Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. announced that that it is entering into an Energy Services Agreement with GreenStruxure to design, build, own, operate, and maintain on-site renewable energy microgrids comprised of solar arrays coupled with battery storage. Bimbo Bakeries USA receives the outcomes from the system’s performance: zero carbon energy, peak demand management, and optimized use of energy from the grid and its on-site system. GreenStruxure also gives Bimbo Bakeries USA full transparency on the portfolio’s performance through its best-in-class digital platform.

“Grupo Bimbo and Bimbo Bakeries USA are committed to Net Zero Carbon by 2050,” said Chris Wolfe, Bimbo Bakeries USA’s senior director of environmental Sustainability. “These onsite microgrids represent a key component to our diversified strategy.”

“Bimbo Bakeries USA’s actions have made it very clear that they are going to lead the market when it comes to sustainability,” said GreenStruxure CEO Jose Lorenzo. “On-site energy systems are Bimbo Bakeries USA’s best option to decarbonize and fulfill their long-term sustainability targets with optimized cost. We launched GreenStruxure to work with companies like Bimbo Bakeries USA to bring our no hassle, modular, standardized approach to these facilities and more in the U.S.”

The six California bakeries—Montebello, Placentia, Oxnard, San Luis Obispo, South San Francisco, and Sacramento—were chosen based on their energy intensity, increasing utility electricity costs and highest decarbonization impact.

“In California, the combination of rising utility rates, and an incentive rich atmosphere for renewable energy, allows these projects to be not only profitable, but also improve the communities where we live and work,” said Kevin Yavari, Bimbo Bakeries USA’s senior regional manager of Environmental Sustainability for the western U.S. The companies are also working on additional sites for future deployment.

In addition to being a RE100 member, Bimbo Bakeries USA is also an EPA Green Power Partner and has been recognized as an EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for four consecutive years. In 2020, the company’s bakeries in Escondido, CA and Denver, CO were awarded Food Processing Magazine’s “Green Plant of the Year” and “The Colorado Environmental Leadership Award,” respectively.

For more about Bimbo Bakeries USA, see "Bimbo Bakehouse brings comprehensive solutions to foodservice and the in-store bakery" on the SF&WB website, or "Nourishing the World," the cover story for the April 2021 issue of the SF&WB eMagazine.