Food Chain - Issue 207 - August 2025 | Page 63

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Heck! Food
strategic pillars. We have hired a nutritionist to help us strengthen our expertise, covering recipe development, ingredient selection, consumer education, and research and development. In today’ s world, there are countless challenges and misinformation around health and well-being, especially on social media. Therefore, our nutritionist will help guide us and our customers towards making healthier choices,” Debbie explains.
Sustainability strategy
As touched on earlier, HECK! Food is also deeply committed to sustainability, having spent the past five years learning about best practices and strategies to reduce its impact on the environment.“ We began by improving our packaging, with plastic trays made from 90 percent recycled plastic and cardboard made from 100 percent recycled pulp. To date, 100 percent of Heck’ s food packaging including the film and ink are recyclable and the cardboard sleeve is suitable for home recycling.
Recently, we also switched to CleanFlake PET-based plastic trays, labels, and stickers, thereby reducing our annual plastic use by
50 tons. Moreover, we operate a lean factory operation, resulting in minimal waste, and have an on-site recycling program where plastic, paper, and solid waste are sorted into separate bins. We are also in the process of eliminating all non-essentials, such as disposable cups.
“ Most recently, we launched our H. E. C. K code, which provides more information on our commitment to Health, Environment, Community, and Kindness. In line with this, we calculate the carbon footprint of every product we make and label it on our sausage packs as part of our transparency and education program. Our customers can simply scan a QR code on the package, which will lead them to a page with more information. This empowers them to make informed decisions about the products they buy,” she continues.
Commitment to carbon reduction
These sustainability initiatives are complemented by HECK’ s own work to reach internal targets in terms of carbon footprint, some of which Debbie discusses in more
foodchainmagazine. com 63