Milling & Baking News - July 28, 2020 - 12

Business

Grupo Bimbo, Flowers Foods share
key water conservation tactics

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KANSAS CITY - Water is critical to baking. It's a major part of any bread formulation, particularly artisan bread. It also
serves other functions in the bakery as
well, from sanitation on the production
floor to the sink in the office kitchen or
breakroom. While bakeries can't do away
with water, they can improve their sustainability profile by taking steps to bring
their water usage down. It's an issue that
some of the world's largest baking companies are taking on.
"The use of water is a fundamental issue for our operation, and its correct
use allows us to have the quality and safety characteristics of
our products," said Alejandra
Vazquez, global environmental management director, Grupo Bimbo,
Mexico City. "Therefore, we have established within our operations guidelines
and standards for
its proper use and
goals for reducing
consumption
and
improving treatment
processes."
Grupo Bimbo has
three action points to help the company
reduce its water footprint across its global network of bakeries. They include reduction in the water consumption in the
process, treatment and reuse of water to
return it to nature in the best condition,
and incorporation of alternative water
sources such as rainwater harvesting.
For Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Ga., reducing water comes with a global perspective in mind, taking into account the entire
supply chain and not just the bakery.
"Because limited water availability can
potentially disrupt production and affect
the cost of ingredients, Flowers must continually assess and address water risks
across its operations and supply chain,"
said Margaret Ann Marsh, vice president of sustainability and environmental,
Flowers Foods. "Through risk assessments, Flowers has identified bakeries
and ingredient sourcing regions located
in water-stressed areas. In 2020, Flowers
joined the Carbon Disclosure Project's
supply chain program to further engage
suppliers on water risks relevant to Flowers' operations."
Bakeries can employ several strategies,
large and small, to reduce the amount of
water they use. This means taking a hard
look at where the opportunities are to either
12 / July 28, 2020

Milling & Baking News

eliminate water usage or treat and reuse it.
Strategies to reduce water
First things first when reducing water:
know where it's being used in the facility
and how. This is often in the production
process such as the formulation itself, sanitation and other services that include restrooms and kitchens inside the facility. Once

THREE-PART STRATEGY TO REDUCE

Grupo Bimbo

1. Reduction in the water consumption in
the process, treatment,
2. Reuse of water to return it to nature in
the best condition,
3. Incorporation of alternative water
sources such as rainwater harvesting.

Flowers Foods

1. Integrating sustainability practices
into the bakeries' existing processes,
2. Ensuring all the company's facilities
have the support and resources needed
for continuous improvement,
3. Communicating its sustainability successes internally.
those usage points are identified, monitoring usage allows companies to see where
the opportunities for reduction might be.
Flowers' sustainability team evaluates
water consumption at more than 900 bakeries, warehouses and retail locations for
any major fluctuations.
"If there is an unusual change in water
use, the sustainability team notifies onsite management and helps investigate
and quickly resolve potential leaks or
other water issues," Ms. Marsh said.
Flowers implements a three-part strategy to reduce water. The first is integrating sustainability practices into the bakeries' existing processes. The company then
ensures that all its facilities have the support and resources needed for continuous
improvement. Finally, Flowers communicates its sustainability successes internally.
"There are a number of ways to implement water savings without extensive
capital investment or significant behavior changes," Ms. Marsh explained. "For
example, simply replacing standard water nozzles with high-pressure, low-flow
pressure nozzles has provided significant
water savings at our bakeries. When

upgrading other equipment, we look for
models with enhanced water efficiency.
Also, we have retrofitted sinks and toilets
with aerators at our office locations to automatically reduce water usage."
Meters on equipment that use a lot of
water track consumption.
A major process in any bakery, sanitation
traditionally uses a lot of water. To combat
this, bakeries are streamlining sanitation so
it is done as effectively as possible. Grupo
Bimbo standardized dry and semi-wet
cleaning processes as well as steam cleaning. This standardization enables the company's bakeries to reduce water use without compromising food safety.
"Today, we already have 93 plants using this practice," Ms. Vazquez said.
Dry cleaning refers to removing any
debris from the production equipment
before using water to clean. However,
Ms. Marsh said that phrase has led to
some confusion, so Flowers Foods has altered its course a little.
"That term was consistently misinterpreted by our bakery teams, so we have
started calling the process 'sustainable
cleaning' to better describe best practices
to conserve water and improve wastewater quality," she said.
To support its teams, Flowers offers
company-wide training on efficient water usage and best practices through an
online training platform.
A return beyond the dollar
Closing the water cycle - that's the
goal. Reducing water usage not only helps
bakeries save on a water bill, but it also has
an impact across the supply chain.
"Since 2015, we've been able to reduce
water usage and estimated costs by a little
more than 6%," Ms. Marsh said of Flowers'
water reduction efforts. "More importantly,
by conserving water, we've been able to reduce demand and lessen the strain placed
on community water supplies."
Through Grupo Bimbo's commitment
to water reduction, the company has cut
consumption in Mexico, Central America,
South America and Spain by more than 10%
compared with the company's baseline in
2016. Measurable KPIs across business, environmental and social impacts have been
encouraging, but so have the changes that
have occurred inside the bakeries.
To achieve those KPIs, the operators
have become more efficient in the use of
water, which has led to changes in cleaning and new technologies. This extra efficiency has trickled down to improve
productivity throughout production - a
win-win for the company's bottom line.
"The best use of water impacts us in many
ways, and we are all a part of this effort,
which benefits us all," Ms. Vazquez said. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - July 28, 2020

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