Our Environment

Marich has been actively engaged in environmental initiatives for quite some time. This goes back many years and efforts in industrial waste reduction such as cardboard recycling have been part of our practices for decades. Each year we review our practices and seek ways to improve how we do business and remain a responsible company that we can all be proud of. One of the facets that we look to each year is our effects on our environment. The following are examples of the changes we have made over the years

To minimize our contribution to the waste stream, we employ the various measures to manage incoming materials as well as minimize the waste impact from what we produce and ship.

• We recycle all corrugated boxes and paper such as sugar bags from production resulting in a dramatic reduction in industrial waste
• In 2002 we converted our white bleached corrugate cartons to non-bleached material with typically 30% recycled content.
• This conversion to non-bleached materials goes all the way down to the paper towels used throughout our facility
• All of our folding cartons are recyclable and where we can, we print on CCNB that is recyclable and made of 100% recycled material with 25% post consumer content
• We use soy basked inks in the printing of our cartons and other printed materials
• In 2008 we discontinued the use of all Styrofoam products by converting to air filled pillows for protection in shipping of samples and from Styrofoam panels for warm weather shipping we switched to smaller waste impact insulator bags

As a company we have always been keenly aware of the impact of the choices we make regarding our energy usage. In the construction of our new facility in 1998, we employed the latest techniques and have continued to take advantage of new technology with each expansion and improvement.

• The roof is a lightly colored reflective roof system to reduce the heat buildup on the building and the entire interior roof is insulated with high efficiency insulation thereby reducing energy usage in cooling
• All windows are high performance glass to add to the overall energy efficiency of the building
• Production and office areas are fluorescent lighting with all offices being sensor aided so the lights are only on when needed
• The cooling for the main warehouse is accomplished using the same systems for production. Since A/C units of this nature are more efficient as they approach peak usage, this is in the best interest of the operation and efficiency.
• Our new warehouse was outfitted with 4 high efficiency A/C units so we can use only what we need.
• Our forklifts are electric and have been since our founding to reduce fuel usage and pollution both in and outside our facility
• In 2009 we engaged with our local utility company to perform an energy use assessment. We monitored the effects and over the 30 day monitoring period reduced our energy usage by 10.8% on average. The knowledge gained from this continues to be used and we are studying other ways to reduce our annual energy consumption
• In 2010, we converted over 50 high bay warehouse lights over to sensor aided fluorescent lights further reducing our energy usage.

The vast majority of our materials are sourced within 700 miles of our facility, many right here in CA for example:

• All chocolate comes from Guittard 80 miles away
• All sugars and starches come to us from the Bay Area 75 miles away
• Almonds, Pistachios, Raisins from CA central Valley within 150 miles
• Walnuts are premium light Chandlers from right here in Hollister
• Cherries, Blueberries and other fruits from West Coast suppliers from LA to Portland
• All milk and dairy products are from CA dairies within 150 miles
• Corrugated boxes, labels, and printed boxes are made right here in CA with 100 miles of our facility

Our dad gardened as a hobby and loved plants and trees especially Redwood trees. Trees are nature’s natural carbon scrubbers and since our dad was big on plants we planted lots of them at our new facility, including his favorite redwoods.

• When we built our facility here in Hollister, we planted over 75 trees on the 5 acres we occupy along with ribbons of shrubs and flowering plants that can get by on little water once established. Google Maps shows about 75 and we have planted more since then!

We look forward to discovering and employing future technologies to continue to better our business and tread lightly and leave the world a better place for future generations.