August 1, 2022. Chobani, Kikkoman Foods Inc., Schreiber Foods, Hillebrand, and Polar Beverages are the latest food and beverage companies to join the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance (FPSA/Alliance), a collaborative movement to boost food waste reduction and recycling, and expand renewable energy production across America. The Alliance, founded in 2020 by Vanguard Renewables, Unilever, Starbucks, and Dairy Farmers of America aims to avoid or eliminate food waste first and repurpose what can’t be eliminated into renewable energy via farm-based anaerobic digesters.
“The addition of these five national brands to the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance is proof that the work we are doing to decarbonize the food and beverage industry is making an impression on industry leaders,” stated Neil H. Smith, CEO, Vanguard Renewables. “The FPSA is a group of like-minded companies committed to doing their part to help mitigate the climate crisis, and we look forward to working with our newest FPSA members to achieve our shared sustainability goals, to divert inedible organic waste and turn that into renewable natural gas (RNG).”
The Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, named one of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas, includes Unilever, Starbucks, Dairy Farmers of America, Vanguard Renewables, Stonyfield Organic, Cabot Creamery, Smithfield Foods, Food Tank (a leading NGO), and now Chobani, Kikkoman, Schreiber Foods, Hillebrand, and Polar Beverages. The Alliance offers U.S. food manufacturers and retailers a circular approach to reducing the detrimental environmental impacts of CO2 emissions and provides a pathway toward a carbon-neutral footprint. Members commit to recycle unavoidable food and beverage waste on farms where it is combined with farm manure in a Farm Powered® anaerobic digester to generate renewable natural gas. Hosting a Farm Powered anaerobic digester provides farm partners with a diversified income stream in addition to a by-product of the operation: a low-carbon fertilizer that host farms can spread in lieu of chemical fertilizers and which supports regenerative agriculture practices.
“If we are to reach the United States’ ambitious goals to reduce net GHG emissions by 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, it is imperative that private industry lead the way. That is why we formed the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, and what our members are working towards every day,” says Smith.