BY JERRY LYNCH

At , going green has included establishing a comprehensive set of global environmental sustainability goals. Photo © GettyImages/Vetta/Thomas Vogel

pg 34 07.12 • www.ift.org When the nation’s sixth-largest food company set an ambitious agenda for operating sustainably, the environmental impact was dramatic and the savings substantial. Here’s a look at the progress General Mills has made—and a preview of what’s ahead.

hether it’s washing glass jars more efficiently achieve the following goals: in Hannibal, Mo., recycling paperboard in • Reduce the rate of water use by 20%, Albuquerque, N.M., or composting food scraps • Reduce solid waste generation by 50%, Wat the corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, • Reduce energy usage by 20%, Minn., General Mills’ practices and policies are informed by • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, a broad-based and ongoing commitment to sustainability. • Reduce the amount of transportation fuel In fact, the company’s commitment to sustainabil- used to ship a pound of product by 35%, and ity dates back decades. As early as the 1930s, General • Improve 40% of its packaging volume (with improve- Mills was using recycled paperboard packaging, and the ment assessed on the basis of company-set indicators). Green Giant Brand was using crop rotation practices. The company is already more than half- This foundation has evolved into integrating environmen- way toward achieving its 2015 global sustainability tal sustainability initiatives into other areas of business. goals on water, solid waste, and packaging. Today, General Mills is working toward its aggres- “And we continue to drive down our energy consump- sive 2015 sustainability targets through multifaceted tion, greenhouse gas emissions, and use of transportation environmental efforts, which range from energy meter fuel,” says Larry Deeney, Environmental Sustainability installations to water use reduction projects, from oat Director, General Mills. “Between fiscal 2010 and fis- hull energy conversion to packaging improvements. cal 2011, General Mills reduced the amount of solid “The definition of sustainability sets a very clear objective waste generated by 7,000 metric tons, cut water usage for us,” says Ken Powell, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, by more than 550,000 cubic meters, lowered green- General Mills. Sustainability means “meeting the needs of house gas emissions by 10,000 metric tons, and reduced the current generation without compromising the ability of energy use by nearly 50 million kilowatt hours.” future generations to meet their needs,” Powell continues. General Mills works continuously to improve envi- “As the world’s sixth-largest food company, we under- ronmental performance and further incorporate stand that a small action on our part can have a big impact sustainable strategies, processes, and products through- elsewhere. We want that impact to be a positive one. The out its operations as the examples that follow illustrate. General Mills environmental mission is to protect and conserve the natural resource base on which its business Conserving Water depends. We build consumer loyalty, societal trust, and According to The Nature Conservancy, by 2050, more shareholder value by integrating sustainability into our strat- than half of the world’s population is expected to live in egies, our operations, and our products,” says Powell. areas of high water stress. To help mitigate the effect of impending water scarcity, General Mills is committed to Progress Toward 2015 Sustainability Goals reducing its water usage, and the company is more than Since 2005, General Mills has set global environmental halfway to reaching its 20% reduction goal, recently report- sustainability goals in the areas of water, energy, green- ing an 11% reduction measured from a 2006 baseline. house gases, and solid waste. In 2010, the company In Irapuato, Mexico, General Mills is encouraging water established new, more aggressive goals including a North conservation by working with contract farmers, who are American transportation goal and a packaging metric. using drip irrigation to grow vegetables for the Green Giant By 2015, General Mills aims to brand. By allowing water to slowly drip to the root of plants,

