Südzucker Group

🚌Insightful Visit at our Offenau Plant🏭 Last Friday, new employees at our Mannheim headquarters had the exciting opportunity to visit our Offenau plant, one of seven located across Germany. This excursion provided a comprehensive insight into the facility's operations, showcasing not only the technologies in place but also the dedication and expertise that underpin the manufracturing processes. The visit started with a detailed presentation, offering an overview of the site's key operations and innovations. Following this, a guided tour provided a closer look at the production processes, highlighting the precision, teamwork, and commitment to quality that define our work. From the modern machinery to the intricate coordination of processes, every aspect underlined the high standards of the production processes and left a lasting impression on our new employees. One of the key takeaways was seeing how deeply expertise and collaboration are embedded in the daily work at the factory - and with the functions beyond. It was a great showcase of the skills and passion the teams bring together, ensuring excellence in production processes. A special thank you goes to all colleagues involved in making this visit such an informative and inspiring experience. The dedication and careful attention to detail in organizing and running this day definitely showed a warm welcome to our new employees and created a memorable connection to one of our core businesses. #behindthescenes #teamwork #onboarding

Sustainable management is an important topic for Südzucker, both internationally and regionally. That is why representatives of the Energy and Environment Cluster of the Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar and the Green Industry Cluster, in which Südzucker is involved, visited the sugar factory in Offstein on November 14 to network and learn more about Südzucker. After being welcomed by the plant manager Steffen Hammer and Dr. Wolfgang Kraus, head of the Research & Development department (CRDS) at the Südzucker Group, the approximately 35 participants were given a tour of the plant premises, providing interesting insights into the production processes of sugar production, particularly with regard to energy-related topics, the use of by-products, the management of material flows and sustainable economic activity. Supported by CRDS colleagues Sebastian Kunz and Wolfgang Wach, an expert discussion and personal exchange took place after the tour. The focus here was on many different shared cluster topics, such as resource efficiency, the current and future use of hydrogen and other sustainable energy sources, and the industrial implementation of the bioeconomy. Emerging and future processes for the production of bio-based chemicals, the extraction and processing of plant proteins, and sustainability as a focus of the Südzucker 2026 PLUS strategy were also presented and discussed in detail. “The meeting is the result of our work in the Green Industry Cluster, Mannheim. Best practices were explained, cross-cluster synergies identified and new contacts made that will contribute to the further development of joint projects,” said Dr. Wolfgang Kraus, summarizing the successful meeting.

The sugar beet campaign is currently in full swing throughout the Südzucker Group. During this time, the beets are harvested and processed into sugar in the factories. But how exactly does this work? 🎥 We have produced a video to illustrate the process at our German sites (which is why it is currently only available in German): The film "From Beet to Sugar” describes the path of the beet from the field to the factory and the processes involved in sugar production. Have a look: https://lnkd.in/e2t3hcNA

We take workplace safety very seriously - at all of our locations.  #SüdzuckerGroup #safetyfirst #workplacesafety #safetyculture

One of the sugar producing companies in the Südzucker Group is Südzucker Polska SA. Its Cukier Królewski brand has been known on the Polish market for more than 20 years now. Südzucker Polska produces the beet sugar for this end consumer brand as well as for products for processors in four Polish sugar factories. "We sow, produce and sell with passion" is our subsidiary's mission – to achieve it, Südzucker Polska relies on the highest level of competence and reliability of employees and growers, lasting customer relationships and acting in harmony with the environment. Together with other Südzucker Group sugar companies, Südzucker Polska is today also part of the Südzucker Sugar Division, which is an organizationally independent unit responsible for all sugar activities of the companies assigned to it. #SüdzuckerGroup #Sugar

Hosting idea managers at our Ochsenfurt production site 🏭 On October 23, we had the pleasure of hosting the network meeting of the Idea Management Center Zentrum Ideenmanagement for the Northern Bavaria region in Ochsenfurt. We were delighted to welcome 16 committed idea managers from a wide range of companies. As a proud network partner of this region, it was a special honor for us to welcome so many interested people in person. The event began with an introduction to Südzucker Group, followed by a presentation of our internal ideas manager Birgit Blumenthal. She shared valuable insights into the structure and experiences of our new ideas management system. An intensive exchange of experiences already started during the presentation, which underlined the importance and benefits of effective ideas management. After the lunch break, an exciting factory tour was on the agenda. The participants were given a a fascinating and at the same time charming insight into the processing of sugar beet. Thank you to all colleagues and attendees who have been involved!

