2022 is a special year at Dr. Schär as we celebrate our 100th year of commitment to providing high quality food for people with special nutritional needs. Since our founding in 1922 in the beautiful Alps, we have remained committed to making nutrition inclusive and enjoyable for everyone.
Growing together for a greener world
Promoting a healthy eco-system and sustainability in nutrition for 100 years
As a family business, we are committed to protecting the world we live in through sustainable farming practices. The environment has a direct impact on product quality, as our ingredients can only be as good as the habitat in which they grow. What’s good for nature is also good for our food.
Our consumers trust in the high quality of our products. We source the best possible ingredients, which means seeking out those that are grown and harvested using practices that support a healthy ecosystem. The unrivaled taste and nutritional composition of our products is a testament to the effort and care we put in throughout their lifecycle.
On our path to sustainability, we are guided by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Our goals center around three core pillars: Promoting biodiversity and sustainable farming, reducing the impact of our packaging and reducing our CO2 footprint.
Sustainable Practices
For us, sustainable farming means supporting a supply chain free from negative impact on soil and forest health. We grow crops in regions where they flourish naturally and without intensive farming. Our aim is to choose fields as close as possible to our milling areas so we can reduce the environmental impact of transportation. We also focus on improving the management and use of water, soil and fertilizer to further reduce production externalities. For imported raw materials like our sustainable palm oil, cocoa, soy, and paper, we are committed to a deforestation-free supply chain by 2023.
Our community of researchers, farmers, millers and suppliers monitor our raw materials from sowing through production. We use varied, wholesome grains to ensure our products have the highest nutritional composition. These include naturally gluten-free grains such as corn and rice, as well as millet, buckwheat, oats, sorghum and quinoa. All are non-GMO, further supporting biodiversity and sustainable farming. Our products derive their unique taste from quality ingredients and careful production techniques – never from artificial flavorings, colorings or preservatives.
Promoting Biodiversity
To promote biodiversity, we support projects that protect and promote minor crops that were once widely grown in alpine regions and beyond. Our recent 'Field100' project to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary and the Re-Cereal research project exemplify this commitment to improving the quality and yield of lesser-known naturally gluten-free grains and cereals.
Our Re-Cereal project helps revive and promote crops typical of high mountain regions, such as buckwheat, millet, rye and sorghum. The initiative also focuses on developing milling processes that can help preserve the naturally rich nutritional content of these traditional crops and preserve their unique sensory characteristics. This includes exploration of crop varieties and innovative food applications of these lesser-used crops. The reintroduction of millet, oats and buckwheat as an alternative to the intensive farming of corn or wheat also plays a fundamental role in crop rotation, which helps renourish soil often depleted by monoculture.
For example, buckwheat is often used as a “second crop,” as its deep roots help break up clumps of soil to soften the ground. Further, its hardiness makes it easier to grow, decreasing reliance on fertilizers or pesticides. Millet, on the other hand, is a highly drought-resistant, resilient crop. It’s often grown as a catch crop, which creates the conditions for greater biodiversity and curbs the infestation of parasites. Learn more about the Re-Cereal research project and its promotion of agricultural traditions.
Our Commitment to People, Products and the Planet
Our world is constantly changing at a rapid pace. This makes it even more important for us to clearly define who we are and what we stand for. Our self-imposed Code of Conduct sets out our goals and values as a company. It is our promise to the community, the planet and our people, and something all employees at Dr. Schär commit to. Together, we strive for a more sustainable world, in which social responsibility, environmental and climate protection go hand in hand with the development of our company.
Our Code of Conduct contains more information on how we fulfill our responsibility for people, products and the environment.
