Foundations
for success

Business model

The driving force behind value creation

The production of glass involves many complex processes and the use of large amounts of resources. Vetropack is therefore committed to creating diverse value from these resources. Financial success in itself should not stand alone in the Vetropack Group’s value creation model. After all, it is not only the shareholders who should benefit from the company’s performance, but also the customers, the employees, the upstream and downstream partners in the value chain and the environment.

At the heart of Vetropack Group’s business model is the corporate purpose that was newly articulated during the year under review: “We enable everyone to enjoy food and beverages in the most elegant, safe and responsible way possible”. The corporate purpose is intended to be the driving force behind the actions of all employees and the basis for creating high-quality and unique products and services.

Resources used

Customers and suppliers

A broad customer base and partnerships with suppliers built on trust are key drivers of value creation at Vetropack. They help Vetropack to achieve a high level of financial certainty in its planning, facilitating targeted investments. They also allow the company to try out new things and grow together as we overcome challenges. The close cooperation between customers, Vetropack’s own specialists, external designers and mould-makers enables efficient development work, resulting in winning products.

Finances

Thus, Vetropack Group's strategy is aimed at the long-term development of the company, which takes into account the concerns of its stakeholders. This approach is in line with the expectations of Vetropack Group's majority shareholders. Vetropack finances the majority of the company's growth from its own balance sheet and uses return on operating capital employed (ROOCE) as the most important metric for monitoring business development. The focus on sustainably increasing the return on capital employed means that Vetropack increasingly acts as a group (“group first” approach) and prioritises investments with high synergy potential.

Innovation and intellectual property

Vetropack sets itself the goal of meeting its customers’ requirements with innovative, high-quality and environmentally sustainable products, with emphasis placed not only on innovations in its products, processes and organisational structure, but also on the development of entirely new business models. To achieve this, Vetropack relies on the systematic management of intellectual property (patents) and engaging its customers and suppliers in a close dialogue that stimulates both process and product innovations and thus makes a direct contribution to improving efficiency for both sides – Vetropack and the customers and suppliers.

Production and products

Vetropack’s production system follows lean production principles and works to systematically reduce inefficiencies of all kinds. The company also applies uniform quality standards and checks each individual glass container to deliver outstanding product quality. Vetropack continuously improves all the processes along its value chain in the spirit of “One brand, one quality”, making increasing use of digital tools and automation solutions. This allows Vetropack to generate efficiency savings and to meet its customers’ desire for comprehensive information on product quality.

Vetropack Story: New labelling machine at Kyjov plant

Employees

Vetropack’s sustainable growth and market success are underpinned by dedicated, highly qualified staff and an experienced management team. To stay innovative and competitive, Vetropack focuses on providing targeted continuing professional development for its employees and fostering talent in a systematic way. Alongside practical on-the-job training programmes, all Vetropack staff have access to a training centre in Austria and the recently devised “Vetrocademy” – a professional development platform. Attractive career opportunities within the Group open up prospects for staff and help keep their wealth of expertise within the company.

Environment

Vetropack aims to be as environmentally sustainable as possible in its production and to position itself as a “green frontrunner” in the glass industry. Continuously reducing its environmental footprint in all business activities is a key tenet of its corporate strategy. Most notably, the large amount of energy required in the glassmaking process poses a particular challenge, one that Vetropack is tackling by modernising its production facilities on an ongoing basis and implementing an energy management system. The use of recycled glass and multi-trip containers is also being systematically increased to conserve natural resources as effectively as possible.

Corporate purpose

Corporate purpose

We make it possible for everyone to enjoy food and beverages in the safest, most elegant and most responsible way.

We

We are a listed Swiss family enterprise which has fostered honesty, reliability and transparency since it was founded. We are characterised by our strong values, a work culture based on partnership and a cooperative atmosphere. When we say “we”, we mean every single person who works for and with the company. Each individual makes a significant contribution to the company’s success.

Everyone

Consumers and their needs are important to us. That is why we help our direct customers to look after their customers as effectively as possible.

Food and beverages

We have a long-standing tradition in the food and beverage industry and are very familiar with all of its facets. We also have a deep understanding of its stakeholders and needs. That is why we concentrate on producing glass containers for this industry – and endeavour to offer the highest quality and the best value in everything we do.

Elegant

We believe that the elegance of glass lies in the simplicity, long-lasting beauty and diversity of shapes and colours of this material for high-quality packaging solutions. When it comes to food and beverages, the packaging helps to communicate the brand and quality to the end consumer. Glass is the most elegant material for this purpose. Its look and feel bring a customer’s brand to life for each and every consumer. To us, “most elegant” also means placing emphasis on customer-specific, individually designed products. We offer a variety of services and rely on close, long-term relationships to develop a deep understanding of our customers.

Safe

The safety of everyone is our top priority – we focus on high-quality products that are constantly being updated. Thanks to its natural origin and inert structure, glass is the perfect material for food-safe packaging. We have a holistic view of safety and help our customers to optimise their value chain to guarantee the safety of consumers.

