Viking Malt has renewed their commitment to BSAG, The Baltic Sea Action Group. Officially known as the “Foundation for a Living Baltic Sea”, the BSAG is an independent non-profit foundation based in Finland which focuses on finding solutions and right actors to restore the good ecological balance of the Baltic Sea.
As the largest malting company in the Baltic Sea Area, with production plants in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Lithuania and Poland and the cultivation area of malting barley adds up to about 2600 km2, Viking Malt has a big opportunity to positively impact the Baltic Sea through sustainable farming.
“With the very skilled supplier base of farmers we have in Viking Malt and their commitment to lowering unnecessary use of pesticides and fertilizer we do believe we are contributing to the increase of the quality and productivity of locally grown malting barley, which is in line with our clients demand for sustainable production”, says Group Sourcing & Procurement Manager Jacob Andersen.
In Viking Malt’s previous commitment for BSAG, a supplier audit system was introduced in Finland, to encourage and help farmers and suppliers to further improve their cultivation methods from environmental point of view. In the renewed commitment, the audit system will be introduced also to Lithuania and Poland, where Viking Malt has strong contract farming positions.
“We are especially glad about the new commitment’s internationality. The Baltic Sea has a large and heavily populated catchment area, and it is important to get all surrounding countries to join forces in saving the sea”, says BSAG’s Senior Advisor Riku Venhola.
During the new three-year commitment, Viking Malt will also examine possibilities to participate in the Carbon Action pilot project. Carbon Action is a joint project between BSAG and The Finnish Meteorological Institute, and it studies soil’s capacity to sequester and store carbon from the atmosphere.