Collaboration Pushes Sustainability Forward

Whether getting help from an energy company, environmental organization, or government entity or engaging employees to develop resource-saving ideas, it’s clear that working together gets the job done.

AS A GROUP, food and beverage processors tend to be tight-lipped when it comes to sharing the whys and hows of their production advances. But the latest trade secrets in sustainability seem to be the exception to the rule—manufacturers are more apt to share these pre-competitive ideas to help the industry overall meet environmental and resource savings goals.

The topic of sustainability has steadfast competitors like Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors sitting down over breakfast to talk about the one thing they’re still allowed to discuss. It has Keurig Dr Pepper working not only with ADM on regenerative agriculture, but also with competitors like PepsiCo. “It’s the great thing about the sustainability space— we can even work with competitors,” said Melanie Condon, KDP’s director of sustainability, at the latest BevTech conference.

Each year, ProFood World recognizes projects and programs undertaken by food and beverage operations. If there’s one thing that shone through with this year’s entries for our Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards, it’s how big a role collaboration plays in achieving sustainability goals. Getting financial support from energy companies or local government agencies is often instrumental to pursuing goals. There are environmental groups that companies work in collaboration with.

Perhaps most important of all, these projects require collaboration with your employees. Get them engaged, and they’ll come up with some of the simplest yet most e ective plans for process improvement.

You might notice that, whereas in the past we’ve typically awarded three winners in each the Program Category and Project Category, this year the shift has been almost entirely toward the project side of things. It might be an anomaly, but it creates a sense that companies are having significant success just chipping away at sustainability issues. Even the smallest changes highlighted in the following pages are seeing significant returns.

At the Food Northwest show earlier this year, Zach Podell-Eberhardt of Cascade Energy talked about the importance of saying “and” rather than “or.” Take on the small projects in addition to larger projects. The small ones will help provide the cost-e ective, quick returns to help fund the bigger stu . And—while moving on to the larger projects, don’t forget to keep up with the smaller ones to make sure they continue to work the way you first intended. With attention, they will continue to fund your projects moving forward.

All entries were judged by a team of food industry peers. The winners will be honored at a special session at PACK EXPO Las Vegas on Sept. 11.

FIRST PLACE Program Category

Evol Frozen Meals Made in Conagra Brands’ First Zero Waste-Certi ed Facility

In June 2022, Evol became the first brand to introduce Carbonfree Certified Carbon Neutral single-serve frozen meals. Part of Conagra Brands, the eight Evol meals are produced at the company’s TRUE certified Zero Waste facility in Fayetteville, Ark.

This latest certifi cation achievement is part of an ongoing e ort from Conagra, which has long prioritized impactful recycling and waste reduction measures. Being a TRUE Zero Waste facility means the Fayetteville plant has diverted an average of 90% or greater waste from landfills or other waste reductions in the past 12 months. Tracking waste intensity (lb waste/lb production), the Fayetteville location achieved a 90.5% diversion rate, diverting 17,351 tons of waste from the landfill through recycling, organic diversion, and food donation.

There are other sustainability e orts in play as well. “All of Evol’s paperboard cartons are fully recyclable. The tree fiber used for the cartons is responsibly sourced, certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. Evol also made the switch from 100% plastic bowls to paper-based bowls, which lowered the carbon footprint of packaging across all products. Ingredients across the line include chicken, beef and pork raised without antibiotics and no artificial colors or flavors,” notes Emily Muth, director of sustainability supply chain for Conagra.

“Fayetteville is Conagra’s first ever TRUE Zero Waste certified facility, and our team is currently evaluating how we can grow and continue our support of innovative waste reduction projects,” Muth says.

FIRST PLACE Project Category

Hormel Reuses Reverse Osmosis Concentrate Water for Retorts

Progressive Processing, located in Dubuque, Iowa, and owned and operated by Hormel Foods, makes Hormel Compleats microwave meals, bacon toppings, and Spam products. Production professionals at Progressive Processing are always looking for ways to reduce water usage, and their latest e ort makes use of reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) water.

With approval from a water-chemistry consultant and the Hormel Foods Internal Thermal Processing Authority group, the Progressive Processing team verified that ROC water could supply the operation’s retort process control in place of cold soft water. Changes were then made to the plant’s plumbing to allow the ROC water, a byproduct of boiler feed water, to be used in the retorts to replace the use of cold soft water.

“Retorts cook most of the food produced at the facility, and a large amount of cold soft water was used for non-food-contact process control,” explains Randy Thole, manager of plant engineering for Hormel Foods. “Reverse osmosis filtering is used to treat the makeup water, which the boilers turn into steam, and the steam is used in the retorts.”

Progressive Processing, owned and operated by Hormel Foods, was able to use reverse osmosis concentrate water in its retort process control in place of soft cold water.