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    Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)

    Commercial Dairy Sustainability Study

    Darigold retained Brightworks (with MarketShift and Encapsys) to plan and implement improvements to its energy data collection process in order to improve its CR reporting and stakeholder participation.

    Darigold retained Brightworks Sustainability (with teammates MarketShift and Encapsys) to plan and implement improvements to its energy data collection process and CR reporting.

    The processing and marketing subsidiary of the Northwest Dairy Association (NDA), Darigold makes and distributes fluid milk, butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, and other cultured dairy products, marketing them under the Darigold brand name and private labels. Darigold operates a portfolio of 12 processing plants and counts more than 500 independent farmers among its members.

    Darigold pursues continuous improvement in energy efficiency to reduce cost and achieve superior financial performance. Its energy efficiency programs also support its leadership in corporate responsibility within the dairy industry. For this reason, Darigold reports its energy efficiency programs and results in its CR reports.

    Prior to this engagement by Brightworks, MarketShift, and Encapsys, Darigold’s process of generating energy data was largely manual, with many opportunities for inconsistency and error. Moreover, staff, member farmers, and customers had limited knowledge of Darigold’s energy efficiency and broader CR performance, despite the availability of CR reports.  Only the energy management team and a handful of executives actively used the energy information produced, even though it celebrated significant accomplishments and is publicly available.

    Darigold retained the Brightworks, MarketShift, and Encapsys team to advance the following goals:

    1. To broaden audiences for Darigold’s CR reporting from executives only to staff, members farmers, and customers as well, in order to motivate greater participation and innovation in Darigold’s energy efficiency efforts
    2. To identify improvements to the quality and consistency of energy data
    3. To test and verify proposed improvements to energy data generation in one Darigold production facility, so that those improvements could be implemented in all 12 Darigold production facilities as part of a holistic energy management program

    After fieldwork and other analysis, the Brightworks, MarketShift, and Encapsys team proposed simplifications and automations to the collection of energy data in Darigold’s Rainier plant. A unified reporting platform replaces manual data aggregation processes, in turn freeing up resources for other tasks. When implemented across all 12 Darigold production facilities, the solution will enable a holistic view of energy management and production. Moreover, in its new form, the energy data program would be easier to incorporate into Darigold’s CR reporting.

    When this tested and verified solution is implemented in all 12 Darigold production facilities, and energy efficiency gains are communicated as a major organizational accomplishment, Darigold expects to increase awareness of and interest in its CR program and, in turn, to increase engagement among targeted stakeholders, specifically customers, staff, and farmer members.

    At a Glance

    • Portland, OR
    • N/A