Fwd: Moooving-n-Grooving at Stonyfield Farm

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>

> Friday, April 28, 2006

>

> IDEAL BITE ~ a sassier shade of green

>

> ===============================================

> Today's Daily Tip: Moooving-n-Grooving at Stonyfield

> Farm

> ===============================================

>

> Can a small do-gooder company remain true to its

> founding values after

> a mega-corporation buy-out?

>

> (Note: this is the 4th in a series of a new type of

> tip called the

> Ideal Bite “Green Chip Company Showcase.” Each

> month, Ideal Bite will

> interview and tell you about 2 companies that are

> making strides to

> help green the world. Some companies will be

> smaller, green-focused

> businesses, while others will be more traditional,

> blue chip companies

> that may surprise you with their sustainability

> initiatives.)

>

> The Bite:

> Shockwaves hit the green community in 2001 when

> Stonyfield Farm, the

> privately-owned firm that is the world’s largest

> producer of organic

> yogurt, sold its majority share to Groupe Danone, a

> French

> mega-company. But Stonyfield is proving that being

> owned by a

> corporate giant need not change its culture of

> commitment to

> environmental sustainability and family farming.

> (http://www.stonyfield.com/)

>

>

> Company Background:

> Stonyfield began as a rural agriculture school with

> a mission to

> revitalize local, family farming. From the

> environmental messages

> printed on its yogurt lids, to its 10% Profits for

> the Planet, to

> teaming up with Recycline to turn returned yogurt

> cups into toothbrush

> holders, this manufacturer’s eco-commitments run

> deep. As Nancy

> Hirschberg, VP of Natural Resources, told Ideal Bite

> editors: “There

> are lots of green companies out there, but

> Stonyfield’s slightly zany,

> green brand personality really stands out.”

> (http://www.recycline.com/)

>

>

> Why Care?

> * First manufacturer to offset carbon emissions

> – since 1997 it

> has mitigated over 28,000 metric tons of global

> warming gases or the

> equivalent of taking more than 5,000 cars off the

> road for one year.

> * Purchases organic ingredients from local

> coops, making organic

> farming viable for small/family farms and protecting

> 40,000 acres from

> toxic chemicals.

> * Improved the energy efficiency of its

> manufacturing process,

> preventing over 11,000 tons of CO2 from entering the

> atmosphere,

> saving more than $1.6 million and 36 million kWh.

> * An eco-audit suggested that packaging was

> Stonyfield’s biggest

> enviro-impact, so it redesigned plastic cups to

> reduce the amount of

> material used, preventing the production and

> disposal of over 100 tons

> of plastic each year.

> * First company to pay dairy farmers a premium

> not to use bovine

> growth hormone (BVG).

>

>

> Keeping it Real

> Danone’s bottled water business has come under fire

> by

> environmentalists and human rights activists who are

> concerned over

> water rights and the introduction of increased

> plastics in the waste

> stream. However, Stonyfield reports that its good

> deeds are slowly

> beginning to rub up on the parent company -

> Stonyfield and Danone plan

> to announce a major partnership around environmental

> initiatives later

> this year. Time will tell whether Stonyfield-led

> enviro-efforts will

> take root throughout the multinational corporation.

> And while

> Stonyfield is trying to go 100% organic, it recently

> reduced its

> purchases of organic milk due to a price premium

> spurred on by a

> shortage of organic white stuff. When push comes to

> shove,

> Stonyfield, after all, needs to be profitable.

>

(http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/rs/profile.cfm?id=235 & MajorSub=1 & CompanyNam\

e=Stonyfield%20Farm)

>

>

> Cocktail Factoid

> Stonyfield has " Cow " munities blogs (Bovine Bulge and

> Baby Babble, to

> name a few) where folks can meet dairy farmers, and

> several popular

> “Moosletters.” (http://www.stonyfield.com/weblog/)

>

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>

> © 2006 Ideal Bite, Inc.

>

> All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result

> of testing and a

> preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid

> to have its

> company referenced in the tip. Advertising on the

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