King Arthur Baking assesses its climate hotspots as part of a holistic impact strategy
In 2024, King Arthur Baking proudly celebrated 20 years as a 100% employee-owned company. As a forward-thinking brand and certified B Corp, the company has always aimed high in its ambitions and commitment to environmental stewardship. In fact, King Arthur Baking has been transparently measuring its environmental impact against rigorous industry standards since 2007.
The company knew it wanted to engage on climate ─ but needed to better identify its hotspots and areas of focus to help prioritize decarbonization efforts across its entire business and value chain. The company decided to seek outside support and engaged the expertise of Pure Strategies to provide an analysis and recommendations for advancing the company’s climate strategy.
Identifying Areas for Impact and Improvement
This work started by completing a corporate carbon inventory for FY2022 and FY2023.
Applying the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) framework, Pure Strategies collected detailed data from King Arthur Baking, such as raw material purchases and energy use, to build the company’s first full value chain inventory.
Strategic prioritization for investment and action on climate
Pure Strategies then helped King Arthur Baking to prioritize areas for potential interventions and investment to support decarbonization. Pure Strategies worked with the company’s leadership team to set four sustainability targets related to regenerative agriculture, emissions reductions, zero waste, and sustainable packaging.
These efforts helped to pinpoint the major emissions reduction levers and inform the company’s strategic prioritization for investment and action on climate.
Other insights included new opportunities to improve operational efficiency and methods to identify and include logistics and transportation reductions in the inventory, including integrating data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program into the company’s Scope 3 inventory.
Supporting Regenerative Agriculture
King Arthur Baking prioritized the opportunity to refine its agricultural engagement since it offered several business opportunities. For example, regenerative agriculture helps boost farm resiliency by improving soil health and water holding capacity, thereby also reducing the risk of increasingly frequent severe weather.
Regenerative agriculture practices, such as no-till, crop rotation, and cover cropping, have also been shown to reduce emissions and sequester carbon. As farmers work to implement these practices, King Arthur Baking is working with Pure Strategies to better understand on-farm impacts and how to improve measurement approaches. This includes determining how to best account for the carbon reduction benefits in King Arthur Baking’s Scope 3 GHG inventory, in alignment with evolving standards and guidance from the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) to measure and manage emissions.
“It is exciting to see our efforts continue to evolve and make notable impact,” said King Arthur Baking’s Vice President of Sustainability, Suzanne McDowell. “Our long-term collaboration with Pure Strategies, with focus areas that include regenerative agriculture, emissions reduction, zero waste, and sustainable packaging, continues to uplift and fortify our commitment to sustainability and transparency while helping us prioritize our investment and action on climate.”
Learn more about King Arthur Baking’s 2030 commitments to the planet here.