Jennifer Orgolini, Sustainability Steward at New Belgium Brewing talks about the genesis of the company as well as the inspiration that drove the company to engage in environmental stewardship and sustainability activities.
How it all began
"New Belgium started in 1991 in our founder’s basement. Our co-founder Jeff Lubich was on a bike trip through Europe, exploring all the great beer cities and he was then, already a home-brewer. He came through Belgium and realized what great beer is made there, how different it is from the German and English styles he was seeing in the US at the time. So he came back to the states, really kicked up his home brewing and his wife and his friends said you know we should really commercialize this: and so they sold their first beer in 1991."
Sustainability baked in the company's DNA
"Before Kim and Jeff sold their first beer, they took a hike together in Rocky Mountain National Park to decide what kind of company they wanted to run. And from that hike came the core values and beliefs that we live by today and several of those core values apply directly to environmental sustainability. So, environmental stewardship has been baked into the DNA of the company from the very beginning."
Environmental sustainability here at New Belgium Brewing encompasses many different areas
"Obviously, it’s in operations: water efficiency, energy efficiency and on-site renewable energy. It's a core piece of our operations. But we also look to the supply chain, and partnering with our suppliers to reduce their environmental impact which in turn makes our industry more sustainable."
Environmental sustainability also encompasses philanthropy
"We donate over $600,000 to environmental non-profits. And we also try to reach out to the community to support legislation which will make society more sustainable. From the very beginning, energy efficiency has been important to us because the company was started by an engineer, an electrical engineer who was keen on making things run as well as possible. And so, from that we learned that energy efficiency needs to be the core of our energy philosophy. And after you’ve done all that you can with energy efficiency, then it’s time to start looking at renewable energy. But you have to do energy efficiency first."
"So, now at the brewery we are really excited about trying to bring more renewable generation on–site."
Jennifer V. Orgolini, Sustainability Steward, New Belgium Brewing
More Information
For more information on New Belgium Brewing and the Wonderware products used in the Fort Collins, Colorado brewery, please visit the following links:
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