Our vision is to create healthy lives through our products, processes, and people.
Our mission is to be North America’s favorite maker of salads and healthy fresh foods, but what does it mean to be the favorite? We challenge ourselves every day, from field to fork, to grow our business responsibly, to lead by example and earn trust through our actions.
Our ability to create pathways to healthy lives is dependent on the health of our business. As North America’s largest producer of fresh foods, it is our greatest opportunity to create positive, long-lasting social and environmental impact.
Explore our efforts through our latest Impact Report below!
Download the Social Responsibility and Sustainability Report 2020
Many companies talk about how they are going to change the world these days, but here at Taylor Farms, we believe actions speak louder than words. We are proud to announce that we have reached a huge sustainability milestone this year. Three of our California facilities are now TRUE PlatinumZero Waste Certified, and more than 90% energy independent. What does this mean? Since 2018 we have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by over 175,000 metric tons (that’s over 37,000 cars off the road annually).
In 2019 we launched an on-farm metrics and management pilot program to assess various resource use efficiency metrics to identify which metrics are best suited to support both in-season on-farm management practices and regulatory reporting. Our goal is to identify a suite of metrics and indicators that best support existing conservation practices and inspire new ones.
To be North America’s favorite maker of healthy fresh foods means we need to be in a position where we can innovate faster, adapt quickly to consumer and industry demands, and have visibility and influence throughout the entire supply chain. We have added two companies to our already talented and diverse group of operations to help us drive to innovation faster from seed to final packaging, bring even fresher products to our customers with a year-round assured supply of product, all in an effort to make sure we are exceeding our customers and consumers expectations day in and day out.
What does it mean to be TRUE to the earth and our customers? Taylor Farms is the first fresh food company to achieve TRUE (Total Resource Use Efficiency) Platinum Certification for Zero Waste. This means we are dedicated to processes that consider the entire lifecycle of the products we use within our facilities. In 2018, our Gonzales, California-based facility attained a 94%+ diversion rate from landfills.
In 2014, we installed our firstset of solar panels at the Taylor Farms Hansen facility in Salinas, California. Over five years later, we now have solar panels installed at six facilities in the U.S. and Mexico (that’s over 5.5 megawatts generated on a annual basis).
When it comes to renewable energy, the wind is our best friend. In 2014, we installed a 398-foot tall wind turbine for our facility in Gonzales, California.
Inspired by the world’s longest-lived cultures, the Blue Zones Project is a well-being initiative designed to unite communities with a common goal of making healthy choices easier. Taylor Farms is one of the first employers in Monterey County to become a Blue Zones certified workplace (March 2020). As a fresh foods company, our vision and passion is to help people live fuller, healthier lives through our product offerings and actions.
Taylor Farms has been awarding college scholarships to deserving students looking to further their academic goals. To date, Taylor Farms has issued over 100 students in academic scholarships to children of active, full-time employees.
2019 marked the seventh year Taylor Farms has partnered with Golden State Foods to distribute backpacks filled with school supplies throughout our community.
Each year we donate 5 million pounds of fresh produce to local food banks and charitable organizations, such as Ag Against Hunger, Brighter Bites, Salvation Army and Weekend Food Security Programs.
Since 2015, Taylor Farms Family Health & Wellness Center is a hospital-based Rural Health Clinic (RHC). The purpose of the RHC program is to improve access to primary care in underserved areas with the goal of improving health and quality of life for individuals and families.
In 2018 Taylor Farms opened two-state-the-art training facilities focused on employee education and development through engaging and hands-on experience with highly technical and sophisticated machinery. As of today, 350 employees at various capacities, have been through our training facility and acquired new skills to continue to grow with us.
In 2017, Taylor Farms partnered with The First Tee of Monterey County to open the Taylor Farms Center for Learning. The 5,000-sq.ft. building is outfitted with the latest smart technology to support Salinas based youth in their academic development.
In 2015, the Taylor family developed a new corporate headquarters located in downtown Salinas with the intent of the development being a catalyst for an economic revitalization of Main Street. Since 2015 the Taylor family has purchased several other downtown buildings, which have been revitalized and leased out to local business owners including restaurants, bookstores, and the Western Growers Center for Innovation. The goal is to drive progress as the city becomes an even more special place to live.
Our goal and focus in adopting automation is to create a more desirable work environment for our employees and to increase productivity. Utilizing automation to remedy repetitive, labor intensive roles, provides an opportunity to transition job roles away from manual labor and towards higher skilled, higher paid positions.
We have invested in the development and expansion of automated harvesting for the produce industry. In the past 10 years we have introduced the industry first automated harvesters for romaine, cabbage, celery, and spinach with futuresights set on broccoli and iceberg lettuce.
