Harmony, the sustainable wheat program of Mondelēz International in Europe, has been presented at the “Salon international de l’Agriculture” in Paris, from February 23th to March 03rd, 2019. This participation has been an excellent opportunity to present the Harmony program and also to interact directly with consumers, agricultural sector professionals, stakeholders, institutionals and journalists. The 56th edition of this annual agricultural show and trade fair gathered over 900 exhibitors from different countries. More than 600 000 visitors have been welcomed in the four main areas of this international fair, namely: agricultural cultures and plant fields, agricultural services and trades, livestock and its fields, local and international agricultural products.
Animated by 80 MDLZ colleagues, the Harmony booth welcomed more than 300 000 visitors this year, including: 2 members of the French government members: Edouard Philippe, Prime Minister, and Didier Guillaume, Minister of Agriculture and Food ; Jean-Marc Callois, Ministerial Delegate for the Agri-Food Industries ; and Marie-Guite Dufay, President of the Burgundy - Franche-Comté Region. >> Harmony, Leading the Way in Europe For Sustainable Agriculture, Supporting The “Snacking Made Right” Strategy The Harmony program has been launched in 2008 in France, partnering with the entire wheat chain: farmers, cooperatives, millers and wheat seeders. Therefore, the Harmony Charter is a set of good agricultural practices to promote an environmentally sustainable wheat farming, by: - Partnering with local farmers, as close as possible to the factories; - Establishing sustainable agricultural practices, by reducing water consumption, preparing and caring for the soil properly, protecting biodiversity and reducing carbon footprint; - Creating a positive impact on local biodiversity, by allocating 3% of the surface area of wheat fields to flowers. The program has started with 68 farmers in our La Haye-Fouassière plant – close to Nantes in the west of France – and has been constantly rolled out to other bakery factories in France and in Europe, and is now supplied by more than 1700 partner farmers in Europe (1500 in France). As a counterpart to the Harmony charter implementation, partner farmers receive a premium per ton of wheat. In 2018, 60% of the wheat needed to make biscuits in Europe is grown by Harmony partner farmers, for instance: LU, BelVita, Belin, Mikado and Barni. The ambition is to cover 100% of biscuit brands in Europe, by 2022. >> Harmony, a one-decade wheat sustainability program In 2017, the Harmony program led, in Europe, to: - 39 000 hectares of Harmony wheat; - 1026 hectares of flowers has been gowned by the farmers around the Harmony fields; - 16.9 million bees and over 32 species of butterflies have been observed in the Harmony fields; - 20% reduction in pesticide use ; - 60% reduction in storage insecticides. As part of the continuous improvement process of this Program, the Harmony charter is reviewed annually, in order further to reduce Harmony wheat's environmental footprint. Today, Harmony is the first connected supply chain wheat program in Europe, relying on 12 different economic and agro-environmental performance indicators, such as greenhouse gas emissions, pesticides use and eutrophication. As a matter of fact, the practices of the Harmony charter by farmers confirms its positive impacts on the agronomic, economic and environmental levels.
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