Environmental Upgrades Save Frito-Lay Millions Annually

The Opportunity

For more than 75 years, Frito-Lay has produced some of America’s most favorite snack foods. Today, Frito-Lay has more than 15 snack brands manufactured at plants across North America. As one of PepsiCo’s largest units, Frito-Lay represents a $20+ billion convenient foods business and is a leader in its commitment to environmental responsibility.

Since 1999, Frito-Lay has reduced its use of water by 39%, natural gas by 30%, and electricity by 22% for each bag of snacks it produces. It deploys ‘Green Teams’ at all of its manufacturing facilities that look for ways to optimize operations and reduce consumption.

“Environmental responsibility is a priority for the company,” reiterates the Director of Environmental Sustainability at Frito-Lay. “We have worked diligently to reduce our use of water, natural gas, and electricity in our operations,” he explained. “We continue to look for new ways to reduce our consumption of resources. In addition to our cost savings, these efforts have significantly reduced our CO2 emissions.”

Chateau Energy Solutions started its relationship with Frito-Lay by assessing the lighting energy at plants in Tennessee and Kansas. Since then its relationship with Frito-Lay has expanded year-over-year.

The Solution

Chateau Energy Solutions is responsible for the assessment, design, implementation, and project management of each energy efficient lighting retrofit project at the snack food company’s plants and distribution centers. “The Chateau Energy Solutions team has had a relationship with Frito-Lay for the past 17 years and in that time has performed energy efficient lighting upgrades for most of the company’s 30+ manufacturing plants in North America as well as 200 distribution centers,” said James Dore, Vice President, Service Solutions at Chateau Energy Solutions. “We have also implemented HVAC improvement projects at 15 of its manufacturing plants in the United States.”

The Results

“Over the years we have worked with Chateau Energy Solutions and invested millions in these upgrades,” said Frito-Lay’s Director of Environmental Sustainability. “The Chateau Energy Solutions projects have delivered more than $3 million in annual savings, a figure which surpassed our annual reduction goal. We have seen a significant greenhouse gas and carbon footprint reduction as well, which not only boosts our bottom line but also helps us become a more environmentally responsible company. Chateau Energy Solutions continues to help us on new energy conservation measures.”

Dore said Frito-Lay and Chateau Energy Solutions continue to expand their relationship. The two companies are working together to roll-out a new lighting program.

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