Responsible

We see glass as the most sustainable packaging solution, as it is manufactured from purely natural raw materials and is 100% and infinitely recyclable. But we do not limit our responsibility to the product. Instead, we extend it to acting in a spirit of solidarity, taking responsibility for the environment and being economical. We aim to achieve a very small carbon footprint along the entire value chain. Because we are responsible, we believe that recycling is the key to optimising the product life cycle, including end-of-life management. We also feel committed to contributing to our customers’ success and therefore offer them services that go beyond our glass products and help them to achieve this success.

Customer relationships in the spirit of partnership

Vetropack’s holistic value creation is based on customer relationships in the spirit of partnership. A high level of demand on the glass container market has prompted Vetropack to invest more than the industry average in an effort to increase the availability of its products. This allows the company to retain the loyalty of key customers and attract new ones. Identifying customer needs at an early stage is essential for successfully building on market positions, as is developing new areas of activity by exploring new lines of business along the value chain. By taking this approach, Vetropack is aiming to position itself as a high-quality partner and full service provider.

Needs-based product development

Vetropack sets innovation trends in the glass packaging industry, working closely with its customers, suppliers and industry associations on this right from the start. External designers are often commissioned to come up with a design in addition to the ideas drafted by the customers themselves. Either way, a comprehensive list of requirements that future glass packaging has to meet needs to be specified if the development work is to be progressed efficiently and innovative solutions made market-ready quickly.

Service plus+

Vetropack offers customers a comprehensive range of products and services that goes well beyond making glass packaging. Its services cover packaging design, high-quality production and on-time supply, packaging analysis advice and support, bottling, conditioning and closure technology, glass finishing and labelling, and even the calculation of environmental footprints. Vetropack thus helps its customers optimise all the process steps involved in launching a new type of glass packaging. In future, Vetropack is keen to expand its service offering based on existing expertise with the aim of further reinforcing customer loyalty and opening up new business opportunities along the value chain.

Demand-driven planning

Vetropack is constantly striving to optimise the planning for and availability of its products. It uses demand forecasts to align all processes – from purchasing raw materials and planning production through to shipping the finished products – with one another in the best possible way to maximise capacity utilisation in all its production facilities. With this in mind, Vetropack uses a digital system designed to consolidate all aspects of production planning into a single, Group-wide process in future. This should mean that production capacity can be utilised more efficiently and more flexibly.

Efficient production

To enable energy-efficient production at an optimum cost level, Vetropack invests continuously in more efficient, more flexible production lines. This will also make it possible to process smaller batches and multiple product segments, thus enabling the company to respond more effectively to seasonal demand peaks in the beverage market. As part of its digitalisation roadmap, Vetropack is making targeted use of the opportunities presented by automation to simplify repetitive production and administration processes. The Group is also ensuring that energy consumption and the associated CO2 emissions are reduced by investing extensively in its production facilities and logistics. As part of the 2030 Strategy, a key target has been set to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from each tonne of glass produced by 30% compared to 2019.

Vetropack Story: Vetropack Switzerland installs label remover

Circular economy

Vetropack’s business model supports the transition to a circular economy as it is based on natural raw materials that can be recycled more or less without limit. Following its pioneering work in glass recycling back in the 1970s, Vetropack now collects used glass for recycling in all the countries in which it operates glassworks. Vetropack works together with special-purpose associations in many countries to maximise collection rates. The company is also promoting the development of multi-trip bottles, some of which are made from resource-efficient lightweight glass (VIP Glass) and are thus even easier to handle. Vetropack's 2030 Strategy includes the goal of ensuring that the proportion of used glass fed into its production across the Group hits at least 70% by 2030.

Vetropack Story: Vetropack Improved Performance Glass entering a new phase

Value generated

Customers

Vetropack Group’s customers can rely on an experienced partner in a strong market position that offers over 2,500 different kinds of glass packaging and comprehensive service. Even when faced with the most detailed of requirements, Vetropack develops innovative, cost-effective solutions that meet the highest quality standards, thus helping to increase the value of its customers’ brands. Vetropack also supports customers in making lasting improvements to their entire process chain, from development through to bottling.

Performance Review: Customers and suppliers
Performance Review: Innovation and intellectual property
Performance Review: Production and products
New designs

Shareholders

Vetropack Group generates robust, profitable growth by focusing its corporate strategy on the long term and making continuous investment in its production facilities and recycling systems. This means that the company has been able to pay a dividend to its shareholders for many years now.

Performance Review: Finances

Partners along the value chain

Vetropack Group places great value on treating its stakeholders as partners and, in particular, on strengthening relationships with strategically important suppliers. Vetropack partners benefit from long-term business relationships and supply agreements and thus from a high degree of certainty in their forecasting and planning.

Performance Review: Customers and suppliers

Employees

Much of Vetropack Group’s market success is driven by its employees. In exchange, they can rely on an employer that offers stable and attractive jobs and actively promotes the health and safety of employees. Staff also benefit from a wide range of opportunities for professional development, which increases their loyalty to the company. Many employees appreciate working for a sustainable company whose products they can identify with.

Performance Review: Employees

Environment

Investing in state-of-the-art production facilities and logistics generates efficiency savings that deliver benefits not least for the environment, because cutting energy consumption also steadily reduces CO2 emissions. Vetropack also uses a high percentage of used glass in its production and thus contributes to an environmentally friendly circular economy.

Performance Review: Environment
Market environment offering opportunities and challenges
Strategy 2030