Sustainability

For a fair and sustainable
world fit to live in

«natural and honest».<br /> Out of conviction.

«natural and honest».
Out of conviction.

The HUG Family promise «natural and honest» is the sustainable basis for our business activities. Seven areas of activity allow us to constantly make improvements and to deepen our culture of sustainability.

<b>Anna Hug</b><br /> Co-Director Markets

Anna Hug
Co-Director Markets

<b>Andreas Hug</b><br /> Chairman of the Administrative Board

Andreas Hug
Chairman of the Administrative Board

Our seven areas of activity for a sustainable development in the long term

Natural raw materials

Packaging materials

Energy & climate

Infrastructure & Processes

Waste management

Employees

Engagement

Natural-honest: Our Path.

The hughaus, our new office building, is built according to Minergie standards.

The hughaus is heated using waste heat from our Tartelettes production facilities.

We only buy UTZ-certified cocoa based on mass balance.

The natural environment of the company's premises in Malters is awarded the label of the Swiss foundation Nature & Economie.

A continuous improvement process is implemented with the help of over 30 teams.

The HUG Family voluntarily works withe the EnAW program in order to optimise its energy efficiency.

We make it a rule to only use Swiss hydropower for our electricity.

Our 395 square meter solar system is up and running.

We support the Happy Hazelnut Foundation and purchase Turkish hazelnuts harvested without child labor.

We protect our products with effective barrier layers in order to prevent the migration of undesirable substances.

HUG employees take part in the Bike to Work campaign for the first time.

The HUG Family only buys 100% certified sustainable and segregated palm oil.

We are reducing Wernli packaging by doing away with false bottoms in trays.

We only use hazelnuts from certified sustainable farming in our own production.

We now only buy free-range eggs.

In order to reduce pesticides, we only use quinoa and chia produced by organic farming.

We care about the welfare of hens: all our eggs are now free-range and not just floor eggs.

All products and services purchased using the climate credit card are 100% carbon offset.

Our 100% Swiss butter is produced according to the Green Milk standard.

The HUG coconut oil comes from conventional farming which is however subject to additional criteria (e.g. peatland protection).

During their break, our employees enjoy coffee using exclusive Max Havelaar Fairtrade coffee beans.

We are a partner of the Too Good To Go initiative «Often good for longer».

Our mail and parcels are shipped in a climate-neutral way.

We are a member of the Palmoil Network Switzerland and take action to improve the production of palm oil.

In order to reduce pesticides, we only use sesame produced by organic farming.

We use Max Havelaar Fairtrade coffee for the Filigrano Mini Café-Tartelette.

We have further reduced our packaging and did away with the Wernli Petit-Beurre tray.

A new energy management system enables us to monitor and optimise our energy consumption.

We have started to offset carbon emissions from the production of the HUG brand packaging.

We have moved in into our new backhaus at the Malters production site

We are proud to be a Waste Warrior Brand and to support Too Good To Go in the fight against food waste.

We have managed to reduce heating, for a carbon-neutral infrastructure at the Malters site.

We have closed the energy cycle: using waste heat allows us to further reduce carbon emissions.

We have extended the groundwater cooling system to the new facilities at the production site in Malters.

We have installed six charging stations for electric vehicles at the production site in Malters.

We are SMETA audited (responsible work organisation for the protection of employees).

HUG Campus launched: systematic promotion of professional qualifications of our employees.

We are certified: equal pay for men and women.

We offer the possibility of an integration pre-apprenticeship in our production facility.

Nearby the production site in Malters we are building two life towers to promote biodiversity.

We produce with organic raw cane sugar.

We are switching from floor eggs to free-range eggs for all HUG commercial products.

We sign the pact «Closing cycles for plastic packaging and beverage cartons».

For the first time, we have ourselves certified as a "climate-neutral company".

In order to constantly improve our efficiency, two ventilation systems are replaced to help save over 122,000 kWh per year.

Pilot project launch: DAR-VIDA biscuit wheat with ecological added value.

We only use flaxseed produced by organic farming.

We are establishing a new human rights due dilligence process in our supply chain.

We are founding member of RecyPac: the plastic and beverage carton cycle.

We source 100 percent FSC®-certified folded cardboard and corrugated cardboard.

We package all our biscuits provided with coffee in food packaging made of at least 50% recycled material

We are launching the edible ice cream spoon and are reducing plastic waste in direct consumption.

Waste disposal is being professionalised within our production building.

We are investing in the expansion of our in-house solar system.

Swiss Employer Award: our employees have awarded us as a top employer.

We receive the Swiss Olympic vignette "competitive sports-friendly training company for apprentices".

At least one measure from the employee survey is implemented per team.

With the Suva Safety Charter, we are committed to safety and health protection at work.

We train apprentices to become food technologists.

We reduce the weight of the pastry tray in the Wernli Choco Petit-Beurre range and save 5 tons of plastics per year.

We are publishing our first report on human rights due diligence in the supply chain.

We join the Science Based Target initiative.

We measure our employer attractiveness.

We offer our employees Eco-Drive driving courses.

Using thinner mono films reduces the amount of packaging material in the Wernli range and makes it recyclable.

We are developing our decarbonization strategy based on a PINCH analysis.

We are publishing our first SBTi report.

We offer training in two new apprenticeship professions: automation engineer and automation technician.

We are starting with the recycling of label paper.

We are switching to labels made from recycled material.

Through an additional milestone, we are expanding our solar system once more.

We have 80 percent of the DAR-VIDA biscuit wheat grown for us with ecological added value.

We are reducing the material used for plastic biscuits carriers by 6 percent (compared to 2022).

We are reducing our operational CO2 emissions by 30 percent (compared to 2022).

We are increasing our energy efficiency by 6 percent (compared to 2022).

We are recycling all packaging and recycling it to a high standard.

We are reducing our operational CO2 emissions by 42 percent (compared to 2022).

We are achieving net zero in operational CO2 emissions.

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Our labels & certificates

Human in social matters

We comply with labour standards. We are progressive and care about labour and health protection. Ethics and personal integrity are an integral part of the HUG culture.