kazimierz Kuśmierek<br />

Technical Manager Sugar<br />

House and Service Center,<br />

Chełmża, <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

Polska<br />

Kazimierz Kuśmierek has been working<br />

at the Chełmża factory for 38<br />

years. He started here right after finishing<br />

his studies to become a food<br />

chemist / sugar technologist. “Our<br />

factory used to be part of a combine,<br />

which included an alcohol factory, a<br />

potash salt refinery and a dry ice factory,<br />

in addition to the sugar factory.<br />

At that time, I started in the dry ice<br />

factory and then moved on to grain<br />

and rapeseed drying,” he remembers.<br />

In 1977, Kazimierz Kuśmierek moved<br />

to the sugar factory. First he was a<br />

shift supervisor before becoming the<br />

head technologist in 1980 and head<br />

of the sugar factory in 1987. “In 2003<br />

I became a production engineer for<br />

crushing and extraction systems. Today<br />

I am a production engineer in the<br />

sugar house and am responsible for<br />

the service centre. In recent years, I<br />

have led a number of large modernisation<br />

projects, such as the upgrading<br />

of the factory to be become a sugar<br />

factory and refinery in 2007/2008. You<br />

could say that I know just about every<br />

pipe in our factory,” says Kazimierz<br />

Kuśmierek, smiling. <br />

nt<br />

26


| CLICKED ON |<br />

Looking online for <strong>Nordzucker</strong>, SweetFamily.<br />

<strong>Nordzucker</strong> Annual Report is online<br />

Digital Annual Report invites readers<br />

Leaf through our 2012/2013 Annual<br />

Report, which is now available on our<br />

website. The new format enables you<br />

to gain quick and easy access to the<br />

extensive amount of information in our<br />

current publication. You can access our<br />

digital Annual Report using the icon<br />

on the home page of our website<br />

(www.nordzucker.de) and in the<br />

“Shareholders” menu item.<br />

Sugar Forum inspires runners<br />

The Sugar Forum – an initiative of the<br />

German sugar industry – is currently<br />

using its website to inspire people to<br />

run. With tips from running therapist<br />

Joachum Janke and an interview with<br />

the European Ironman champion Timo<br />

Bracht. More information is available<br />

online at:<br />

www.mitzucker.de<br />

175jahre-nordzucker is online<br />

The “microsite” for the 175th anniversary<br />

is now online on <strong>Nordzucker</strong>’s website.<br />

Under the anniversary motto “Sustainable.<br />

Dedicated. Together.”, you can find<br />

information about the anniversary, a<br />

history of <strong>Nordzucker</strong> and information<br />

about local events during the year. You<br />

can also visit the microsite directly at<br />

www.175jahre-nordzucker.de<br />

Ideas from SweetFamily<br />

You can currently find recipe ideas for<br />

jams and jellies at www.sweet-family.de.<br />

Why not try the blueberry and strawberry<br />

fruit spread?<br />

Free Taste of the Year<br />

If you buy three sachets of SweetFamily<br />

Taste of the Year from the online shop,<br />

you will get one more sachet free. Check<br />

it out:<br />

www.sweet-family.de <br />

ed<br />

Running season has started<br />

SweetFamily: New recipes online<br />

175 years of <strong>Nordzucker</strong><br />

Imprint<br />

Published by: <strong>Nordzucker</strong> <strong>AG</strong>, Küchenstraße 9, 38100 Braunschweig, tel +49 (0)531 2411-348, fax +49 (0)531 2411-378, akzente@nordzucker.de | Editorial team (ed): Bianca Deppe-Leickel (bdl),<br />

Susanne Dismer-Puls (sdp), Oliver Ditsch, Frank Knälmann, Tomas Kocis, Mariann Mellström (mm), Thordis Möller (tm), Tanja Schneider-Diehl (tsd), Dr. Klaus Schumacher (kds), Marion Stumpe, Nina Tatter (nt),<br />

Layout: Sieler Kommunikation und Gestaltung GmbH, Frankfurt | Printed by: Leinebergland Druck GmbH & Co. KG, Alfeld | Image credits: Günter Nimptsch, Nordic Sugar (Apelöga), <strong>Nordzucker</strong>, Shutterstock<br />

Akzente July 2013 27


Rote Grütze compote<br />

in mini sponge rolls<br />

Ingredients (for 10 pieces):<br />

750 g mixed berries<br />

(fresh or frozen)<br />

1 packet SweetFamily<br />

1-2-3 Rote Grütze<br />

6 eggs (medium size)<br />

150 g “Unser Feinster”<br />

SweetFamily sugar (extra fine sugar)<br />

120 g flour<br />

250 ml whipping cream<br />

1 sachet vanilla sugar<br />

Preparation:<br />

Prepare Rote Grütze as indicated on the packet.<br />

Beat eggs until foamy, add 120 g of sugar, then<br />

beat for another 4 minutes until the foam is<br />

springy. Fold in the flour. Spread the mixture<br />

evenly on a baking tray lined with baking paper.<br />

Bake in a preheated oven (180°C, top and bottom<br />

heat) for approximately 12 minutes.<br />

Sprinkle the remaining sugar over a dishcloth.<br />

Place the hot tray with the sponge facing down<br />

on the cloth. Brush cold water over the baking<br />

paper quickly and then remove the paper.<br />

Spread half of the Rote Grütze over the sponge,<br />

roll it up lengthways and cut into ten pieces.<br />

Whip the cream with the vanilla sugar until it<br />

has thickened and serve with the mini sponge<br />

rolls and the remaining Rote Grütze.<br />

Preparation time: approx. 35 minutes<br />

Per piece approximately:<br />

358 kcal<br />

12 g fat<br />

54,6 g carbohydrates<br />

6,9 g protein<br />

For more tips and<br />

tasty recipes, visit:<br />

www.sweet-family.de

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