In the Südzucker Group, many employees work in factories, but many also work in office buildings. The accidents that occur at work can vary accordingly. The first campaign of our new work safety project ‘Safety First - Because You Matter’ therefore focuses on the topic of ‘Tripping and Falling’. Whether it's slipping on a wet floor in the factory or falling from a desk chair while trying to grab something from the top of the office cupboard - an accident at work can happen very easily. 💡 That's why the campaign on tripping and falling focuses, among other things, on working at heights, steps and stairs as well as scaffolding. Posters and ‘Safety Moments’ draw employees' attention to these issues. Yet it can be so easy to prevent accidents. Often, small things are enough, like always securing yourself when working at height or using handrails when climbing stairs. And, of course, it's also about being aware of your surroundings and spotting potential tripping hazards in good time. Especially when your mind is on the task at hand or you are trying to complete a job quickly. Every accident is one too many, which is why the  Südzucker Group is committed to ‘Safety first - Because You Matter’. #SüdzuckerGroup #safetyfirst #workplacesafety #safetyculture

In addition to our diverse international activities, Südzucker Group also supports local and regional initiatives such as the Green Industry Cluster in the Rhine-Neckar region. Added value for us as well as for the region. More information on our activities, especially with external partners such as start-ups, can also be found at www.theBarn.io.

We are happy to announce that Südzucker Group has once again been recognized with the Corporate Startup Collaboration Award at the EIT Food Next Bite Event in Rome, having previously won the award in 2022. 🎉   The award recognizes collaborations between corporates and startups in the agrifood sector. EIT Food’s vast European-wide network of startups was asked to rate the corporate startup collaborations they have been involved in, giving their feedback on criteria including the corporate partner’s mission alignment, speed of decision-making, entrepreneurial spirit and understanding of the startups’ ways of working. 🏆 Südzucker Group was chosen for its innovative mindset and open innovation culture. Our colleagues Florian Weber and Tommy Alexander Schmid accepted the award on behalf of the Südzucker Group Open Innovation team (find out more at: www.theBarn.io). A huge congratulations to the whole team for fostering impactful startup collaborations and for continuing to lead by example. #SüdzuckerGroup #theBarn #GetThePowerOfPlants #Innovation

A big success and a great support on our way to climate neutrality: The Zeitz site of Südzucker receives funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs! 🌍🎉 The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has selected Südzucker today for the signing of a climate protection contract. We will receive financial support to convert the sugar factory at the Zeitz site to climate-neutral production. This is an important milestone for our sustainability strategy ‘Growing in Balance’ and the focus area ‘emissions reduction’. Südzucker has submitted three projects that will now be implemented in Zeitz: ⚡ Significant reduction of energy demand by using electrically driven heat recovery systems (EAWR) or heat pumps that are supplied with electricity from renewable sources. ♻️ In-house production of biomethane from pressed beet pulp, as there is currently not enough biomethane or hydrogen available on the market. 🔄 Conversion of the lime kiln to gas firing and use of the biomethane from our own production. The BMWK's climate protection contracts are designed to offset the financial risks and additional costs that currently still deter companies from switching to climate-neutral production. The program therefore provides funding for both investment and operating costs over a period of 15 years. The funded measures also contribute to our group-wide emissions reduction targets, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), of reducing our own emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 50.4% by 2030 compared to 2018. We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone involved who made this possible! Here is also a video of the BMWK on the climate protection contracts, in which our COO Hans-Peter Gai talks about the projects in Zeitz: https://lnkd.in/eM-HzuHw  #SüdzuckerGroup #BMWK #SBTi