Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) recently released its eighth annual sustainability report, outlining the company's environmental and social performance for fiscal 2012. The report details the company's long-standing commitment to sustainability and unveils a new focus on three specific practice areas: Resilient Supply Chain, Sustainable Products and Thriving People and Communities.
"Our strategy framework, and the steps we will take in the next year to build it out, will build on our strong tradition of sustainability, create sharper focus on our areas of interest, and position us to deliver more value for our employees, the communities that host our facilities, our business partners, shareholders and stakeholders all along our value chain," said Michael Dupee, GMCR's vice president of corporate social responsibility, in a prepared statement.
In the report, the company announced that purchases of Fair Trade Certified™ coffees represented over 50 million pounds, or five million more pounds than fiscal 2011. In 2011, Fair Trade USA ranked GMCR the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee in the world for the second year running.
GMCR delivered a 46 percent increase in net sales in 2012 while also improving energy efficiency, recycling more waste, and reducing the proportion of waste sent to the landfill. Highlights of the fiscal 2012 report include:
- GMCR more than tripled the amount of waste chaff, burlap, coffee, powder and tea that it composted, and increased recycling of corrugated boxes, boxboard, paper, and plastics by 50 percent in its facilities, compared to the previous year.
- Over $10 million in grant money was allocated to supply-chain communities, including food security projects for over 20,000 coffee-farming families around the world.
- The company maintained an employee retention rate of approximately 90 percent.
- Sixty-five percent of full-time employees volunteered through a company-sponsored program called Café Time, which allows employees up to 52 paid hours per year to volunteer.
The report also highlights GMCR's goals for fiscal 2013, which include continuing financial support for projects addressing food security in coffee-growing communities, increasing the sourcing of sustainable coffees, and further reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills.
"There's significant value at the intersection of innovation, relationships, and sustainability," said GMCR President and CEO Brian P. Kelley. "Producing this report benchmarks our achievements and provides important transparency into our challenges. We're creating a blueprint that integrates sustainability more deeply into our operations and across our value chain."
Full details of the fiscal 2012 report can be found at www.gmcr.com/sustainability.
