It was a very positive 12 months for GNT overall. Unlike previous years, we were not suddenly faced with any major disruptions such as the pandemic, the energy crisis, or container shortages. In fact, our biggest challenge was an unexpectedly sharp increase in demand for EXBERRY® colors, which enabled us to achieve double-digit sales growth. Growth in sales volumes will naturally bring a growth in carbon footprint. Even so, we were able to avoid any notable increase in carbon emissions compared to the previous year across scopes 1 and 2, which include direct emissions from our production sites as well as emissions from purchased energy. We reduced our factories’ emissions by 5% from 2023 levels when calculated per kilogram of product sold. Another important highlight was cutting the lost-time incident rate at our sites to 2.2, which is 25% below the industry average and in line with our target for 2030.

We were also proud to gain external recognition for our sustainability work last year when we secured an EcoVadis gold medal. We received a score of 78 out of 100 for our environmental, sustainable procurement, and ethical activities, which ranks us among the top 3% of companies in the food manufacturing industry. This achievement marks that we have excelled in most of the areas assessed by EcoVadis.

These successes are not only a reflection of the time and money we have invested in driving improvements but also the GNT team’s passion and commitment. Our family ownership has helped to create a unified approach, with shared values and goals across our global operations, and this has been central to our many triumphs. However, we know we cannot rest on our laurels. We need to ensure that we maintain the positive work we have done in 2024 and go even further in 2025.

Our top priority for 2025 is scope 3 emissions, which cover indirect emissions from across our value chain. They present more of a challenge than scopes 1 and 2, as they are outside our direct control. Reducing those will require a joint effort from our employees and our suppliers. This will not be easy, but our closely managed supply chain provides an important advantage. Our level of vertical integration is unmatched in the food coloring industry and gives us a greater ability to track and influence emissions from our fruit, vegetable, and plant suppliers.

Our vertical approach benefits our customers too, ensuring greater transparency and more reliable supplies year after year. However, supply chain resilience remains a key focus. We must continue to strengthen our supply network to futureproof against further global challenges and disruptions. Building on our experience, we are optimizing our inventory management while exploring additional diversification of our raw material supply chains and production sites.

We know that GNT’s customers trust us to be a reliable, innovative, and sustainable partner, as underlined by our continuously high net promoter scores (NPS) of 55-plus. Our forward-thinking approach is designed to make sure we remain so for generations to come. You can read more about the work we have done so far in this report, which features details about our targets and the progress we have made in achieving them.