The beautiful vistas of our U.S. park system, such as Glacier National Park above, are visual reminders of the important work we must undertake to sustain our planet. Marzetti supports increasing efficiency, reducing waste and consumption, conserving water and other natural resources, and investing in new technology to protect the environment. Marzetti was honored by the John Muir Association for excellence in Sustainability.   

Marzetti is a recipient of John Muir Business Conservation Award.  America’s foremost Preservationist and Conservationist, John Muir was the co-founder of the Sierra Club in 1892 but according to the U.S. National Park Service “…it was John Muir’s love of nature, and the preservation of it, that we can thank him for today. Muir convinced President Teddy Roosevelt to protect Yosemite (including Yosemite Valley), Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Mt. Rainier as National Parks.” He is considered the father of the National Park System. Marzetti received this prestigious award as the result of company-wide Sustainability efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle. Investment in waste water pretreatment, reductions in electric, gas and water consumption per pound produced, reduced emissions in fleet operations, a wide range of successful supply chain initiatives to reduce energy consumption and green house gas emissions plus an extensive list of recycled materials were some of the qualifying accomplishments recognized by the John Muir Association.

Marzetti is concerned about the impact of our operations upon the planet; that is to say, the environment both near and far away from our facilities. As we plan for future growth, we look for opportunities to increase efficiency, reduce cost and consumption of all resources, and provide for the long-term sustainability of our business with the dual purpose of protecting our customers as well as the environment.

1. Reduce Consumption of Energy

Electricity– Energy consumption at Marzetti has been reduced in some areas by 25%. Motion Sensors have been added to 63% of the fixtures in targeted areas of warehouses reducing kWh consumption. Lighting in all facilities has been converted from metal halide lamps to high output fluorescents that use approximately 1/4 the wattage and electricity for the same lumens while also emitting less heat. In dry warehouses 455w fixtures have been replaced by 155w fixtures and new T8 fluorescent bulbs are rated for 30,000 hours versus 20,000 hours for a 400w metal halide bulb. Energy consumption at a storage cooler at the Columbus, Ohio Distribution Center was reduced by 432,000 kWh annually. Natural Gas - Natural Gas consumption in production facilities was reduced by 35,000 gallons annually. Water Consumption – Expansion of Wastewater pretreatment resulted in reduced waste sent to the city of Columbus through removal of more solids and instead supplying them to a local farmer for livestock feed. This also allowed the plants to reduce the hours of operation in the pretreatment room and an annual reduction of water usage of 4.5 million gallons.

2. Reduce and Recycle Physical Waste 

All Marzetti locations, from corporate offices and manufacturing plants to raw material and finished goods warehouses have recycling/waste reduction programs, including paper recycling. Recycling programs are also in place for scrap wood pallets, corrugated, unsalable bread, cardboard totes, poly drums, plastic pails, buckets, drums and barrels, aluminum cans, steel drums, shrink wrap, metal, fiber drums and fluorescent lighting. Grease trap contents are recycled to diesel fuel. Improvements at specific facilities: New York Brand/Cleveland, Ohio – Installation of a margarine manufacturing system eliminates purchasing block margarine, which also reduces transportation and enables less waste of bags, boxes and fewer trash hauls. Marzetti Distribution Center/Grove City, Ohio - Use of a stretch wrap plastic compactor recycles and avoids sending 52,000 lbs. of plastic wrap to the landfill each year. The DC also converted to corn-based biodegradable popcorn packing for sample shipments. Inn Maid Brand/Millersburg, Ohio – An improvement to the bucket filling system in this plant resulted in weekly waste reduction of 88%.

3. Optimize the Handling and Movement of Raw Materials and Finished Goods

Marzetti’s plant in Horse Cave, Kentucky is located within 50 miles of the center of our Foodservice customer base served by this facility; weighted centric analysis provided the lowest aggregate “food miles”. Shifting production of Marzetti Ranch Dressing and Marzetti portion control packets from Horse Cave to Columbus, Ohio reduced food miles and cost of transfer to the Columbus, warehouse. In reverse, moving a customer’s high volume product to Horse Cave (where it ships with other items for that customer) eliminated numerous truckloads per year between Horse Cave, Kentucky and Columbus, Ohio. Sour cream is now purchased locally in California, avoiding transfer from our sour cream production facility in Ohio.

4. Reduce Freight and Conserve Resources through Cube Utilization

Better utilization of the pallet cube reduces fuel usage and emissions; at Marzetti an improved design of the corrugated case for portion control packets has resulted in better cube utilization and better utilization of shelf space in restaurants. The case is deeper, filling the unused back of the shelf. Width was increased to fit the pallet and provide for column stacking which reduces case dam­age. A stronger case wall allowed for double stacking the pallets in transit. For Sister Schubert’s products a single wall case with identical specifications to the double all uses less corrugate and more efficient order quantities. Pallet configuration increased for 90 and 120 count rolls from 60 to 70 cases/pallet, reducing pallets shipped in both categories by 14 %. Parkerhouse rolls changed from 70 to 80 cases per pallet, reducing pallets shipped by 16%. Marzetti Frozen Pasta pallet configuration changes on six items increased the cases/pallet from 42 to 60, reducing cost by 37% and corrugated by 14.5%. Inn Maid has re­duced pallets shipped by 13%.

5. Manage the Marzetti Fleet to Save Fuel and Decrease Pollution

Over the road fuel consumption has been made more efficient with the use of Tripac units to reduce the engine idle time and enable drivers to shut off the engine while maintain­ing temperature control. Additionally, tractor governors have been dialed back to 69 MPH to improve MPG. Automatic transmis­sions are currently being tested in tractors to measure fuel savings. City driving trucks have on-board computers to monitor daily idle time and speed, reducing city idle time by 75% and tractor governors have been reduced to increase fuel economy.

A Word About Carbon Footprint and Global Warming:

A quick Google search reveals that “the term Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of Carbon Dioxide.” It is meant to be useful for individuals and organizations to conceptualize their personal (or organi­zational) impact in contributing to global warming. A conceptual tool in response to carbon footprints is carbon offsets, or the mitigation of carbon emissions through the development of alternative projects such as solar or wind energy or reforestation. The carbon footprint is a subset of the ecological footprint, which includes all human demands on the biosphere. While this is fascinating and intuitively important stuff, there is no shortage of controversy surrounding the science of Sustainability, as well as the cause and effects of Global Warming. Is Global Warming real? Will “carbon foot­print” ever be a term fully embraced by the lay community as we struggle to understand the best way to join the fight against air and water pollution? We’re not sure, but here at Marzetti, our sense is that waste is wrong, and polluting the environment is wrong, irresponsible and shortsighted.

We will leave the politics of Sustainability to the politicians, and the verdict on Global Warming is best decided within the court of public discourse and continu­ing education. Yet, if we wait for definitive answers and data, we may fall behind in our efforts to curb waste and the excessive use of finite resources.

In Marzetti’s efforts toward sustainability we do not claim to be experts, nor champions of progress in the slow, tedious process of decreasing waste and increasing efficiency in all of our facilities. Each day provides a new lesson learned and a new, untested idea for improvement. We are humbled by those who have recognized our efforts with awards, which encourage and inspire us to try harder to make a difference. This page is an outline of some of our accomplishments and some goals for the future. While this is a process of continual improvement, Marzetti remains committed to keep trying, to keep learning and to implement Sustainable business practices.