Products direct from the farm
We’re excited to partner with regenerative, organic farmers.
Food – it’s what connects us to the earth, and to each other. It is the most powerful force for change we have. Through our daily food choices, we can make a positive impact on the planet that grows our food, and the people who produce it.
We’re partnering with two innovative Montana farmers to create two of our top mac and cheese items. These products include identity-preserved, organic pasta ingredients grown with regenerative practices like cover cropping, diverse crop rotations, and integrated livestock management.
Organic conversion at scale
Annie’s is helping to create one of the largest contiguous organic farms in the U.S. by investing in the conversion of 34,000 acres of conventional farmland to regenerative, organic management. Farmers managing the land are planting diverse crop rotations like alfalfa and red clover to protect and enrich the soil. In 2020, the farm successfully completed its transition to USDA Certified Organic! The farm will supply organic wheat for Annie’s Mac & Cheese.
Advancing carbon farming
In partnership with Organic Valley, The Carbon Cycle Institute, and the California Resource Conservation Districts, we helped three farms in California develop carbon farm plans. These plans help farmers identify and implement climate-beneficial farming practices like cover cropping, application of compost, and rotational grazing. The carbon farm plans suggest that by implementing recommended climate-beneficial practices, farmers could be able to offset a significant proportion of their emissions.
In 2019, Annie’s partnered with Charter NEX and Envision Plastics to debut a new cereal liner that uses at least 35% postconsumer recycled HDPE plastic. The package was the winner of this year’s sustainable packaging coalition innovator award for the innovative materials and creative educational graphics on the back of the packaging that help children learn how to recycle.
The recycled plastic in the liner comes from milk jugs and similar containers recycled through curbside recycling programs. By including recycled content, we increase demand for recycled plastics, driving municipalities to collect the materials. In addition, the liner is recyclable through the store drop-off program.
The Annie’s Friends cereal box also includes special consumer-facing messaging around the use of recycled content and a game that can teach children how to recycle.