To attract new customers and connect more deeply with the rapidly growing community of people who love their delicious organic granola, Grandy Organics (previously GrandyOats) is powering its Hiram, Maine-based manufacturing facility with 288 solar panels mounted just outside their back door.
"Our goal was to build the first solar-powered granola company," says Aaron Anker, Chief Granola Officer of Grandy organics Granola. "Not only is it the right thing to do to protect the natural environment, but it's also a strong business investment that delivers powerful economic and environmental returns."
One of the most attractive aspects of solar is that the technology pays for itself by harvesting northern New England's abundant sunshine to generate clean, renewable electricity that business owners don't have to buy from the utility. "To build our solar array we got a loan from Bangor Savings that enabled us to swap out payments for grid power and fossil fuels for solar. With this project, we've been able to grow our operation dramatically without incurring additional overhead in energy payments," said Anker.
Aaron and his business partner Nat Peirce call themselves "Real Granolas" and they have put their money where their mouth is by opting for electric ovens that are powered by solar, as well as an electric forklift, air source heat pumps and an electric vehicle charging station, all of which help reduce long-term energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint.
Grandy Organics' solar array will eliminate roughly 100,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions from regional fossil fuel power plants every year for the next 40+ years. "Economic and environmental sustainability are critical to long-term business success, and solar is one of the few business investment options that deliver both at the same time," noted Anker.
Find out more about their products (and get some recipes!) at https://www.grandyorganics.com/
