VFI Oils for Life is a company with a mission: to improve the sustainability of food by promoting oils and feedstuff of organic, Non-GMO origin. As well as producing its own oils, the company supplies the raw material to leading conventional vegetable oils brands by guaranteeing the Non-GMO origin of the processed oil seeds.
Ensuring sustainability through traceability
For VFI it’s vital to know where the ingredients from their products come from: “organic eggs, meat and milk must be produced from safely grown and surveyed organic oilseeds,” Wolfgang Ahammer says. And he goes on to emphasise the importance of traceability to the business: “All of the steps in the supply chain - from breeding to farming to processing - must be transparent and traceable. The whole organic sector relies on the integrity of the origins. Our process relies on a traceable supply chain to guarantee consumers the integrity of organic and Non-GMO foodstuffs. VFI purchases directly from farms to ensure full traceability,” he comments.
Building a sustainable European supply
As he sees it, one of the big challenges facing the industry at the moment is the dependency on organic feedstuff from overseas. And this is a challenge that VFI is ready to meet, notes Mr. Ahammer: “Sustainable, traceable food with transparent supply chains is what consumers in Europe expect from our industry. Organic oil mills like ours are just about to erase Europe’s dependency on organic feedstuff from overseas.”
Mr. Ahammer explains how VFI Oils for Life has demonstrated its dedication to sustainability through heavily investing in sustainable production: “The newly built expeller-press oil mill in Ennsdorf – Europe’s largest organic oil mill – is producing 80% of its needed energy from residual material. The factory in Wels relies heavily on PV power (photovoltaic / solar power), raw material is shuttled from Ennsdorf to Wels in electric trucks, all meant to reduce the footprint of our food. Packaging material use is reduced, waste material is recycled.”
What about Non-GMO?
When it comes to the importance of the Non-GMO market, Ahammer notes that “Non-GMO products have a remarkable market share in domestic and export markets and are steadily growing”. For VFI, “Non-GMO origin is essential for the credibility of organic food”. He continues: “it is vital to VFI’s business that consumers can be guaranteed organic goods from traditionally bred plants. This is important for the oil but no less to the feedstuff produced from the press cake (a by-product produced during production of vegetable oil) in the process.”
Wolfgang Ahammer, having recently joined ENGA’s board, has a personal interest in the topic of New GMOs. With a solid background in economics, he held several management positions in sales before joining VFI in 2000 where he started as Key Account Manager Trade. “For me, personally, the potential impact of genetic modifications does not override the potential consequences, therefore I prefer to take a clear choice for products labelled accordingly,” he notes.
New GMOs: empowering consumers is vital
When it comes to New Genomic Techniques, his stance is clear: “I believe in the principles of free choice for empowered consumers, based on transparent information. There are so many unsolved, open questions on NGTs and I hope that our work at ENGA can contribute to exploring and finding answers to those serious issues.”
Bringing the voice of the mid-sized European food industry to the EU debate, Mr. Ahammer has a message for EU policy makers currently negotiating a new regulation on NGTs. “Fundamental questions concerning patentability, coexistence and burden of proof of the user must be solved prior to implementation of any new rules. Please bear in mind relevant principles of transparency and traceability with regard to empowered consumers and responsible companies in the Non-GMO sector.” And to others in his industry, he echoes the words of ENGA’s secretary General, Heike Moldenhauer, at the Non-GMO Summit 2024: “Keep calm and carry on” whilst calling on them to “raise your voice and join to support a sustainable solution”.
Find out more about VFI Oils For Life: https://vfi.co.at/en/