Tracking Greenhouse Gas Emissions for a Leading North American Sugar Supplier

Leading North American sugar supplier United Sugars supplies one-quarter of U.S. sugar demand, grown and processed by its agribusiness members. Mega-customers like Walmart, Kellogg, and Pepsi rely on United Sugars’ supply. 

United Sugars’ customers are leaders in sustainability, and actively manage their supply chain emissions. The customers require suppliers to report through CDP, a global environmental disclosure system, that helps participants measure greenhouse gas emissions and communicate climate risks for their business. United Sugars enlisted us to gather and analyze sustainability data and develop a report summarizing the environmental impacts of its sugar-producing members as they grow and process cane and beet sugar. 

We developed a greenhouse gas inventory management plan to track sustainability data for United Sugars’ members, organizing the data for accuracy and defensibility. The data enables United Sugars to quantify its members’ Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, gaining insight on climate change impacts, risk, opportunity investments and strategies, and ultimately informing key capital decisions. 

A database built by our team centralizes years of data and automates calculations central to United Sugars’ reporting. To simplify reporting to CDP and enable United Sugars to respond to customer requests, we designed an intuitive business intelligence dashboard, which leverages the database to create customized reports. 

Ultimately, the goal of CDP reporting is to drive action. By tracking the activities of United Sugars’ members and calculating metric tons of carbon dioxide released, the sugar supplier is well positioned to optimize its sustainability program and continue serving mega-customers.