Sustainability

At Gehl Food & Beverage Companies, sustainability is embedded into every facet of our organization. Our Sustainability Program’s goal is to ensure that our interaction with the planet today will help preserve natural resources and avoid jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

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Our Sustainability Approach

Our sustainability program focuses on five key aspects of our work environment. These goals are driven by the global needs of our customers, employees, and communities in which we operate.

Responsible Consumption & Production

Packaging is a necessary part of any food and beverage manufacturing process. However, non-sustainable packaging can lead to overflowing landfills and oceans clogged with trash. We’ve heard from our customers how important it is to have sustainable packaging options for their food and beverages.

Gehl Food & Beverage Companies are working to achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources within all facilities. Minimizing food and material packaging and waste is part of this goal, and we are also integrating circular economy principles to further encourage sustainable practices going forward.

At our Wisconsin facilities this effort includes:

Establishing and refining a recycling program
Redesigning our pallets using less material and establishing measurement against board feet reduced
Diverting liquid food waste to be repurposed for renewable energy at feed farms
Purchasing a dewatering bailer for the Tetra Pak® production line expansion

At our California facilities this effort includes:

Diverting liquid waste from landfills for use in animal feed
Recycling and converting Tetra Pak® packaging to tissue paper

Climate & Energy

Climate change and energy efficiency are front-of-mind for manufacturers today. The Gehl Food & Beverage Companies organization is no different. We’ve seen a rapid increase in customers assessing Scope 3 GHG emissions and an adoption of Science-Based Targets and Net Zero GHG commitments. We’re determined to meet these customer needs while we work to reduce the impact of our operations on our environment.

At our Wisconsin facilities this effort includes:

Using dry-vans with electric heaters to replace gas heaters, saving fuel
Cutting down on Scope 3 emissions by self generating nitrogen and using fewer fleet trucks
Upgrading air compressor controls to save energy
Minimizing culinary steam impact, which saves both water and energy

At our California facilities this effort includes:

Upgrading insulation within our facilities
Upgrading air compressors to save energy
Assessing a solar project in Lathrop
Updating the economizer to save energy

Sustainability Initiatives

Many of our sustainability initiatives would fail without the support of all teammates, both in our workplace and throughout our supply chain. Through this initiative, we will develop a highly-trained workforce that is engaged, accountable, technically sound, and motivated to enhance stainabilty throughout our workplace and supply chain.

This initiative includes:

Coordinating with Human Resources at both sites to create a consistent employee retention culture
Providing stronger communications for employees via kiosks, newsletters, and consistent messaging
Refining our continuous improvement suggestion program and opportunity-for-improvement cards
Conducting an in-depth review of new employee orientation and hiring practices

Health and Wellbeing

Part of creating a work environment that is committed to sustainability is focusing on the well-being of employees, customers, suppliers, consumers, and our community. As part of that focus, we are establishing new practices with the aim of preventing all workplace injuries.

These practices include:

Continuing to push for a robust safety culture through team engagement
Enhancing training efforts to more easily comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws

Water Stewardship

Our changing climate has put greater stress on our water systems and the availability of water across the country. Gehl Food & Beverage Companies are doing our part in conserving water, by improving water-use efficiency throughout our facilities to better ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to our communities.

At our Wisconsin facilities, this effort includes:

Working on direct stream usage by replacing a boiler with culinary steam. Culinary steam is direct steam from culinary filters which goes directly into product.
Continuing to work with waste removal companies.
Working with sanitation provider to reduce CIP cycles and amount of time & water needed.

At our California facilities, this effort includes:

Reducing RO water consumption through batching efficiencies and exploring the use of city water where applicable
Assess wastewater discharge system and evaluate reuse/reclaim opportunities
Review and adopt implementation of best practices to reduce potential exposure of industrial activities to land and water quality

The Heart of Gehl Food & Beverage Companies

Our Sustainable Vision

Sustainability is at the heart of the Gehl Food & Beverage Companies' strategic decision making and day-to-day operations. We know how important these practices are to our customers and employees. When we work with you, you’re helping us achieve our goal of creating a brighter, more sustainable future.

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Have Questions?

Gehl Food & Beverage Companies are devoted to customer satisfaction, and we are happy to hear from you.