A Better Future

Creating great food for a better future – a sustainable future

Our vision is to be The Great Australian Food Company by creating great food for a better future and is structured around three key areas of impact: our products, our people and communities and our planet.

This is guided by our Greater Good Strategy which aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and specifically our contribution to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

We actively contribute to various industry bodies, many of which have a dedicated focus on challenges related to sustainability.

Bega Circular Valley

The Bega Group is a founding member of the Regional Circularity Co-operative Limited (RCC) and we have been working on sustainability projects for more than 20 years. We are excited to be supporting a flagship project in the Bega Valley, the soon to be built National Centre for Circularity, where we can bring this concept to life and demonstrate circularity in action.

The ‘Bega Circular Valley 2030’ program is a transformational regional development initiative with a vision to establish the Bega Valley as the most circular regional economy by 2030. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy and materials, a circular economy is based on three principles, driven by design:

  • eliminate waste and pollution
  • circulate products and materials at their highest value
  • regenerate nature and social systems.

A transition such as this improves the resilience of our regional communities.

A circular economy is one in which a corporate, city or region keeps resources in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of their life. All materials are kept in a ‘close loop’ right along the value chain all the way to consumption.

It is a more efficient and environmentally sound alternative to the traditional linear economic model in which we make, use and dispose of resources. Circularity works at every level of the economy, micro, meso, and macro. begacircularvalley.com.au

Product Sustainability

Our approach to modern slavery is informed by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and we are committed to protecting and advancing human rights.

Through responsible sourcing, Bega is committed to upholding human rights in our value chain. We work with our suppliers to promote decent working conditions in our supply chain and to ensure there are no instances of forced and child labour and modern slavery within and beyond our first-tier suppliers.

We maintain 100% certification to food safety schemes recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) of the Bega manufacturing facilities, and we hold our suppliers to the same standards we adopt ourselves.

Feeding more people with fewer resources and doing that in a changing climate is one of the most pressing dilemmas of our time. Food security, health and nutrition are central to this challenge. At the Bega Group, we have the unique opportunity, while addressing this, to also improve people’s health and wellbeing and address specific nutrition challenges.

Case Study – Deakin University
Casey Study – Australian Healthy Food Guide Awards

Employee Wellbeing

Bega Group seeks to create a culture of care that supports and empowers team members and their families to improve and maintain their wellbeing through healthy lifestyle choices.

Always safe together. We believe that all incidents, injuries and workplace illnesses can be prevented and that everything we do can, and shall, be done safely. This belief is fundamental to our culture and underpins everything we do, every day.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Bega. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy provides an overarching framework and is based on three pillars: Closing the gender gap, Fostering Inclusion and Supporting working Families. The strategy shapes our policies, processes and initiatives, and details the required commitment from the business, our leaders and our team members to ensure DEI is ingrained in our work culture as we know it significantly contributes to Bega Group’s overall success.

We value and celebrate the unique strengths and contributions of every individual. We are committed to our strategy to build a workplace where everyone is heard, feels like they belong, can contribute, and can always be themselves. At every Bega Group site, we have a dedicated diversity, equity and inclusion team focused on supporting our initiatives, listening to our people, and driving positive change.

In the community

We work closely with farmers to support sustainable farm practices, allowing us to offer consumers brands that champion sustainability and help meet our shared commitments to building a better future for the communities in which we operate.

We have an ongoing partnership with Foodbank which allows the food relief organisation to support 2,650 frontline charities and 3,000 school breakfast programs to get more than one million meals out per month to those in need. Bega Group is now Foodbank’s fourth largest donation partner. Foodbank supplies food and groceries to charities for distribution to help address food insecurity; sourcing food and groceries from farmers, manufacturers and retailers. In 2023, we donated over 886,000 kilograms of products, equating to nearly 1.6 million meals for Australians in need. In addition to this we have scheduled and produced over 230,000 litres of fresh white milk for Foodbank’s National Collaborative Supply Program, which helps improve certainty in their supply chain.

Case Study – B Valued
Casey Study – Safety Pause

Our Planet

In 2021 we launched our Planet Pledge, setting targets for water reduction, waste reduction and packaging to sit alongside our climate commitments.

​All the targets are underpinned by the principle of circularity which aims to minimise waste, circulate materials at their highest value and regenerate nature.

In 2021 we adopted a series of defined carbon reduction targets and commenced the Carbon Reduction Program 2030, with our carbon reductions targets of 40% scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.

We aim to reduce our consumptive water use by 30% by 2030 based on 2021 water use. To support this goal, we are developing water mapping and mass balance projects at all our facilities to better understand how water is used and recovered in the manufacturing process.

Bega Group is committed to reducing its overall waste and we continue to work towards our zero to landfill target. So far we’ve achieved 92% waste diversion from landfill, that’s 7026 garbage trucks! We are working towards the APCO national packaging target for all packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025. In calendar year 2022, 88% of our total packaging was reusable, recyclable or compostable.

Bega Groups Better Farms Program provides grant support for capital works upgrades, accessing professional advice and staff training. These grants were designed to improve animal health and welfare outcomes and to improve efficiency with regard to nutrient, water, energy, workplace health and safety, chemicals and soil health management.

Sustainability Report

Our Brands