N U R T U R I N G T H E W O R L D A R O U N D U S C O R P O R A T E R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y R E P O R T
Social Responsibility. It s not a movement. It s a stance. The ethical treatment of people, animals and the earth is the very essence of our company and a core competency of our business. We travel the world not only to find the best products available, but to get close to the people who grow them. This journey truly makes us global citizens. We are proud to support healthy working families both here and abroad.
Our Guiding Principles Excellence Whatever we do, we will do it exceptionally well. We demand nothing less than excellence from ourselves. We are committed to conducting our business with the highest levels of ethics, social responsibility and environmental stewardship. Integrity Integrity is one of our defining characteristics. We strive for the common good of all people, locally and globally. We are committed to treating all people with dignity, respect and human kindness. Leadership We believe true leadership manifests itself in how we conduct ourselves as corporate citizens. We are committed to being an industry leader in safe products for our consumers and a safe working environment for our employees.
We care for our employees. Our culture of teamwork and our profit-sharing structure reinforce our commitment to individual employees. As a result, our employees develop the knowledge, skills and abilities required to produce high-quality products.
Our company began in the early 1920s, when Melford Olson started selling his now-famous MEL-O honey at local farmers markets. From there, the company grew one person at a time. And we don t forget that. Sweet Harvest Foods is built on the belief that teamwork is created by recognizing and respecting the power of individuals. That is why we treat every employee with respect and gratitude. We strive to make each working day fulfilling. We foster creativity and innovation by empowering individual employees to create change when they recognize an opportunity to do so. At Sweet Harvest Foods, we create an environment of professional development through: Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Safe Quality Food (SQF) Occupational safety Cross-training Weekly training sessions Professional and career development, supported by an educational assistance policy We are committed to maintaining a safe, smoke- and drug-free work environment. We exceed OSHA regulations and AWAIR guidelines, and we have a First Response Team on site for treating illness and job injuries. We take pride in providing a healthy work/life balance. We offer a competitive, comprehensive benefits package that includes generous paid time off allowances and flexible scheduling. We also provide group health insurance and a 401(k) program to help employees invest in themselves outside of the workplace. Our profit sharing benefit has held strong, even during tough economic times. We look forward to implementing a corporate wellness plan that will encourage and support all employees to make healthy changes in their lives.
We care for our local community. Sweet Harvest Foods is focused on charitable giving for education and neighbors with special needs. We support many local organizations, programs, schools and churches that provide outreach and support to these missions.
Sweet Harvest Foods is dedicated to giving back to the communities in which we live and work. In addition to participating in the Minnesota Keystone Initiative to give back 2 percent of profits each year, we also allocate time our employees can use to volunteer during business hours. Recent employee efforts include organizing a group to help with local flooding disaster relief. Current efforts include: Raising money, matching funds, contributing time and donating items for the annual Toys for Tots drive Financial donations to local education foundations Financial assistance to people in need within our local communities Donations for in-class educational tools such as a Smart Board and other technologies that are beyond the reach of some classroom budgets Volunteer teaching in classrooms that brings food production and nutrition knowledge to elementary students Charitable giving to programs supporting children with special needs, including Special Olympics, National Children s Cancer Society, National Down s Syndrome Society, Local Rotary Foundations, Smile Train, American Association of the Deaf and Blind, Feed My Starving Children and Opportunity Partners Financial support towards training and work programs that assist adults with special needs
We care for the global community. In our efforts to source only high-quality products, we travel the world looking for the perfect honey from the right growers. In doing so, we ve extended our Sweet Harvest Foods family to include people in many countries.
To have a healthy business, we need a healthy environment. Sweet Harvest Foods is committed to minimizing our impact on the world. In 2003, we invested in the roof of our manufacturing facility with a more expensive, but socially responsible building material that reduces our energy consumption and minimizes our carbon footprint. This innovative roofing technology allows us to capture recycled heat from our honey processing room and use it to heat the entire facility. Rather than trapping and wasting heat in the processing room, a state-of-the-art recirculation system pushes the recycled heat to other parts of the facility, reducing the need for additional heat. In 2009, we invested in high efficiency lighting for our entire warehouse and all of our manufacturing facilities. These environmental improvements sparked a fire within the corporation. We want to keep going bigger and better, finding more ways to conserve. This is why we ve set aggressive goals for the future. Environmental goals include: Developing an innovative recycling program to reduce landfill use by 80 percent Reduce water usage by 20 percent Reduce resin (PET) usage by 20 percent by redesigning our bottles Reduce corrugated cardboard usage by 50 percent by implementing new packaging technology Reduce paper usage by 20 percent with an electronic data management/sharing system Reduce electricity consumption
We care about food safety. Food safety is priority in all areas of the supply chain from sourcing to processing, warehousing to shipping. We were awarded Safe Quality Foods (SQF) Certification in 2010. We have HACCP plans in place in all processing and production areas of our plant. We meet the rigorous criteria for organics and have held Quality Assurance International Organic Certification since 2002.
From day one, MEL-O Honey has been committed to providing safe, unadulterated honey to our customers. While MEL-O Honey sources honey locally, consumer demand requires that we look at alternate sources, including overseas suppliers. To combat the lack of government regulation or clear industry standards, MEL-O has taken every measure possible to verify the country of origin sourced for our honey. We strive to authenticate sources, visit sites, conduct audits and inspections and review Good Manufacturing Practices records. We pledge to protect our customers by ensuring our honey is ethically sourced and meets the highest quality standards. We travel the globe dealing directly with the cooperatives and collectives that work with the beekeepers themselves. Our goal is to forge lasting bonds with ethical partners that share our concern for food safety and security and to close the distance between grower and buyer. Sweet Harvest Foods and MEL-O Honey are also committed to Fair Trade and sustainable producing practices. Quality and Food Safety Sweet Harvest complies with all USDA, FDA and Minnesota Department of Agriculture standards. All finished products are food grade and conform to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 as amended. We ensure safe, high quality products by our adherence to Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification Level 3, an HACCP based comprehensive food safety and quality program.
Sweet Harvest Foods 515 Cannon Industrial Boulevard Cannon Falls, MN 55009-1177 www.sweetharvestfoods.com info@sweetharvestfoods.com