Objective

Overarching objectives

• To become one of the most sustainable companies in the industry.
• To make their products and processes even more sustainable along the entire value chain.
• To establish the principles of and contribute to a circular economy.
• To help prevent global temperatures rising to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Specific objectives

• To gradually redesign cooling devices with higher energy effciency and circular systems in mind.
• To ensure merchandise and point-of-sales tools are sustainable.
• To reduce waste and water usage in production.
• To make all packaging recyclable or reusable.
• To ensure sustainable sourcing through supplier audits, certifications and biodiversity conservation projects.
• To reduce their total carbon emissions by 25% by the end of 2026, and by 42% by the end of 2030. 
• To train 100% of their employees to embrace sustainability as the #NEWNORMAL.

Description

Sustainability as a key element of Mast-Jägermeister’s purpose

Mast-Jägermeister wants to celebrate and enjoy the Best Nights – today and tomorrow. They are convinced that there can only be best nights if they contribute to keeping the environment intact: Today and in the future. This is something they work on every day.

As a family business, Mast-Jägermeister always considers how their decisions will affect the next generation and have a strong commitment to their employees, the environment and society. Curt Mast, the founder of Jägermeister, was already mindful of nature’s precious resources. Natural ingredients play a defining role both in their products and their overall approach: they only take as much as nature can replenish. That principle applies to the 56 herbs, blossoms, roots and fruits that form the essence of their products. They promote night life sustainably and are committed to responsible consumption.

As a global company driven by their values, they want their sustainability efforts to create a measurable impact. That is why they are constantly working to make their products and processes even more sustainable along the entire value chain. They carefully assess the possible social and ecological consequences of all their business decisions. To solve problems, they make bold decisions and consistently forge new pathways. Together with all their employees, the founding family and partners, they are laying the foundation for a responsible future at Jägermeister.

Without a healthy and safe environment, Jägermeister could not exist –and neither would the best nights. Not today, and not in the future.

The Sustainability Strategy: Celebrate, Produce, Work

CELEBRATE: Mast-Jägermeister want to make sure tomorrow is always followed by another night.

• Consumer happiness: They are committed to engaging with their consumers to foster responsible consumption.
• Products: They want their merchandise and point-of-sales tools to be sustainable and strive to establish the principles of a circular economy.
• Cooling devices: They aim to reduce the number of their models and make their portfolio as efficient and as circular as possible. Their credo is “less and better.” 

PRODUCE: Mast-Jägermeister stands for sustainability along the entire value chain

• Resource use: They strive to reduce waste and water usage in their production and make all their packaging recyclable or reusable.
• Supply chain: They aim to ensure sustainable sourcing through supplier audits, certifications and biodiversity conservation projects. They are committed to sourcing with respect for people and biodiversity.
• Global warming: They are committed to reducing their carbon footprint. As part of their decarbonization roadmap, they aim to reduce total emissions by 25% by the end of 2026, and by 42% by the end of 2030. These targets were validated by the Science-based Targets Initiative in 2023. The corporate carbon footprint is composed of Scope 1, 2 and 3 and calculated according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Calculations show that 98% of their emissions are in Scope 3 and thus in their supply chain. The ultimate aim of this objective is to help prevent global temperatures rising to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. 

WORK: Work is a unique experience at Mast-Jägermeister: they foster a resilient and diverse workplace, united by a purpose.

• Individuals as a central driver to achieving the company sustainability goals: They believe that everyone, companywide, is responsible for sustainability. This starts at the top, where they have set sustainability targets for the executive board. They are training all of their employees to embrace sustainability as the #NEWNORMAL.
• Employees that reach their full potential: They are committed to empowering their employees in individual development, health and resilience.
• Welcoming workplace: 100% of their employees should feel welcome und comfortable bringing their whole self to work, thus they are striving for a fair, diverse and inclusive corporate culture.

Celebrate actions

• Products: The MeisterCode was launched to guide more sustainability in the Point of Sales (POS) assortment. It is based on four pillars: Recyclability, Saving Resources, Transport and Better Materials. By providing practical advice and specific examples, it aims to help reduce Carbon footprint, material usage, and to contribute to a circular economy.
• Cooling: Mast-Jägermeister are gradually redesigning their devices with higher energy effciency and circular systems in mind. By offering local rental and repair solutions they are extending the average lifespan of the devices. 

