WhiteWave Foods Company Greens Natural Products Expo West for Third Consecutive Year
WhiteWave Foods Company (WWFC), maker of Horizon Organic® and Silk® Soymilk, announced today that, in partnership with New Hope Natural Media, it will offset the environmental impact of The Natural Products Expo West with wind energy for the third consecutive year. To do so, WWFC is purchasing enough Green Tags, or renewable energy certificates, from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) to cover all of the energy used to power the 300,000-square-foot Anaheim Convention Center.
Green Tags help “green the grid” by replacing the power produced from burning fossil fuels like coal and natural gas with clean, renewable wind energy. Wind power is an affordable energy source that does not cause pollution, generate waste, or deplete natural resources. With the purchase at Expo West, which totals 690 megawatt-hours of wind energy, WWFC will offset more than 517 tons of climate-altering carbon dioxide emissions.
Greening Expo West is one way in which WWFC honors its commitment to sustainability. WWFC also uses clean wind energy to offset 100 percent of the power used at its corporate headquarters and both Silk Soymilk and Horizon Organic purchase wind energy credits to help offset the energy used to produce their products. To date, the company’s renewable energy purchases are the environmental equivalent of eliminating nearly 150,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions or taking 38,059 cars off the road for one full year.
“At WhiteWave Foods, we want to create a new, sustainable business model for the food industry. Greening Expo West is an initiative that aligns with that goal,” said Joseph E. Scalzo, President and CEO of WWFC. “We’re always looking to make better, more sustainable choices in everything we do. As regular attendees of Expo, and long-time supporters of renewable energy, we feel it’s fitting to continue to make this commitment and are proud to do so.”
Both Silk and Horizon Organic have maintained a rich tradition of nurturing the body while also nurturing the planet. This spring, Silk will bring back its very successful “Green Caps for Green Energy” program. “Green Caps” is a simple way for people to actively participate in creating a cleaner environment. Consumers who purchase Silk products with green-colored caps visit SilkSoymilk.com to enter the Universal Product Code (UPC) number. For every number entered, Silk will donate 30 kilowatt-hours in Green Tags. Over the course of the three-month program, the brand hopes to provide enough wind energy to power 20,000 homes for an entire year.
Horizon Organic nurtures the planet with its use of sustainable organic farming practices. Since it was founded in 1991, Horizon Organic has converted 250,000 acres of land to organic production. In 2007, the brand’s use of organic agriculture prevented the use of more than 17 million pounds of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. Horizon Organic, a pioneer in the organic movement, currently works with nearly 450 family farms and is helping another 100 farms convert to organic.
This year at Expo West, Horizon Organic will sample three new lowfat yogurt flavors — Maple, Blackberry and Vanilla Bean — as well as Lactose-Free Milk, and Silk will be offering a tasting bar of its entire product line-up.
ABOUT SILK
Silk Soymilk was launched in 1996 and is the best-selling soymilk brand in the country. Not only do Silk products taste delicious, a cup of Silk contains as much calcium as a cup of milk and is loaded with soy protein, which when consumed as a part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. Silk is available in virtually all major supermarket chains and the complete product line includes a number of varieties and flavors to meet specific tastes and nutritional needs. For more information, visit www.silksoymilk.com.
ABOUT HORIZON ORGANIC
Horizon Organic, founded in 1991, was the first certified organic dairy to distribute products nationally in the United States. The company remains true to its vision for a more organic planet, purchasing milk from 450 certified organic dairy farms and providing certified organic dairy products to natural foods retailers and supermarkets across the country. Horizon Organic products are produced without the use of antibiotics, added growth hormones or harmful pesticides and always will be. That’s the organic promise from our farmers to consumers. For more information on the growing world of organic, visit www.horizonorganic.com.
About the Bonneville Environmental Foundation
The Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a non-profit organization, was established in 1998 to restore watershed ecosystems and further the development and use of new renewable energy resources. Through revenues generated from the sales of green power products, BEF funds projects that restore damaged watersheds and support new renewable energy projects from solar, wind and biomass. BEF pioneered the sale of Green Tags in 2000 and has helped establish national standards for certification and trading. More information is available on the web at www.greentagsusa.org.