The word "sustainable" to NewStar simply means continuing business practices and philosophies that have been in use for decades. To NewStar, sustainability embodies the spirit and practice of doing the right thing, in balance with the business, the employees, and Mother Nature herself; in short, the practice of responsible business without sacrificing our long-held values of social responsibility.
Providing a Quality Work Environment
Investing in our Communities
Reducing our Environmental Footprint
Engaging in Responsible Practices
NewStar Fresh Foods has been, and continues to be, a progressive company when it comes to employee welfare. NewStar is unique in providing quality child care and educational services to NewStar Mexico (Estrella Nueva) employees for three decades, our proudest accomplishment as a company by far. NewStar children are provided child care in a safe and clean environment, we well as classroom instruction from Kindergarten through 6th grade, all in a NewStar sponsored on-site facility. In addition, daily nutritious meals are provided for all the children enrolled. We've been doing this for decades and continue to do so, because we believe change starts from within.
NewStar routinely donates product to local organizations for fundraising, events and community programs, and enthusiastically supports local food banks in the communities in which we operate. We participate in community events as sponsors, donors and exhibitors supporting business organizations. We also support local schools with advertising funds and sponsorships specifically earmarked for communities in which we operate.
NewStar is proud to have been the one of the very first in the produce industry to utilize PLA (plant-based) packaging in 2006 with the introduction of our 1lb organic baby spinach and 1lb organic spring mix in an Ingeo® PLA clamshell, and our 10oz Fresh Spinach in Earthfirst® PLA film. This packaging transition included intensive research and industry collaboration, culminating in a launch in early 2006.
PLA packaging is on the cutting edge of innovative packaging; all natural and made 100% from plants, an annually renewable resource. With NewStar choosing packaging from plants (PLA) and not oil (PET), we have also greatly reduced our packaging environmental footprint. Based on our environmental calculations for 2008, we saved approximately the fossil fuel energy equivalent to over 135,000 gallons of gasoline and reduced green house gas emissions equivalent to driving a car over 3,000,000 miles (based on switching our annual consumption of containers from PET to PLA). We continue to work closely with Earthfirst® and Natureworks® in the development of PLA produce packaging and innovation. In addition, we source post-consumer recycled cartons with an average of 80% recycled content for all of our products at NewStar Fresh Foods. We are very proud to be an industry leader in innovative sustainable packaging practices.
Our growers are cognizant of, and have reduced the use of high water cover crops, leading to a reduction in overall water usage. Our crop rotations are purposeful, returning much needed nutrients to the soil, and supplementing with natural soil amendments to maintain soil quality. Because we grow organic as well as conventional, we embrace practices with Mother Nature in mind. We utilize laser and GPS during field preparation to maximize use of land and water, further reducing and at times eliminating unnecessary cultivation. Maximizing field leads to minimized bed preparation thus minimized diesel use. In addition, we utilize drip irrigation as much as possible on our crops, and encourage our growers to do so as well, to better utilize and closely monitor precious water resources. Even our tender leaf crops (spring mix, spinach, etc.) that require sprinkler irrigation are watered at night or very early morning out of the wind to reduce wasted resources. We also utilize refrigerated trucks in the field to maximize product quality and minimize the number of hauls from the field to the cooler, eliminating dead trips with empty trucks and wasted fuel, resulting in overall decreased costs.
NewStar Fresh Foods has been working with multiple public utilities companies and government agencies on energy management with identifiable results, resulting in efficiencies of business practices. Some of these practices and policies include the use of energy efficient motors and variable speed drive motors in our processing facilities, and the replacement of incandescent light lamps with compact fluorescent lamps. At our headquarters facility in Salinas, we have installed a Heat exchanger which recovers about 15 degrees of temperature from the waste water and transfers the cold temperature to the fresh incoming water. This means that we don't have to use energy to cool down the fresh water coming in from the city. In addition, we also use some of the clean waste water to wash down drains and the outside yard, thus reducing city water usage. We continue to work towards efficient solutions with the EPA SmartWay Transport program-an innovative collaboration between the freight industry and government to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, improve fuel efficiency, and strengthen the freight sector.