Produce actions

• Biodiversity project: In June 2024, the first biodiversity project was implemented in the Wolfenbüttel region where the botanical raw materials for Mast-Jägermeister’s products are grown. In partnership with Kiebitz:
  • Flower strips with over 30 different wild and cultivated species that flower almost all year round to provide shelter and food for insects over winter will be sown. 
  • Intercrops will be sown to provide shelter and food for animals and insects, promote soil life and fertility, and prevent nitrogen and pesticide leaching.
  • Field bird islands will be placed to provide important habitat for ground-nesting birds such as lapwing and skylark. Piles of stones and dead wood will provide a habitat for beetles, insects, spiders and wild bees.

• Pallets: As of May 2024, the old cover sheet film (ensures that every packaged pallet of finished product is protected from dust, moisture, wetness, damage, and theft) has been replaced with a more sustainable alternative using a synthetic material made from recycled material which is also 10 µm thinner.
• Jägermeister gift packs: 4.8 cm thinner packaging was introduced from spring 2024. 
• Packaging: In 2022, a new holistic procurement project was introduced which aims to optimise and make packaging more sustainable. 
• Supply chain: Mast-Jägermeister have adopted a plan to ethically source botanicals from more than 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. 
• Labels: Produced and printed in Germany to keep transport distances short.
• Printing process: The printing process for the gold elements for Jägermeister labels was optimised in terms of sustainability in June 2024. The new label printing brings significant resource savings with a thinner transfer film (6my instead of 12my). In addition, using the Recosys 2.0 system, the remaining material is returned to the recycling loop and processed into new transfer film. 
• Bottle caps: They are replacing NRC caps, which consist of aluminum as well as various plastic inserts and parts, to regular caps made of pure aluminum and a small plastic seal. This reduces the weight of each cap by nearly seven grams and increases the recyclability. 
• Solar Spice Dryers: They support their cloves supplier in Zanzibar with solar drying units. The closed drying systems help local farmers ensure the cloves’ quality and yield by protecting them from moisture, as well as from contamination or pests.

Work actions: 

• Sustainability Training: In partnership with Mannheim Business School, employees take part in a week of intensive training and workshop days. Participants gain in-depth insights into key sustainability topics such as circular economy, employee engagement and impact measurement, which they can then integrate into their daily work. 
• MEISTER Week on Sustainability.

Partners

Mannheim Business School (sustainability training)

Kiebitz (biodiversity project)

Goetz + Müller and LEONHARD KURZ (gold elements on label printing) and Recosys 2.0 system from LEONHARD KURZ (recycling of remaining material)

Results

As of 2024:

• The synthetic film on pallets will save almost 80 tonnes of CO² per year. In addition, thinner film will lead to a reduction of around 7.4 tonnes of film in 2024 alone, a total of 18%.
• The thinner transfer film for labels will save 50% of waste. Pet film consumption will be halved for the same production volume, saving approximately 10.8 tons of virgin PET substrate per year.
• The thinner gift packs will save 32,000 kg of cardboard per campaign (3 per year in Germany) and use 38.5% less material. CO2 emissions for producing the packaging will also be reduced by 38.4%.

As of 2023:

• 97.4% of Mast-Jägermeister's electricity consumption (7,850.18MWh) comes from renewable sources.
• All cardboard boxes are bought from four family-owned companies in Germany.
• Corrugated cardboard is used instead of solid saving almost half the resources needed to produce the boxes (249 tons of C02) and reducing their weight considerably. 

As of 2022: All 500 million labels are produced and printed in Germany. 100% recycled paper for bottle labels is used, thereby saving over 66% of carbon emissions and reducing water use by a factor of 3.5.  61% of Mast-Jägermeister’s 56 botanicals are certified as organic.

In 2022, The Jägermeister Greenhouse concept bar was tested at the 2022 Way Out West festival in Gothenburg.  While customers sipped their drinks, 16 solar panels covered about 90% of the Greenhouse’s energy needs. In the Czech Republic, in cooperation with a Czech service agency, 75% of tap machines were repaired locally when requested. Tutorials for the sustainable operation of the machines are also in development.

In 2023, they participated for the first time in EcoVadis and performed well: they were awarded the bronze medal sustainability rating. In 2023, more 180 employees were trained on sustainability (it is hoped to train more than 250 employees in 2024). Replacing of NRC caps began in 2022, in 11 markets (e.g. South Africa) and this is ongoing. Mast-Jägermeister reduced their global (SE) portfolio of cooling devices from ten models in 2020 to eight in 2022.

Since the implementation of the MeisterCode, they have launched (amongst others) reusable and 100%-recyclable shot cups and a series of wearables for festivals made from recycled materials and OEKO TEXT 100 certified. Mast-Jägermeister SE is a member of The Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT).

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