Vermont Creamery, makers of consciously crafted artisan cheese and butter, released its 2022 Mission Report, detailing the B Corp-Certified Company’s commitment to purpose in practice.
It was a year of forged partnerships and shared wins – together with Vanguard Renewables, Vermont Creamery is making significant strides towards food waste reduction, sending its production biproducts to the Northeast’s largest anaerobic digester in Salisbury, Vermont.
“We are proud to release this year’s report, a testament to our commitment to reduce our environmental impact while deepening our legacy,” said Eliza Leeper, Mission and Business Operations Manager. “Purpose is our motivating force, it’s what gets us going every day, to use our business for good, to drive meaningful impact in the community.”
In August, Vermont Creamery formally joined the Farm-Powered Strategic Alliance, a precompetitive group of food and beverage companies committed to reducing food waste and sourcing renewable energy. The Alliance was founded in 2020 by Unilever, Dairy Farmers of America, Starbucks and Vanguard Renewables with the goal of avoiding or eliminating food waste through anaerobic digesters.
Vermont Creamery continued down its path of seeking innovative solutions to reduce its environmental impact, kicking off a sustainable packaging initiative – a meaningful step towards their goal. The Creamery’s recognizable legacy wooden crate packaging were replaced by post-consumer waste plastic, making them recyclable and still able to protect the integrity of their line of aged goats’ and cows’ milk cheeses.
Additionally, in order to meet the challenges of an ever-changing manufacturing workforce, Vermont Creamery introduced a flex manufacturing program. Born out of necessity and desire, the Flex Manufacturing Program offers part-time positions with flexible, four-hour shifts, and a selection of employee benefits, including a 401-K with company match, paid time off and tuition assistance. The program allows the Creamery to offer employment to students, parents or anyone seeking supplemental income.
Over the course of the year, Vermont Creamery tracked and achieved key metrics against predetermined annual goals, including balancing gender representation, increasing engagement, reducing product loss and improving product quality.
To read the full report, please visit www.vermontcreamery.com.
About Vermont Creamery
Founded in 1984 and B Corp certified since 2014, Vermont Creamery is a pioneer of artisan cheese, winning countless national and international awards for their suite of cheeses and cultured dairy products, while supporting a network of family farms and promoting sustainable agriculture in the region. Ranked in June 2021 in the top 10% of most purposeful brands, according to the 2021 Purpose Power Index(link is external), Vermont Creamery is a subsidiary of Minnesota-based Farmer-Owned Cooperative Land ‘O Lakes, Inc. For more information, visit https://www.vermontcreamery.com.
