Leading Food Companies to Receive Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards at PACK EXPO Las Vegas

Chicago, Illinois, July 20, 2023 —  ProFood World, a publication of PMMI Media Group, a division of PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, is pleased to announce the winners of the ninth annual Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards.

The award-winning programs and projects were completed and operational between November 2021 and December 2022 and include the following:

Program Category

1st Place- Conagra Brands, Fayetteville, AR – Certified Carbon Neutral Made in a Zero Waste Facility

Project Category

1st Place- Hormel Foods, Dubuque, IA – Reverse Osmosis Concentrate Reuse

2nd Place- Conagra Brands, Imlay City, MI – Steam Trap Optimization

3rd Place- Bob’s Red Mill, Milwaukie, OR – Food Waste Reduction

4th Place- Smithfield Packaged Meats, Kinston, NC – Plastic/Film Waste Reduction

The peer-reviewed awards recognize facilities for projects or programs that improve sustainability efforts in food and beverage manufacturing operations, focusing on pollution prevention, compliance assurance, and environmental protection. Recipients are awarded for reduction in water and energy use, waste conservation, pollution prevention, and packaging reductions. 

“Sustainability is more important than ever for both food and beverage manufacturers and their customers,” says Aaron Hand, editor-in-chief of ProFood World. “As shown by the depth of entries in the Project Category, processors are often chipping away at sustainability efforts on a project-by-project basis, in many cases getting inspiration from their employees who have firsthand knowledge of where waste is occurring and ideas about how operations could be optimized.”

The awards ceremony will take place on Monday, Sept. 11, during PACK EXPO Las Vegas, Sept. 11-13, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. 

Past award-winners include B&G Foods, Pepperidge Farm, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Campbell Soup, McCormick, Hormel, Hiland Dairy, Land O’Lakes, and more. 

To learn more about the Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards, visit pfwgo.to/sema.