Energy concept

Resource-efficient into the future

With the expansion of our production site in Malters, we aim to take an important step towards future sustainability. An innovative energy concept has enabled us to implement the following measures:

Free cooling – low-energy refrigeration

Millions of biscuits, crackers and tartelettes are produced at our main production site in Malters. Since we generate a lot of heat, we are committed to cooling the production processes efficiently and with low power consumption.

The “free cooling” principle allows us to cover most of our cooling needs with groundwater. This means that no additional electricity is required for refrigeration.

This is how it works: a new 14° C cooling system is being installed at our main production site. The existing groundwater temperature fluctuates between 10° C and 12° C, with the lowest temperature occurring in summer and the highest in winter due to seasonal delay.

Using submersible pumps at a depth of 20 metres, the groundwater is pumped from two extraction wells to the heat exchangers in the technical centre, from where it is pumped back into two return wells.

Heat pump replaces oil tank

We have replaced our old fuel oil tank with a new heat pump with a heat output of 700kW. The energy sources are waste heat from the production processes, on the one hand, and energy from groundwater, on the other.

Electricity is our main source of energy

For our production processes, we mainly use electricity (over 70%). We use propane to produce our delicate Jura Wafer and HUG Hüppen, which are still baked “over an open fire” in a traditional waffle iron.

Continuous improvement through professional energy management

In 2020, we implemented a comprehensive energy management system that allows us to collect all operational energy data at regular and close intervals. Based on performance indicators, we gain a transparent overview of where we can make concrete and targeted energy savings in our day-to-day operations. In the event of significant and persistent deviations, we can therefore very quickly define and implement measures to manage our energy consumption in a resource-saving manner.

This energy management system is the basis for our continuous and sustainable improvement process.