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Drip irrigation practices are in place on more than carbon footprint. The new 40% of the acreage farmed by General Mills contract boxes began appearing on club farmers in Irapuato, Mexico, where vegetables for the Green Giant brand are grown. store shelves in February 2012. Photo courtesy of General Mills Managing Solid Waste According to the U.S. post-consumer recycled paper Environmental Protection Agency, packaging in the United States and Americans produced about 250 mil- continues to bring innovative pack- lion tons of solid waste in 2011, and aging solutions to the marketplace. approximately half of this waste is The company set its first packag- disposed in landfills. General Mills ing goal in 2010 and has improved is actively pursuing opportunities 27% of packaging volume, put- to recycle and find new uses for ting the company two-thirds of the unwanted by-products or materi- way toward its 40% goal. Four key als. As noted in the 2012 Global indicators are used to assess improve- Responsibility Report, General ment: packaging weight; recycled Mills has achieved a 34% reduction content and recyclability; renewable in its solid waste generation rate. content and the ability to com- The most effective strategy is post; and truck-loading efficiency. to limit the amount of waste cre- General Mills recently developed ated in the first place. General Mills a new proprietary cereal packaging spends a lot of time, via its Holistic drip irrigation consumes only half technology that allows for packing Margin Management initiative and the water of conventional furrow cereal more densely. The technol- Continuous Improvement efforts, irrigation, generating an estimated ogy allows the cereal to settle on to identify and, more importantly, savings of 1.1 billion gallons of water the line, which means that each box remove waste from its operations. annually. To help farmers adopt this can be filled with 10% more cereal A facility in Albuquerque is cur- practice, General Mills has provided and packaging size can be reduced. rently recycling 90% of its output. them with interest-free loans to pur- This saves more than 200,000 Team members there worked with chase equipment. Drip irrigation pounds of paperboard each year. local recyclers to expand the plant’s practices are now in place in about Plus, the smaller packaging foot- recycling program to include cor- 43% of the acreage used by General print means more boxes can fit on rugated boxes and also carton cores, Mills contract farmers in this region. each truck. This will reduce truck- sacks, and other items that typically An employee-led initia- ing needs by 10% annually, saving get tossed out. The arrangement tive at the General Mills plant in fuel and reducing the company’s has enabled the plant to reduce Hannibal, Mo., has simplified the trash pick-ups, generate $2,500 per mechanics behind the glass jar month in recycling revenue, and washing process on the Old El shrink landfill output by 80%. Paso sauce line. This improve- General Mills recently ment saves an estimated 1.5 installed a new system at million gallons of water per its Wellston, Ohio, facility, year and 1,000 million BTUs which heats pizza top- of energy to heat that water. pings so they will adhere better to the pizza prior Reducing Packaging to the freezing process. General Mills’ long legacy This system will save thou- of environmentally friendly sands of pounds of cheese packaging has served the and other pizza toppings company—and the planet— from going to waste each well. Today General Mills is year, an estimated annual among the largest users of cost saving of $200,000. And on the Technology that allows General Mills to pack its Minneapolis campus, an cereal more densely has translated to savings of organics recycling pro- 200,000 pounds of paperboard annually. gram collects food waste Photo courtesy of General Mills from the employee pg 36 07.12 • www.ift.org Seeding Sustainability at General Mills

General Mills works continuously to improve environmental performance and further incorporate sustainable strategies, processes, and products.

commercial energy use accounts for nearly 30% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. As a leading food com- pany and a participant in the Carbon Disclosure Project, General Mills is committed to implementing new systems and procedures that will reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emission rate, and is just under half- way to its goal of a 20% reduction. With guidance from General Mills, more and more farmers from central Mexico are using organic compost from nearby chicken farms—instead of synthetic fer- tilizer—to spread on broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and celery. The switch is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 A General Mills facility in Albuquerque has expanded its recycling program to the point where it is recycling tons per year, the equivalent of 90% of its output. Photo courtesy of General Mills taking 2,000 cars off the road. General Mills is producing energy from oat hulls left over from cafeteria, Kitchens, electricity to supply 55% of its the milling process at its Fridley, and Bakeries & Foodservice annual electricity needs—80% of Minn., facility, which makes oat flour Culinary Center and turns it into its consumption in the summer and used in Cheerios and other products. compost. Two tons of food waste 40% during the rest of the year. The biomass burner produces 90% is composted every week. of the steam needed to manufacture Cutting Down on Greenhouse Gases oat flour, reducing the plant’s car- Saving Energy According to the U.S. Environmental bon footprint by 21%. (See Sidebar Renewable energy sources such as Protection Agency, industrial and on page 41 for more details.) »» wind, solar, and biomass are playing an increasingly key role in helping General Mills minimize its envi- Solar panels on a General Mills distribution center in Methuen, Mass., generate 55% of the electricity the ronmental footprint and be good facility needs to operate. Photo courtesy of General Mills stewards of the earth’s resources. The company is continually taking steps to cut energy usage and is one-third of the way toward the 20% goal. A facility in San Adrian, Spain, gets all of its electricity—and a third of its overall energy—from renewable sources such as wind power. Solar panels were also recently installed on the roof and will produce more than 1.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity. A distribution center in Methuen, Mass., became the first General Mills facility in the United States to produce its own electricity from solar panels. The panels atop the warehouse produce enough

