How to make sustainability a way of life in your business

Along with everything food and beverage processors do to achieve peak performance and output, sustainability has become increasingly important.

Driven by the need to respond to increasing consumer demand and their own environmental and ethical conscience as well as anticipated regulations, the necessity to become more sustainable isn’t going away.

The federal government, for example, recently joined the United Nation’s Coalition for Sustainable Productivity Growth for Food Security and Resource Conservation (the SPG Coalition) – whose goal is to accelerate the transition to more sustainable food systems. Some of the coalition’s objectives are to address food loss and waste, resource conservation, biodiversity and climate change mitigation.

But where does a processor begin?

Earth Fresh Farms of Burlington, Ont., one of North America’s largest suppliers of potatoes, carrots and onions to the retail and foodservice industries, started its journey to increased efficiency and sustainability in the mid-2010s.

“Sustainability for us has become a way of life,” says CEO Tom Hughes.

The company first focused on getting rid of plastic produce bags. In 2021, they launched their paper-based compostable bags. It was a dramatic move, considering many companies opt to stay with plastic-like bags made of recyclable material. Earth Fresh Farms forecasts 30% of all their Canadian-sold potatoes will be in compostable bags by the end of 2022.

Beyond packaging, the production facility strives for sustainability. Here are some other sustainability steps Hughes recommends:

• Maintain production floor tools like water lines. Ensure there are no dripping faucets or leaky pipes and that sprayers are correctly aligned to avoid excessive splash-back. Inefficiencies like this can quickly add up to thousands of lost litres of water.
• Check motors on the production line to ensure all are equipped with variable speeds to control the amount of electricity required.
• Upgrade equipment when you can. From the production floor to the office to the delivery vehicles – newer equipment is more energy-efficient.

“All those little things are important, not only to determine the cost of producing a product but also how much you’re using of each input,” Hughes points out.

Hughes suggests food and beverage processors hire a consultant to conduct a sustainability audit, develop goals and create a plan... Read More