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Kate Doughty of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (“ACEEE”) published an October 29th blog post relevant to Halloween titled:

The Sustainable Sugar Rush: How Candy Companies Are Saving Energy (“Post”)

Ms. Doughty notes by way of introduction in her Post that:

When you reach for that candy bar this Halloween, don’t just count calories – count kilowatt-hours. Big candy manufacturers use a lot of energy to feed our sugar addiction, especially this time of year. The average American consumes about 22 pounds. . .of candy per year, which is the weight of roughly 2,200 Hershey’s kisses.

The Post notes that some candy companies are taking energy-saving steps to improve their business models and meet sustainability goals. As to energy efficiency, the Post references activities being undertaken by three candy companies:

Mars (Snickers, Milky Way, M&M’s, and Twix)

The company is stated to have announced that it will spend $1 billion to improve its sustainability, devoting one-third of that funding to water and energy efficiency. The goal is stated to be to reduce energy intensity by about 2% annually and improve energy efficiency in direct operations by 10%, from 2015 levels, by 2020.

Hershey (Kit Kats, Reese’s, and Hershey’s Chocolate)

The company is stated to have committed to reduce candy packaging, carbon emissions, and overall waste by 25% by the year 2025.

Lindt & Sprungli (USA) Inc. (Lindor Truffles and Lindt Chocolate Bars)

The company is stated to have launched, in a partnership with Eversource, a three-year strategy to save 3.5 million kilowatt hours per year at a facility in New Hampshire. It is further stated to have an objective of reducing both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 2% annually.

A link to the Post can be found here.