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Improving Transportation Efficiency The company is also working to reduce its transportation foot- print by reducing road miles and consumption of diesel fuel, with a reduction goal of 35%. General Mills rolled out a new computer- based transportation system that more efficiently consolidates sched- ules and selects the best way to deliver products from production lines to distribution facilities. This centralized system is expected to save more than $2 million and mil- lions of gallons of fuel each year. Internationally, the company is consolidating heavier canned Green Careful mapping of cargo shipments has yielded fuel savings for the company. Giant vegetables produced in France Photo courtesy of General Mills with lighter bars and Mexican meal kits made in Spain. This means General Mills operates with the expectation that operations more eco-friendly. These is able to pack sea-going containers its global employee base of 35,000 teams spend a minimum of one more efficiently and transport them employees looks for opportunities to hour a day looking for opportuni- to the United Kingdom and Ireland. integrate sustainable strategies, prod- ties to drive out waste, minimize Already more than 2.3 million road ucts, and processes into operations. water use, reduce energy con- miles per year have been trimmed Employees work collabora- sumption, and make progress by shipping 90% of UK-bound tively to minimize the environmental against the company’s global envi- goods by sea. This initiative will footprint of General Mills’ busi- ronmental sustainability goals. reduce an additional 150,000 road nesses. This includes efforts to For example, employees at a miles by allowing more goods to be further embed sustainability into General Mills plant in Belvidere, Ill., shipped directly to Ireland by sea. the use of raw materials, manu- saved the facility 421 tons of waste facturing methods, selection of and identified 40 efficiency oppor- Sustainability Is Good Business packaging, and distribution of prod- tunities by systematically evaluating Being a responsible corporate citi- ucts. The focus is on providing every facet of its production pro- zen—socially, economically, and customers and consumers with the cesses with a sustainability lens. environmentally—is at the core of best quality products while work- In addition to internal met- General Mills Nourishing Lives mis- ing to sustain the environment. rics, General Mills has begun asking sion, culture, and business strategy. Almost all of the company’s suppliers to complete an environ- “We believe that doing well for plants have Reduce, Eliminate, All mental scorecard which asks for our shareholders goes hand in hand Losses (REAL) Time Sustainability data on energy use, water use, and with doing well for our consumers, Teams that dedicate time to iden- solid waste generation that is associ- our communities, and the planet,” tifying opportunities to make ated with ingredients and materials continues Powell. “At General Mills, adhering to sustainable practices is ‘Scoop showers’ installed in General Mills’ Häagen-Dazs ice cream shops keep ice cream scoops clean not only the right thing to do, it’s without requiring that water run continuously. Photo courtesy of General Mills also good business. We believe this effort will drive financial, strate- gic, and competitive advantage.” Sustainability is very purposely seeded throughout the organiza- tion—from manufacturing facilities around the globe to the corporate campus in Minneapolis. The respon- sibility to steward the planet doesn’t live within a single “green team” at General Mills. Instead, the company pg 40 07.12 • www.ift.org used to make its products. packed, the can supplier is now reduce waste and improve efficiency “With our supplier scorecard, we located alongside the manufacturing while benefiting the environment. will be able to make a greater impact facility, which reduces transporta- on the total environmental foot- tion by 220,000 kilometers and saves Sustainability Takes Root print,” says Steve Peterson, Sourcing the plant $1.5 million dollars a year. The General Mills legacy of corpo- Director, General Mills. The company expects HMM to rate citizenship is deeply rooted in One of the key levers General Mills continue to be a significant driver to the company’s culture and its actions. »» uses to help drive sustainability deeper into its business is holis- tic margin management (HMM). Using Oat Hulls for Energy HMM is a broad company strat- egy designed to understand what ne of the most recent drives value for the consumer and and visible successes eliminate non-value-added costs Ofrom General Mills’ and activities throughout the sup- sustainability journey is the ply chain. The savings are then new biomass burner at its captured and reinvested to fur- Fridley, Minn., flour mill. ther grow the business. In January Brought online in January the company announced a goal of 2011, the biomass unit accruing $4 billion in HMM savings burns oat hulls left over between fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2020. from the milling process to Often many of these savings produce about 90% of the have an environmental benefit. steam needed to heat the General Mills has hundreds of ini- plant and produce oat flour tiatives under way to drive value used in making Cheerios by focusing on the things that and other products. matter to consumers and reduc- For decades, General ing waste across operations. Mills had been repurposing A team at a General Mills plant the 80,000 tons of oat hulls A biomass burner at General Mills’ Fridley, Minn., flour mill uses 100% oat hulls to generate in Covington, Ga., has installed left over from the process of steam for operating the plant. Photo courtesy of General Mills more than 40 energy meters on sev- milling oats to make oat flour. eral pieces of major equipment. They had been used as animal The meters enable plant person- feed, as an ingredient in nylon and plastics, and to make paper and packaging products. The com- nel to better understand the impact pany continued to search for an even more economical and beneficial use for the oat hulls for more of system changes using real-time than 20 years. energy consumption data. Thanks Company operations personnel knew that oat hulls have the same BTU value, or energy potential, to the energy meters and their real- as bituminous coal. Team members had been gathering information and experience about using oat time tracking abilities, the Covington hulls as a fuel, but much of that information did not transfer. Most biomass burner operations use plant saves an estimated $2.5 mil- biomass that may include oat hulls and other plant material in order to generate electricity or a spe- lion per year. Learning from the cialized type of heat. But General Mills was seeking a system that could use 100% oat hulls to Covington metering project will be generate steam for the processing system. applied at other General Mills man- This approach of using entirely oat hulls was new to the industry and to the company. The bio- ufacturing facilities, expanding the mass burner has addressed two compelling business needs—saving money and reducing General energy savings across the company. Mills’ footprint on the environment for years to come. Burning oat hulls on site reduces reliance on Thirty of the company’s Häagen- natural gas, saving nearly $400,000 annually, and cuts the company’s carbon footprint by more than Dazs shops have installed “scoop 20%. And since oat hulls are burned at the same location where they are produced, the environmen- showers,” which keep ice cream tal impact and cost of shipping them to a burner is eliminated. scoops clean without running Besides producing steam and heat for the plant, the oat hulls are also used by a nearby biomass the water tap all day. The innova- plant to power approximately 17,000 homes a year. tion, which reduced water use by The benefits from this project continue beyond energy. After the oat hulls have been burned, the 75%, is estimated to save $1 mil- resulting ash is captured and distributed to nearby farmers who use it as a nutrient supplement to lion annually and is now being improve the soil on agricultural land. installed in company-owned Häagen- Accomplishments such as the biomass burner inspire and challenge all General Mills employ- Dazs shops around the world. ees to dream big when developing creative solutions to make General Mills an even more At a facility in Labatut, France, sustainable company. where Green Giant vegetables are

