Horizon Organic, the largest USDA certified organic dairy brand in the world, today announced a commitment to become carbon positive by 2025. Horizon Organic’s goal is to be the first national dairy brand to become carbon positive across its full supply chain. The company plans to achieve carbon neutrality, and then go further to remove, reduce, and offset additional emissions from entering the atmosphere, becoming carbon positive.
The Horizon Organic path to carbon positive will start with its new Growing Years whole milk half gallons, which will be the brand’s first certified carbon neutral product by the end of 2021. Horizon Organic will continue to advance product certifications in direct partnership with family farms through 2025. The brand has already begun the certification process with the Carbon Trust and is working alongside many other friends on the journey, including the Organic Trade Association and Green America's Center for Sustainability Solutions.
The brand is finalizing its full life-cycle assessment and a panel of independent experts will validate the results. The life-cycle assessment will guide specific milestones toward the carbon positive achievement. Goals include:
To complement a full-scope carbon reduction strategy, the brand will co-create new projects that generate carbon offsets and removals, largely around US-based agriculture. Examples of these projects include restoring prairie lands and forestlands. The options available in the future to reduce, offset, and reverse emissions will likely look different than the options of today. Horizon Organic will evaluate and pursue new technology and partnerships on an ongoing basis across the environmental, scientific and financial space to understand innovation and break-through opportunities that could make a difference.