Kickstart a Waste Reduction Culture by Engaging Employees the Right Way
Challenge
Land O’Lakes is committed to reducing food waste across its value chain, from food loss at the farm and distribution levels to loss of organic ingredients during the manufacturing stage. Land O’Lakes has set the following publicly-declared climate goals for itself:
- Reduce food waste in standard operational practices 30% by 2030
- Achieve a 50% reduction in waste to landfill from operations by 2030
- Reduce Scope 3 emissions 25% by 2030
Inspired by the results of another food waste initiative led by TripleWin at Bob’s Red Mill, Land O’Lakes sought TripleWin’s help in conducting a similar program. With support from the World Wildlife Fund and the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment, TripleWin designed a new initiative to identify and prevent food losses at Land O’Lakes’ Turlock facility, which produces Kozy Shack puddings.
Informed by the Bob’s Red Mill case study, Land O’Lakes went into the project recognizing the critical value of employee participation, with the goal of creating a lasting culture of waste prevention at all levels of the organization.
Solutions Delivered
TripleWin developed an employee engagement program to educate and empower all employees to contribute meaningfully to the company’s waste reduction targets over the short and long terms. Over two months, TripleWin aimed to drive this engagement toward three key outcomes:
- Generate lots of ideas for reducing waste, as identified and submitted by front-line workers
- Demonstrate the effectiveness of one “quick-win” (fast, effective, low-cost) idea, as measured by material yield and financial savings
- Kickstart a culture of waste prevention through shared knowledge, excitement and the desire to do more.
To do this, TripleWin designed and managed the implementation of four interlinked engagement programs:
- A 14-minute training video produced by TripleWin that explained the links between food waste and systemic challenges such as climate change and world hunger, and tips for reducing waste at work and at home.
- A series of GEMBA walks (i.e. facility walkthroughs) to talk with employees during production and observe firsthand where waste typically occurs .
- A four-week food waste reduction challenge, turning idea generation into a fun competition with tantalizing incentives. The detective-themed competition, dubbed “Solve the Mystery of the Lost Food,” was custom-made and featured weekly prizes, a “best detective of the week” award, and the aspirational goal of a company-wide taco truck lunch.
- Cohesive digital and analog communications to stoke interest throughout the project. These included weekly signage updates, a 6-foot banner showing progress to project milestones, and a mockup physical briefcase for employee detectives to submit waste reduction “clues” written on paper.
Since the majority of plant employees were native Spanish speakers, providing both English and Spanish versions of all project communications was essential for maximizing employee participation.
Project Learnings
A post-engagement survey showed that the most engaging communication tool was the food waste educational video. Many employees found it meaningful to learn that food waste accelerates global heating and resonated with the idea that they had a crucial role to play in preventing it. The video informed employees about big-picture issues and injected a sense of purpose into the project.
As expected, preparing bilingual training and communication materials made the project more inclusive: 32% of submitted ideas were written in Spanish.
Client Outcomes
A detailed case study by the project partners celebrated the following outcomes:
- 78% of the plant’s 125 employees watched the food waste video
- Employees submitted 277 ideas, at a 77% participation rate
- The “quick win” idea that was tested showed a 74% improvement in material yield, saving the company $3,500 annually.
The four-part engagement program was an undeniable success in kickstarting a waste prevention culture at Land O’Lakes. Nearly all survey respondents said that they had become “very aware” or “aware” of food waste over the course of the initiative. And many expressed a clear desire for Land O’Lakes to implement the best ideas and share them with employees to raise awareness and encourage further action.
Testing a “quick-win” opportunity was critical, because it showed employees that managers took their ideas seriously — an essential factor for continued engagement — while demonstrating the financial benefits of those ideas to all.
Following the project, Land O’Lakes was looking to expand the project to a larger factory and develop an evergreen food waste video for standard employee training across the company.
Experts
TripleWin Advisory is a boutique corporate consultancy focused on circularity solutions for industry. TripleWin offers a suite of tools to support clients in charting a practical, circular and sustainable course for their business. These tools include:
- Carbon inventories and setting science-based and Net Zero carbon goals
- Materiality assessments and sustainability roadmaps
- Building circular business models supported by financial analysis
- Risk scenario models using the TCFD framework
- Workshops and courses to build employee agency and corporate competency
We work with leaders in the following industries: apparel, footwear & textiles; information technology; metals; beauty; food & beverage; healthcare; building construction; human resource management; and retail.
TripleWin Advisory is an approved CDP climate change consultancy Accredited Service Provider (ASP). We are woman-founded, owned and led; a public benefit company.
Land O’Lakes, Inc., a premier agribusiness and food company, is a member-owned cooperative with operations that span the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. With 2022 annual sales of $19 billion, Land O’Lakes is one of America’s largest cooperatives, ranking 213 on the Fortune 500. Land O’Lakes today operates some of the most respected brands including Land O’Lakes Dairy Foods, Animal Nutrition, WinField United and Truterra. The company does business in all 50 states and more than 60 countries.
Headquarters:Arden Hills, Minnesota
Industry:
Food Manufacturing
Main Product:
Butter, cheese, and other dairy goods
In their words
“TripleWin’s team included a cross-functional group of employees who approached our work together with passion, dedication, and expertise. A key highlight of the effort was being able to leverage materials in both English and Spanish and thus more inclusively engage the employee base at our facilities.”