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headquarters, which donates nearly 1,400 pounds of organic veg- etables to food shelves and meal programs in Minnesota each year. • Leverage innovation to reduce environmental footprint. Many people know General Mills for its innovation in the grocery aisle, but the company also relies on inno- vation and the power of big ideas to improve environmental perfor- General Mills is teaming mance. A 20+year employee was the with wheat growers in driving force behind the first-ever Eastern Idaho to study the environmental impact of biomass burner project. He had a wheat production. vision to tap into the energy poten- Photo © iStockphoto.com/melhi tial of oat hulls—a new idea for the company and the food industry. The project recently received a top indus- General Mills has a history practices in nutrient management, try award for innovation and of working closely with farmers pest management, and other farm- creativity, and it helps reduce reli- to promote sustainable agricul- ing practices that will lead to more ance on natural gas. ture—whether through its organic environmentally sustainable and • Partner with industry to Cascadian Farm brand, Green Giant economical production of wheat. move one another forward faster. vegetables, or the many growers A similar effort is under way General Mills is helping to lead an who provide various grains to make in western Canada. There General industry initiative to combat food other products. Green Giant was an Mills is working with grower groups waste in America. The goal of this early adopter of crop rotation prac- to study two decades of sustainabil- cross-industry team, which includes tices in the 1930s and was among ity indicators—land use, soil loss, food manufacturers, grocery retail- the earliest to use best-in-class pes- energy use, and climate change—on ers, restaurants, and foodservice ticide management six decades ago. eight different crops including wheat, outlets, is to identify strategies to Today the General Mills agricul- oats, lentils, canola, peas, and flax. reduce waste while increasing food tural research facility in Le Seuer, donations to feed the hungry. Minn.—the valley where Green Lessons Learned Through this coalition, the company Giant was created—has continued “While we’re proud of our sus- will identify and share best practices to develop and improve crop breed- tainable heritage, we understand and strategies to keep perfectly good ing and agronomic practices that that there is much work ahead on food out of landfills and get it into benefit farmers and the environ- our journey,” says Peterson. “Along the hands of the hungry. ment. In fact, in the last 35 years, the way, we have learned a few With the world’s population pro- improved hybrids through con- valuable lessons and continue to jected to reach 9 billion by 2050, the ventional breeding have more than learn more every day.” Here are demand for food is expected to dou- doubled the yield of sweet corn three of the most significant. ble, raising questions about how it while reducing the acreage planted. • Total employee engagement will be possible to produce enough General Mills is also build- feeds the next generation of sus- to feed people in a sustainable way ing on this commitment through tainability ideas. Three employees that works long-term. As scientists its work with two organizations in the technical research center near debate strategies about how the to measure and improve the envi- Minneapolis started a self-directed world’s food supply will meet rising ronmental footprint of growing pilot project to compost the vari- demand, most experts agree that several crops. Through Field to ous food products sent to them for more sustainable approaches to agri- Market, the Keystone Alliance for testing. The concept of compost- culture and responsible use of the Sustainable Agriculture’s initia- ing waste quickly spread to several world’s resources must be part of the tive, General Mills has launched more labs and then throughout equation. General Mills is working to a three-year pilot with 25 wheat the main campus. General Mills is be part of the solution. FT growers in Eastern Idaho to study now collecting approximately two the environmental impact of wheat tons of organic waste per week. Jerry Lynch is Chief Sustainability Officer, General production. Ultimately, the program The project supplies compost to Mills, One General Mills Boulevard, Minneapolis, will allow growers to share best the Giving Garden at the corporate MN 55426 ([email protected]). pg 42 07.12 • www.ift.org