Moving from lean to green

Kim’s Chocolates N.V.; Annabell Candy Co. and others share stories about manufacturing ‘green’ candies.

Can one be efficient and yet pro-active environmentally? On second thought, perhaps the question should be rephrased. Can one be efficient without being pro-active environmentally?

“Being Green” today encompasses more than just recycling waste or monitoring pollutants. It’s a mindset that merges lean manufacturing principals with less energy usage and common sense operating — but environmentally pro-active — procedures.

Within the global confectionery manufacturing universe, there are hundreds of examples that showcase “best practices in green manufacturing.” In this issue, Candy Industry highlights only a few — providing readers with mini case histories of what’s doable on macro, micro and in-the-middle programs.

With more than 30 years experience in B-to-B reporting, writing and editing — the bulk of which was dedicated to covering the bakery, confectionery and snack industries — Pacyniak has chronicled changes within the food industry since the early 1980s. A Boston University journalism degree graduate, he worked for a variety of publications before joining BNP Media in 1994 as editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine. In 2001, he took over as editor-in-chief of Candy Industry until 2018.