Earth Friendly Ice Cream: Unilever Covington Plant Partners with CSC Sugar LLC to Reduce Carbon Footprint

CSC Sugar LLC Press Release March 9, 2015



CSC and Unilever Create Positive Environmental Change

As a global leader in sustainability, Unilever set a goal to halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of their products by 2020 yet still growing their business. Finding the right suppliers who share the same desire for change and innovation was identified as being a critical component of meeting this goal.

CSC Sugar had been supplying liquid sugar to many of Unilever ‘s plants for several years, so when Unilever made the decision to expand the Covington facility, CSC made a similar decision to make a long term commitment to the region enabling a positive environmental impact for years to come.

To reduce total long haul miles, CSC relocated their Missouri plant within blocks of the Unilever Covington Ice Cream plant to virtually eliminate the 384 truck miles per load of liquid sugar. This decision alone reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5 million pounds per year.

The new short haul (less than a mile) allowed for the development of an innovative “light-weighted” trailer further reducing total energy expended per delivery. This CSC designed trailer allows for 40% heavier loads thus reducing deliveries by an equal 40%.

Significant GHG emissions savings were also realized by changing the logistics of moving raw cane sugar to the new CSC plant in Covington. Instead of being trucked from the East Coast shipping ports, raw cane sugar is moved up the Mississippi River by barge from New Orleans to Memphis and then trucked to Covington. This new energy efficient supply route reduces the total miles the raw sugar is transported and replaces truck miles with more environmentally friendly ship miles.

CSC retrofitted their new processing plant with LED lights to reduce GHG emissions by 90%. They also made significant improvements to a vacant industrial building to create their new warehouse to store the raw sugar.

“Our new operation in Covington is just another example of CSC’s innovative micro-refinery strategy delivering significant value to our customers through cost effective, environmentally friendly processes.”

Andrew Moschea, Senior Vice-President , Refining Operations CSC Sugar

About CSC Sugar

Since its inception in 1994, CSC Sugar has been a significant supplier to raw sugar refineries in the United States. In 2009, CSC introduced Sugaright to the US marketplace, pure liquid cane sugar that is less processed than traditional liquid sugar offering a new, more sustainable option to the food industry.

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in more than 190 countries. Their ambition is to double the size of their business while reducing their overall environmental footprint and increasing their positive social impact. The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan is a positive driver for change in the industry.

Contact Diane Stevenson,
CSC Sugar Director of Sustainability
36 Grove Street, New Canaan, CT 06940
203-846-5625 (office)
203-858-8449 (cell)