Sustainability & Responsibility
As a leading bakery manufacturer in NZ, we take our environmental responsibility seriously. Which is why it is our aim to progressively reduce our environmental impact and adopt a continuous improvement sustainability model.
To realise our goals, GWF Baking New Zealand has embarked on a four-year sustainability programme to reduce and eliminate waste across its supply chain. Within the packaging program our goals are;
- 100% of all our packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 or earlier.
- 70% of our plastic packaging to be recycled or compostable by 2025.
- Problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging will be phased out through design, innovation or introduction of alternatives.
Investing in a sustainable future
Reducing environmental impact
Packaging accounts for roughly 4%1 of the total carbon foot print of a loaf of bread. The major contributors include growing the ingredients, the baking process, and transportation including, ingredients to the bakery, baked products to retailers and into consumers homes.
This is why GWF is also looking at how our business can create a sustainable supply chain and maximise the efficient use of energy, water, non-renewable resources and materials. While minimising waste and emissions that are discharged from our facilities.
Recycling
The packaging of your favourite bakery products such as Tip Top, Ploughmans Bakery and Bürgen can already be recycled. Our bags are made from a type of plastic that not only protects the product from going off quickly but once used, can then be recycled into plastic fence posts, vehicle stops and even vegetable garden frames.
GWF joined the Soft Plastics Recycling scheme in November 20162 as we believe it’s important to help kiwis easily recycle their soft plastics. You can find soft plastic recycling bins at many supermarkets and other retail outlets across New Zealand.
Better food choices
Being a baker of a number of NZ’s favourite products, we want to ensure that not only are our products the best quality but that our ingredients are ethically and sustainably sourced and that our products are balanced and nutritious for you and your family.
Below are some of the things we’ve changed to help you make better food choices;
- Launching the first packaged bread to have a 5 Health Star Rating – Burgen Fabulous Fibre.
- Higher Fibre through Tip Top Supersoft High Fibre (making it easier for parents to get more fibre in their children’s diet) and Burgen Fabulous Fibre (contains over 30% of an adult’s daily fibre requirements in a serve).
How we plan to make changes in the coming years;
- Only using 100% cage free eggs by 2023.
- Reduced the sodium levels in our bread to 380mg/ 100g by 2022.
Supporting communities
At the heart of GWF is a mandate to act as a responsible corporate citizen. One of the ways that we do this is through our relationship with KidsCan, which was formed in 20103.
With the generous help of our distribution partners. GWF is able to deliver thousands of Tip Top Supersoft High Fibre and Tip Top Oatilicious toast loaves every week to schools across New Zealand. Ensuring that many kiwi kids who would have started their days with no breakfast, can start their day right.
- Over the last 10 years we’ve delivered just over 1 million loaves4 to schools across the country as part of the KidsCan breakfast club.
- GWF offers all its staff paid volunteer leave which can be used to give back to KidsCan or a charity of their choice.
How we’ve been making change
What each of our brands is doing
Sustainability FAQ
As a leading bread manufacturer in New Zealand, we take our environmental responsibility seriously. We are committed to our goal that by 2025, all GWF Baking NZ packaging will be 100 per cent recyclable, reusable or compostable to help close the loop.
Our environmental ambition doesn’t stop at plastic. The business has a number of key environmental initiatives in place that span water, energy and waste. You can read more about our sustainability initiatives here.
GWF Baking NZ has committed to the ANZ 2025 National Packaging Targets and is proactively working towards achieving these:
- 100% of all our packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 or earlier
- 70% of our plastic packaging to be recycled or composted by 2025
- 30% average recycled content to be included across all packaging by 2025
- Problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging will be phased out through design, innovation or introduction of alternatives
These tags are the first of a number of innovations to come from GWF as we work toward our vision to feed Kiwi families more sustainably. Our goal is that by 2025, all GWF’s packaging will be 100 per cent recyclable, reusable or compostable to help close-the-loop.
While we work on transitioning to sustainable packaging, we remain a key partner to the Soft Plastics NZ recycling program. Soft Plastics makes it easy for consumers to help keep their soft plastics out of landfill and make sure they are upcycled into new products, like fence posts.
This data is not live and is subject to change. Last updated 29/09/21.
- GWF Baking White bread loaf 700g Life-Cycle assessment, greenhouse gas emissions.
- Based on when the membership was validated.
- Based on first donation payment made January 2010.
- Based on internal sales data from 2010 till 2021.