duction. Some team members might have more direct sustainability
objectives; for example, our logistic team would have specific targets
around increasing the company’s use of intermodal (rail) transporta-
tion. We learned that while some team members quickly latched onto
this idea, there were others who didn’t know how their jobs tied into
the overall sustainability performance of our company. In response to
this need, we developed a sustainability training program to educate
team members about what sustainability means to us, why it’s impor-
tant and how they can engage with programs and initiatives. Through
the training we review the Declaration categories and briefly touch on
our initiatives in each area. We then
go through the product launch cycle
using a lens of sustainability to iden-
tify areas of impact and develop sug-
gestions for improvement. The
training ends with team members set-
ting their own sustainability goals.
How Has It Paid Off?
Having a measured sustainability
program tied to the Declaration of
Sustainability has provided the necessary structure to accomplish some serious wins. Additionally, through
FTSLA there are more than 30 other
like-minded businesses that are also
using the Declaration as a platform
for sustainability initiatives, providing
the opportunity to learn from others.
Some of our recent successes (broken
down by category) that have been
driven by our commitment to the
Declaration include:
• Organics and labor: To increase
organic acreage and support the
farmers who support us, we
bought 2,240 acres of fertile
Saskatchewan farmland and converted it to organic to be farmed
by our farmer partners. We’ve also
teamed up with Organic Gardening
Magazine to sponsor organic community gardens through grant
programs like Waterworks and
Gardens for Good.
• Energy: Last year we invested in
near infra-red (NIR) sensors which
allow us to optimize the efficiency
of the baking process on one of
our ovens. This oven has reduced
the amount of natural gas used by
close to 10 percent. The next step
is to apply this technology to more
ovens.
• Packaging: Our cross-departmen-
tal Packaging Team has worked on
achieving these greener packaging
wins, moving us closer to zero
waste: using FSC certified paper-
board for all carton packaging; re-
ducing granola cereal packaging
by 10 percent; reconfiguring Eco
