General Mills' goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions will cost the company $100 million over several years, but it will ultimately depend on the actions of others, from suppliers to farmers.
General Mills' greenhouse gas offensive requires cooperation
The big food company's goal to cut emissions by 28 percent will need buy-in up and down its supply chain.
August 31, 2015 at 9:36PM
The Golden Valley-based packaged foods giant Monday laid out plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 28 percent by 2025.
About 14 percent of General Mills "greenhouse gas footprint comes within our four walls," said John Church, executive vice president of Global Supply Chain for General Mills. The rest starts at the farm and extends to the grocery shelves.
"Our goals are outside of our control. It's about causing collaboration and leadership to make it happen," Church said in an interview with the Star Tribune.
Fortunately, many other players in the food and agriculture industry -- including Minnetonka-based Cargill -- are also moving to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and for the same self-interested motives. Their businesses could be hurt by climate change.
"We think that human-caused greenhouse gas causes climate change and climate volatility and that's going to stress the agricultural supply chain, which is very important to us," Mills CEO Ken Powell told the Associated Press. "Obviously we depend on that for our business, and we all depend on that for the food we eat."
General Mills began reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions a decade ago, largely through making its production plants and supply chain more energy efficient. The company said it has cut emissions by 13 percent since 2005.
