Sustainability Initiative

Sustainability is defined as meeting current needs without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs by balancing environmental, economic and social (equity) concerns. Our mission at BIX Produce Company is to deliver our customers with the highest quality produce and gourmet items with excellent service while considering sustainability in our daily business practice.

The quality of life in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area and beyond is linked to the health and well-being of our community and our environment. We desire to play a role in that good health. All of us at BIX Produce can take actions every day that will contribute to a better today and create a positive legacy for future generations. We are passionate about the relationships we have developed with farmers and growers at the local, regional and national level that support this emphasis.

In our daily practice, many opportunities exist to consider sustainability. The following demonstrates the economic, environmental and societal practices that contribute to our reaching sustainability initiatives.

 

1. BIX Produce actively recycles cardboard and is continually expanding our cardboard and recycling program. Recently, we implemented a new cardboard auger that allows us to get triple the amount of cardboard into the container which reduces our hauls and carbon footprint.
2. Repurposing food waste: The “waste” product from our production lines and product deemed unsalable is routed to local farmers to be used as feed or fertilizer. Thus, less material is sent to the landfills or burners.
3. We collect plastic sheets and broken pallets for recycling rather than waste and we reuse boxes for outbound shipment as our sanitation policies allow.
4. As a fresh fruit and vegetable processing facility, our water consumption is a key factor in not only our economic success, but our sustainability scorecard. We conduct studies on-site that allow us to continuously evaluate our water consumption that challenge us to drive improvement.
5. Our warehouse is outfitted with water bottle filling stations to reduce plastic water bottle consumption.
6. Our facility contains a pre-release water treatment system to be certain water leaving our production facility is at the correct pH before entering the Little Canada water treatment system.
7. We continually seek effective chemical programs that have the greatest impact on our product and sanitation needs while having the least impact on the environment.