Waste Wise and Energy Smart success story: Sweet Harvest Foods

Sweet Harvest Foods has been Minnesota’s leading expert in beekeeping and honey since the 1900s. Operating in Cannon Falls and Lakeville, the company processes honey for private-label brands as well as Nate’s Honey. After joining the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce in 2024, Sweet Harvest connected with the Minnesota Chamber Environmental Sustainability Foundation (MCESF) to explore new ways to advance their sustainability goals. Alex Christensen from Energy Smart and Madeleine Partch from Waste Wise met with Sweet Harvest at both facilities to audit their energy efficiency and waste management systems.  

Looking backward can be as important as looking forward when it comes to maximizing energy efficiency projects and cost savings. When Alex toured the Lakeville Sweet Harvest location, LED lighting and new rooftop HVAC units were already in place. But the utility rebates available hadn’t been optimized by Sweet Harvest. After filing the necessary paperwork with their utilities, Sweet Harvest secured $43,150 in retroactive rebates for the projects already completed. With these energy efficient choices, the cost savings for the 300,000 square foot facility will be greater than $108,000 annually.  

The team also identified several opportunities to reduce waste going to landfill and cut costs, including reusable pallet wrap systems, washing systems for mis-filled containers, and tote and drum washers. Ultimately, Sweet Harvest chose to focus first on a solution that was both highly impactful and relatively simple to implement: collecting and baling plastic film from shipments for recycling.

With a $4,000 MCESF grant, Sweet Harvest was able to purchase a baler for plastic film collection at their Cannon Falls location and launched a new plastic film recycling program in late 2025. The results were immediate. Between its two locations, the company has already recycled more than 6,500 pounds of plastic film and is projected to divert nearly 10 tons of it from the landfill annually.

“The funding from MCESF made it possible for us to justify (purchasing) a second baler in support of a bigger program,” said Katy Baker, the EHS & Sustainability Engineer at Sweet Harvest and the lead on the project.  

Beyond the environmental impact, the project has also helped build employee engagement around sustainability efforts within the company.

“It's been amazing to see how quickly our teams adopted the habit changes,” Baker said. “I've heard from multiple employees how thrilled they are that we don't have to waste so much! Thanks for all your help! It's truly been an exciting and powerful initiative for us.”

Sweet Harvest’s success demonstrates how relatively simple operational changes, paired with technical assistance and targeted funding support, can lead to significant waste reduction and long-term cost savings.