Sustainability
SustainabilityNo top certificates
- Transparent about 11 measures
- More about the sustainability of this product
Health
Health- This product can be a weekly exception to an otherwise healthy diet.
- More about the health of this product
Sustainability
SustainabilityGeneral areas of concern
The following topics have been determined as most important areas of attention, based on scientific research.
Animal welfare
Important points of attention in the field of animal welfare in the dairy chain are:
- Sufficient living space for natural behavior
- Animal health and antibiotic use
- Performing physical interventions as deprivation.
Environment
The production of dairy can have harmful consequences for the environment. Important areas of attention in the dairy chain are:
- Emissions of greenhouse gases during the production and processing of dairy.
- Risk of disappearance of (valuable) forest areas for the production of animal feed
- Air and water pollution due to manure
Human rights
The dairy sector has many small farmers, often family businesses, that sometimes use temporary workers. An important point of attention on dairy farms is:
- Health and safety of employees.
Certifications
| Top-certificates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
With a quality mark, a brand can show that it is making efforts to make more sustainable products. Questionmark uses the definitions of top quality mark as established by Milieu Centraal. | |||
This product has no top certificates. This may mean that there are sustainability risks in the area of the environment, human rights or animal welfare. | |||
| Other certifications and marks | |||
These other certificates and logos do not meet the guidelines on reliability and transparency of Topkeurmerken as defined by Milieu Centraal. | |||
 Weidezuivel - 100% weidemelk | |||
 Vega | |||
Measures taken by Beemster
Before the product is in your hands, it has had a long journey. Here you see the most important steps of this journey through the supply chain. Each step in the chain shows what Beemster indicates to do to mitigate issues in that step. You can see measures required by a top-certificate, by selecting the appropriate filter. You can also see what a brand does extra, by filtering on 'own measures'.
Animal feed
Beemster guarantees that when purchasing feed, their dairy farmers commit to nature conservation. They guarantee that since 2010 for the cultivation of feed no agricultural land has been created on land that used to be:
High Conservation Value Forest. They guarantee this for the feed of 100% of their dairy farms. All fed soy is RTRS certified
High Carbon Stock forest. They guarantee this for the feed of 100% of their dairy farms. All fed soy is RTRS certified
In addition, 69% of the protein fed to the cows comes is home grown. This figure applies to 100% of the dairy of Beemster.
Own measures
Animal husbandry
For 100% of the cows that give milk for Beemster, it keeps track of the average lifespan of the cow, which is 2,148 days. In 2015 this was 2249 and it is temporarily lower due to the shrinking of dairy farms due to the phosphate reduction program in 2017/2018.
Beemster is actively monitoring or improving animal welfare:
100% of the milk supply originates from dairy farms that comply with a recognized animal welfare label. This is guaranteed through the Cono assurance system and Koekompas.
100% of the milk originates from dairy farms that had regular and verifiable third-party audits with regards to animal welfare. The external controls of the Cono assurance system are carried out with a view to quality, health and animal welfare.
The cell count indicates the health of the udder of the cow. When the cell count is increased, this may indicate an inflammation. The average cell count of Beemster is as follows:
1% of the milk originates from dairy farms with a cell count higher than 400,000 cells per milliliter.
29% of the milk originates from dairy farms with a cell count between 200,000 and 400,000 cells per milliliter.
70% of the milk originates from dairy farms with a cell count lower than 200,000 cells per milliliter.
Beemster has a clear approach for low and responsible antibiotic use in livestock farming:
100% of the milk of Beemster originates from dairy farms with an antibiotic use policy, guided by veterinarians. This is mandatory under Dutch dairy legislation.
Beemster guarantees that this policy is stricty followed by 100% of their milk production. This is also mandatory under Dutch dairy legislation.
Beemster monitors the use of antibiotics at 100% of their dairy farms. This is mandatory under Dutch dairy legislation.
Beemster keeps a close eye on antibiotic use and knows the animal day dose of antibiotics of 100% of the milk flow. This is on average 2.16.
Beemster is actively working on the soil and water quality: The dairy farms that produce for Beemster have a fertilization plan and use the KringloopWijzer.
100% of the milk originates from dairy farms with a nutrient management plan.
The average nitrogen soil surplus on livestock farms is 144 kilos of nitrogen per hectare. Beemster knows the nitrogen soil surplus of 100% of the milk it purchases.
Beemster is actively maintaining a good soil quality:
Beemster collaborates with their supply chain to address soil quality and / or erosion problems.
100% of the milk originates from dairy farms with a soil management plan that has been second or third party audited.
Beemster is actively working on preservation of biodiversity by:
Conducting an on-site biodiversity assessment. 100% of the milk originates from dairy farms that have done this.
Implementing a site-specific biodiversity management plan based on the on-site biodiversity assessment. 15% of the milk originates from dairy farms that have this. 40% of the farmers that produce for Beemster pay attention to meadow birds and farmyard birds such as the black-tailed godwit and barn owl.
Demonstrable improvements in the area of biodiversity. 15% of the milk originates from dairy farms that can prove this.
Participation in a landsape or watershed biodiversity initiative. 50% of the milk originates from dairy farms that do this.
Beemster applies emission reduction techniques to improve air quality on and around the farm:
At 30% of the housing systems.
At 100% of the manure storage and manure application. This is mandatory under Dutch dairy legislation and all Beemster dairy farms are in the Netherlands.
Beemster is consciously working on water use:
100% of the milk from Beemster originates from dairy farms located in areas with a low or medium physical water risk. This milk comes from Dutch dairy farms.
5% of the milk from Beemster originates from dairy farms that have a publicly disclosed water footprint.
Beemster has calculated their greenhouse gas emissions:
At dairy farms, greenhouse gas emissions correspond to 1.22 kilos of CO₂ per kilo of milk. This is the emissions including inputs used at the farm such as fertilizer, plant protection products, animal feed, transport movements, etc., and applies to 100% of the milk. Many farmers generate their own energy, and use of plant protection products is limited as much as possible.
In the processing of the milk into the end product, the emission of greenhouse gases almost corresponds to 0.092 kilos of CO₂ per kilo of product. This figure applies to 100% of the milk.
Own measures
Processing
The main focus areas for this product are not in this step.Packaging
The main focus areas for this product are not in this step.Consumption and waste
The main focus areas for this product are not in this step.
Beemster on their sustainability:
Samen verduurzamen door de hele keten, voor de lekkerste kazen – nu alsook voor de toekomst – met oog voor blije koeien, blije boeren en een blije aarde!
Health
HealthA healthy daily diet can contain cheese. There are better options than Beemster Belegen 48+ stuk.
It contains
- Translation missing: en.explanations.personal_health.issues.rule_keys.ingredients_healthy_or_nutrient_rules
You can eat Beemster Belegen 48+ stuk as an extra. The advice is to do this at most three times a week.
It contains
- too much calories
- too much salt
- too much saturated fat
Scores are based on the guidelines of Schijf van Vijf from the Netherlands Nutrition Centre.
Source
Product label information like ingredients, nutrients and certifications are gathered from different data sources. Last changed at 01-10-2024.
To identify the areas of attention in this production chain, Questionmark uses the method of The Sustainability Consortium. The information on measures for these areas of attention was provided by Beemster on 03-06-2019. Questionmark has asked the board of Beemster to guarantee accurate and trustworthy information.
