SunOpta Releases 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance Report
May 04 2023 - 6:30AM
Business Wire
SunOpta reported strong progress across four
areas – products, planet, people and governance – as it seeks to
advance its mission to sustainably fuel the future of food
SunOpta (Nasdaq:STKL) (TSX:SOY), a U.S.-based global pioneer
fueling the future of sustainable, plant-based and fruit-based food
and beverages, is proud to release its 2022 Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG) Report. This annual update outlines
sustainability progress made in the 2022 fiscal year and the steps
the company is taking to identify a path forward across four key
areas: products, planet, people and governance.
As a manufacturer of plant-based and fruit-based food and
beverages, sustainability is core to the nature of what SunOpta
does – and how the Company operates. For example, the crops grown
for plant-based milks require significantly less land and water and
produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than milk from cows1 and
organic fruits greatly reduce use of pesticides and
herbicides.2
In 2022, SunOpta made progress toward its zero waste to landfill
goal with six of its manufacturing facilities having achieved zero
waste3 status and two others awaiting verification. The Company’s
new production facility in Midlothian was sustainably designed and
will help save 15 million freight miles and 59 million pounds of
carbon emissions annually from our supply chain. SunOpta also
developed a Food Loss and Waste Policy and standard operating
procedures, laying the groundwork for donating the equivalent of
more than 1.9 million meals to Feeding America.
As a company with a passionate focus on sustainability,
innovation and community, SunOpta is working to find solutions to
reduce electricity, gas and water and to achieve zero waste at its
own manufacturing facilities. The company is also committed to
developing innovative packaging solutions and using efficient modes
of transportation. Through time-bound goals, SunOpta is able to
efficiently track and share its sustainability progress.
“Sustainability is at the root of everything we do as a producer
of plant-based and fruit-based food and beverages. Since our
founding nearly 50 years ago with a mission to elevate and nurture
sustainability, we’ve built on that legacy by helping to transform
the food and beverages people consume, the way they are made, and
the communities where we live and work,” said Joe Ennen, CEO of
SunOpta. “Driven by a spirit of continuous improvement, we are
committed to doubling our business in the next three years and we
aim to achieve this milestone while prioritizing the environmental
and social efforts of our operations. This year’s ESG report
highlights our commitments and actions as we continue working to
advance sustainability and communicate transparently about our
progress and challenges. We embrace the opportunities that lie
ahead as we work to sustainably fuel the future of food.”
Following are highlights from the 2022 report:
- Products
- Received Upcycled Food Association certification for its
nutrient rich OatGold upcycled oat protein powder
- 27 own branded products enrolled in the U.S. Non-GMO
Project
- Received a 96.5 External Food Safety Audit Score (.2 points
higher than 2021)
- Achieved a complaint per million units score of .09%
- Zero incidents of noncompliance with industry or regulatory
labeling and/or marketing codes
- Planet
- 2.3 million pounds of food (the equivalent of 1.9 million
meals) donated to Feeding America
- 261 tons of carbon emissions saved annually from load mode
optimization
- 97.3% by weight of all packaging sourced by SunOpta is
recyclable
- 37.6 billion gallons4 of water saved based on plant-based
production volume
- 6 facilities achieved zero waste to landfill and 2 are awaiting
verification
- Launched a new, sustainable production facility in Midlothian,
Texas that will:
- Save 15 million freight miles annually from SunOpta’s supply
chain, eliminating 59 million pounds of carbon emissions
- Save up to 20 million gallons of water annually with water
reuse equipment
- Reduce energy consumption by 45% with an energy-efficient HVAC
system
- Reduce power usage by 95% with LED lights and energy-efficient
water heaters
- People
- Launched a Latino Employee Resource Group across all
locations
- 45% of employees at the Director level and above are female and
37.5% of SunOpta’s Board of Director members are female
- Received an 80% average employee engagement score for the third
consecutive year
- Governance
- Created an ESG Action Committee
- Implementation of Enterprise Risk Management through an ESG
lens
About SunOpta, Inc.
SunOpta (Nasdaq:STKL) (TSX:SOY) is a U.S.-based, global pioneer
fueling the future of sustainable, plant-based and fruit-based food
and beverages. Founded nearly 50 years ago, SunOpta manufactures
natural, organic and specialty products sold through retail and
foodservice channels. SunOpta operates as a manufacturer for
leading natural and private label brands, and also proudly produces
its own brands, including Sown®, Dream®, West Life™ and Sunrise
Growers®. For more information, visit www.sunopta.com and
LinkedIn.
1. Poore and Nemecek (2018), Science, Additional calculations,
J. Poore BBC. 2. Organic farming uses fewer pesticides, reduces
dietary exposure on produce (2021), The Organic Center. (n.d.).
https://www.organic-center.org/research/organic-farming-uses-fewer-pesticides-reduces-dietary-exposure-produce
3. SunOpta has adopted a zero-waste definition as 90% diversion of
waste from landfill. 4. This figure was determined with an
estimated global average water savings of plant-based milk when
compared to equivalent production of dairy milk based on SunOpta’s
annual plant-based milk production volume consisting of almond,
oat, soy, rice, and coconut milks which represent over 99% of
SunOpta plant-based milk production. Data comes from Poore and
Nemecek (2018) with additional calculations by Poore as published
by BBC and Roos et al. (2018). The water savings estimations are
not directly associated with water use from SunOpta plant-based
milk manufacturing, but instead refer to global averages of water
consumption from plant-based milk production.
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Media Relations: Konnect Agency 213-988-8344
sunopta@konnectagency.com
Investor Relations: Reed Anderson ICR 646-277-1260
reed.anderson@icrinc.com
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