Sustainability

Paramount Citrus has focused on socially responsible business since its inception. This past year, along with Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), we measured the Carbon Footprint of all our activities including the inputs to our product. This will serve as a baseline measurement for each year.

What do we do?

Packaging

We are using more environmentally friendly kraft paper packaging. Kraft paper is a 100-percent biodegradable, unbleached, natural product. A product of renewable and actively renewed resources, kraft paper decomposes naturally within a few weeks.

Kraft packaging offers specific advantages that meet the needs of manufacturers and consumers. It is a highly recyclable single-material product and it can be incinerated to produce energy.

Water

Water is a precious resource and Paramount Citrus has made significant strides to reduce its water footprint.

  • 100% of our groves are under micro sprinkler or drip irrigation
  • Water is monitored and tracked weekly to ensure no waste
  • Significant investments in R&D to minimize the water required to grow quality citrus

Energy

Paramount Citrus uses alternative energy whenever possible and is on a very “clean” grid compared to electricity companies located elsewhere.

  • Bio-mass waste is sent to a co-generation plant and used to generate energy
  • Investigating feasibility of using byproduct for bio-fuels
  • Investigating feasibility of using solar electricity generation

Transportation

By using the railroad and reducing fuels used Paramount Citrus is reducing its carbon footprint.

  • Increased utilization of railroads, which is significantly cleaner than transporting via truck
    • Created route from Bakersfield to Chicago to distribute to Mid-West customers
    • Created route from Delano to New York to distribute to East Coast customers
  • Forklifts are currently being changed to electric rather than propane
  • Fleet has several Hybrid Vehicles in use and increasing numbers every year
  • We send all of our used oil to be recycled

Human Resources

Paramount Citrus’s greatest asset is its people. Both Paramount Citrus and its parent company Roll International invest significantly in the communities where we live and work.

  • “Wellness program”
    • On site wellness center staffed by a Family Nurse Practitioner and an Occupational Health Technician
    • Gym membership is subsidized
    • A Weight Watchers chapter is subsidized
    • In planning stages:
      • Gym on site
      • Cafeteria on site that subsidizes “healthy” choices
  • Roll Giving
    • After 6 months of employment, each employee’s charitable donations are matched by the company
    • After 1 year, each employee receives a grant to give to the charity of their choice
  • Local Health Care Facilities
    • Paramount Citrus has donated significantly to Children’s Hospital Central California in Madera
    • Paramount Citrus has donated to Kaweah Delta Hospital in Visalia for its new expansion
  • Community
    • For other programs in the Valley, including school scholarships and grants, click here.

Waste Reduction

Throughout the company, a vigorous recycling program is in place.

  • Paper/Corrugate
    • At each desk and copy area there are paper receptacles for recycling
    • In the warehouse there is a bin for recycling corrugate material
  • Plastic, glass and aluminum
    • In each eating area, plastic, glass and aluminum are recycled

Other

  • We grow millions of trees that themselves sequester carbon
  • We do not till the ground so more carbon is stored in the earth from our crops than other crops requiring constant tillage