Community Updates

Del Monte Foods Plants the SEED for Sustainability Excellence

Published 11 years ago | About a 2 minute read

Del Monte Foods recently announced the winners of its inaugural Sustainability Excellence and Education (SEED) Awards, a program that recognizes its manufacturing and distribution facilities for displaying excellence in environmental sustainability and employee education. Del Monte is proud to recognize its distribution center in Lathrop, California, pet food plant in Buffalo, New York and vegetable manufacturing plant in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota as the program’s first winners. “Del Monte understands the importance of environmental stewardship and while we’re proud of our accomplishments to-date, we understand how important it is to continue innovating,” said Jarod Cook, director of environmental services. “The SEED Awards not only celebrate employees’ efforts, they also inspire our facilities to continue working toward further advancements in environmental sustainability.” To select the winners of the inaugural awards, Del Monte’s Corporate Responsibility Leadership Team evaluated Del Monte’s plants and distribution centers in the categories of water, waste and energy. Each facility was rated based on environmental impact reduction progress from both 2007 to 2012 and 2011 to 2012, as well as the facility’s efforts to educate staff about its environmental sustainability programs and progress. Del Monte’s distribution center in Lathrop, California received the SEED Award for water usage reduction. Between 2007 and 2012, the facility achieved a 32 percent decrease in water usage as a result of its drip irrigation system installations and xeriscaping work, a process that replaces non-native plant species with native plants better suited for the environment. The Sleepy Eye, Minnesota plant, where Del Monte processes peas and corn, received the SEED Award for energy reduction. Sleepy Eye achieved a nearly 25 percent decrease in electricity usage and seven percent decrease in natural gas usage from 2007 to 2012. These results were driven by numerous initiatives, including the installation of insulated warehouse windows and roofs, an upgraded boiler burner and more efficient heaters, as well as improved heat recapture methods. Del Monte’s Buffalo, New York plant, which manufactures the famous Milk-Bone® dog biscuits, won the SEED Award for waste reduction by demonstrating impressive waste diversion results. Between 2007 and 2012, the plant became the first Del Monte manufacturing facility to reach zero landfill status through programs that include waste-to-energy conversion and waste repurposing. Each of the SEED Award winners received a commemorative plaque to display at their facility, as well as $1,000 to donate to the local charity of their choice. As a company, Del Monte Foods has set broad sustainability goals in the areas of water, waste and energy that it is driving to achieve by 2016. As of 2012, Del Monte has surpassed its goals in waste to landfill reduction and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions caused by transportation, and is well on its way to achieving a 20 percent reduction in fresh water usage and 15 percent reduction in packaging materials. For more information on Del Monte Foods’ progress against its sustainability goals and other programs, please visit www.delmontefoods.com/CR.