We have categorised our stakeholders into two levels: primary and secondary. Primary stakeholders are persons or organisations with whom we work closely in the chain on a daily basis and with which the mutual dependencies are very clear. Secondary stakeholders are persons or organisations who are not as important to us on a strategic level, but are important on a day-to-day, operational level.
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Primary stakeholders
Customers
Our company has a multiplicity of customers for the various groups of products that we make. Examples include retailers, the wholesale sector, wholesalers, leather goods manufacturers or food manufacturers. Contacts with these customers are very frequent and take place via daily customer contact, largely at the individual VanDrie companies. We regularly invite buyers to our companies. This allows us to maintain a good dialogue and respond quickly to our customers' requirements. It also helps us guarantee product sales and maintain our market position.
Dairy farmers
Dairy farmers are crucial to our organisation. Some of their calves enter the VanDrie chain via trade. These are calves that the dairy farmer cannot use to replace his dairy herd, such as bull calves. We are in active contact with them, through Alpuro Breeding, we take part in afternoon seminars at farmers (and farmers' organisations), we organise meetings with dairy farmers and are involved in administrative consultations with bodies such as the Dutch Dairy Organisation (NZO) or ZuivelNL via industry organisations.
Suppliers
We depend on various suppliers, such as for the raw materials we use in the animal feed to be produced. Our relationship with suppliers is not just commercially driven; first and foremost, it ensures quality. We engage in active dialogue about quality standards and about improving the sustainability of raw materials. We do this through direct contact and performing audits.
Employees
Without our employees, we cannot deliver our products and services. There is frequent contact in the workplace directly, but we also provide regular updates on our activities through newsletters, social media and broadcasting. We conduct development interviews and have active works councils or focus groups for the purpose of employee participation. Each company has a confidential adviser and we have established a general whistleblower scheme.
Veal farmers
The veal farmers we work with in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy are self-employed professionals. In addition to the veal farmers who keep animals for us on a contract basis, we work with, as the jargon goes, 'free veal farmers'. These are farmers who keep animals at their own expense and risk. Contacts with those veal farmers are very frequent. District managers and employees who provide technical support, visit each affiliated veal farmer at least once every fortnight. During those visits, the health status and feeding of the animals and optimising the technical outcomes are discussed.
Transporters
We cooperate with several carriers for the transportation of raw materials, finished products and calves. Contacts with the transporters and their drivers are frequent and primarily ensure the practical process. We also regularly take time to hold more in-depth conversations on topics such as sustainability, food safety and animal welfare. This makes it possible for us to organise our transport flows in a future-oriented manner.
Secondary stakeholders
Local residents
Our companies are located in various municipalities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and France. Our production locations create transport flows, emissions or activity, which may affect people living nearby. Having support from the immediate surroundings is important for the VanDrie Group. We therefore organise regular discussions with local residents, local entrepreneurs or representatives from local communities.
NGOs
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are parties that focus on a supposedly social interest, such as sustainability or animal welfare. We want to engage with NGOs on the basis of respect and a mutual, constructive attitude. An example of one of those organisations is the Dutch Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. We provide information to this stakeholder group via social media or we invite them to take part in VanDrie dialogues. The dialogue we have with them plays a very concrete role in improving our policies on specific themes. It was partly due to the agenda setting of NGOs that we decided to stop importing calves from Estonia and Latvia in 2023.
Governments
Governments are influential and of importance on a variety of levels: local, regional, national and European. The themes that we discuss vary. Sometimes it is about the licences of our companies, the specifics regarding how visions or plans are implemented in the areas where we are active, while at other times the discussions are about generic agricultural policy. We therefore enter into dialogue in a targeted manner depending on the level.
Industry organisations
We are members of various industry and sector organisations to promote cooperation and exchange knowledge. Often we are also administratively active in these kinds of organisations. Examples in the Netherlands are: the Central Organisation for the Meat Sector (COV), the Dutch Veal Industry Association (SBK) and the Netherlands Feed Industry Association (Nevedi). Contacts within these organisations are frequent through board meetings, working groups and informal contacts. We commit to the sectoral objectives and agreements made in these organisations. This therefore has a direct effect on our policies.