If healthy sales and happy consumers are true measures of success, the operators of Arthur's Fresh Co. Ltd. should be toasting each other morning, noon and night with the nutritious beverages made at their Toronto processing plant.

But while a 1,250-per-cent increase in sales of their fruit and vegetable smoothies and juices in the past five years and a recent expansion into the United States are cause for celebration, brothers Travis and Scott Bell prefer to trumpet another aspect of their good fortune: a significant downsizing of the company's environmental footprint.

Since the spring of 2008 when the duo got serious about reducing the greenhouse gases Arthur's is responsible for, they have trimmed the weight of their beverage bottles by 10 per cent, cut annual use of packaging by 23,000 kilograms, switched their power source to 100-per-cent renewable energy and migrated 40 per cent of the long distance transportation of raw materials away from tractor trailers to rail and bulk carriers, which are much more friendly to the environment.

In total, these and other measures have cut the company's annual greenhouse gas emissions by 8 per cent, an achievement that has won the company and its 26 employees kudos from Canada's packaging industry.

At the Packaging Association of Canada's annual awards ceremony tonight in Toronto, Arthur's is to receive an award in the brand category for sustainable packaging leadership, and is in the running for another larger prize.

In addition to reduced packaging, the honour recognizes several of the company's initiatives in the area of corporate social responsibility, including donating 10 per cent of its annual profits to charity, says association President and chief executive officer James Downham.

The company's environmental and business success is built on two key principles: making nutritional beverages with as much locally grown fruits and vegetables as is procurable and causing as little environmental damage as possible, says Travis Bell, Arthur's founder and president, who has helped boost sales from 200,000 bottles in 1998 mainly in Ontario, to 10 million bottles in 2009 across Canada and in 40 U.S. states.

In early 2007, experts helped the company estimate its carbon footprint; the Bells then developed a strategy designed to make significant reductions in its emissions with the focus on five key areas: production of bottles, packaging, manufacturing/energy, sustainable sourcing of materials, and transportation, which was the largest contributor to the company's carbon footprint.
Their investment in the five initiatives is $330,000, which is expected to be repaid by 2011 through such savings as reduced shipping bills and less use of plastic and cardboard.

The Company's Greenhouse-Gas-Reducing Strategies are as Follows:

Bottles:
The weight of the individual bottles that contain Arthur's beverages was reduced by 10 per cent by using less plastic in the containers, cap and a plastic sleeve that enshrouds each bottle. Because more bottles, caps and sleeves now fit on pallets, transportation costs and GHG emissions have been reduced by 11 per cent and the cost of shipping finished product is 2.5 per cent less.

Packaging:
Unfilled bottles are delivered to Arthur's plant shrink wrapped on palletized skids rather than in plastic bags inside boxes, which eliminated the need to recycle unnecessary cardboard and plastic bags. In addition, cardboard sheets between bottle layers in some outbound customer shipments are being reused. These measures have significantly reduced cardboard usage and cut GHG emissions by 20 per cent because fewer trucks now deliver to the plant.

Manufacturing/Energy: 
On the production side, 100 per cent of Arthur's electricity is generated by renewable, natural resources, including wind and low-impact water power, which produce carbon-free emissions, which costs 30 per cent more but eliminates 100 per cent of the firm's carbon footprint. Previously, the company purchased its electric power from Toronto Hydro.

Raw Materials Sourcing: 
More than three million kilograms of Canadian fruits and vegetables are purchased via the company's buy local initiative, which significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions during transportation. Whenever possible, raw materials such as banana purees and mango juice that are not available in Canada, are purchased from Rainforest Alliance Certified suppliers, meaning they have been produced using farm and forestry methods that are good for people and the planet. To meet the company's elevated environmental standard the products on average cost about 10 per cent more to procure than standard puree.

Transportation:
Six months ago, all North American inputs arrived by transport truck but today more than 40 per cent of the fruits and vegetables shipped long distances to the company's storage facility near Toronto arrive by rail cars and bulk carriers, which are similar to trucks that haul milk. The switch has reduced GHG emissions by 20 per cent because rail causes less air pollution and bulk hauling reduces packaging.