Following the official validation of its climate targets by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Lieken is moving into the implementation phase. The Scope 3 pilot project with partners enters its third growing season, the company announces, a project using fertilizers with a reduced CO2 footprint in wheat cultivation.
The project was launched in 2024 in collaboration with SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz GmbH, AGRAVIS Ost GmbH & Co. KG, VERAVIS GmbH, Roland Mills Ost GmbH & Co. KG, and farmers from Central Germany. The core approach of the project is the use of nitrogen fertilizers produced with certified biomethane. CO2 emissions were reduced by over 30% compared to using conventional fertilizers. This contributes significantly to reducing the CO2e footprint of the end products manufactured from it, even if the savings are proportionally smaller due to further processing steps.
Lieken currently collaborates with six farmers on a total of 300 hectares, which means enough wheat for over 33 million rolls.
One of the partner farmers is Felix Krobitzsch, managing director of Wachauer Agrar- und Transport GmbH in the southeast of Leipzig. The diversified farm cultivates a total of about 1,500 hectares of cropland—including 100 hectares of organic farmland. “As long as projects like this are fairly compensated, there is a high willingness to participate,” emphasizes Krobitzsch. The additional premium of EUR 70 to 90 per hectare makes the extra effort economically viable for the partner farmers—especially in times when wheat prices are in some cases well below 200 euros per ton, while diesel and fertilizer costs remain high.
Lieken currently covers the premiums for farmers as well as other project-related additional costs—such as those for the verified calculation of CO2e savings.
One of the leading manufacturers of bread and baked goods in Germany, Lieken Group supplies retail with packaged, fresh breads under the brands GOLDEN TOAST and LIEKEN URKORN, and produces baked goods for private labels and bake-off stations. Since 2013, it has been a part of the Czech AGROFERT Group.
Photo: Lieken