Posted on November, 13, 2024 at 07:08 pm
Ardent Mills launched two new ingredient solutions in the 2024 fiscal year, according to the company’s 2024 environmental, social and governance report.
One of these solutions is Egg Replace, a replacement for dried and liquid whole eggs that can provide long-term cost efficiency, supply stability and protection from avian flu. The solution is made with only four ingredients, including chickpea. It is also gluten-free and vegan in addition to containing no major US food allergen or soy ingredients.
The other solution is Ancient Grains Plus Baking Flour Blend, which is made from whole-food ancient grains and chickpeas to offer more protein than traditional flours. Ardent Mills said the solution was created to reduce reliance on added protein ingredients and support finished-goods protein goals. Crafted with mild flavor, this solution is plant based and gluten-free in addition to containing no major US food allergens.
“We continue to expand our product portfolio with plant-based solutions that meet the needs of our customers, consumers and the communities we serve,” Ardent Mills said.
Regenerative agriculture was another notable subject in the report.
In the 2024 fiscal year, Ardent Mills brought its total enrolled acres up to 598,064 in more than 15 growing regions across the United States and Canada. More specifically, 500,096 of these acres implement 4R Nutrient Stewardship practices, 37,554 of these acres adopted enhanced efficiency fertilizers, and 7,161 of these acres were documented with cover crops.
“This year we also enrolled 100,000 acres in nitrogen management programs with the intention of generating Scope 3 supply chain carbon insets,” Ardent Mills said. “We engaged these growers to reduce nitrogen application by at least 5%. We did this through precise agronomic advice and in certain cases additional products such as nitrogen inhibitors that allow the crop to use more of the nitrogen applied thus leading to less overall application. We expect these insets to be certified and issued by the end of calendar year 2024 and will provide updates in next year’s report.”
The company also said it aims to enroll 1 million acres by the end of 2025 and 2.5 million acres by the end of 2050, with the latter representing close to 50% of its wheat usage.
“Ardent Mills works with farmers every day, so we see first-hand how agriculture plays a critical role in laying the foundation for future generations,” the company said.
Waste reduction also came up in the report.
In the 2024 fiscal year, Ardent Mills identified several partners across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and prioritized facilities to add to its waste pilot program.
“We added organic waste services at five new locations and worked on ensuring organic waste was put in the correct bins at some sites with current organic waste services,” Ardent Mills said. “Across our sites we diverted more than 3.4 million lbs of organic waste away from the landfill to compost or feed reuse outlets. We have set a goal to divert 80% of waste from landfills across our network by 2030.”
The report also discussed renewable energy usage.
In the 2024 fiscal year, Ardent Mills found that 39.07% of its North American facilities now use renewable energy, exceeding the percentage from last year’s report (29.35%). Directly sourced renewable energy accounts for 10.14% of total usage, project-specific RECs account for 14.30% of total usage, and community solar accounts for 14.63% of annual usage.
Source: World Grain