Conagra Brands announced the winners of its annual Sustainable Development Awards, honoring employees for their exceptional contributions that encourage sustainable behaviors across the organization. 

The program recognizes initiatives in five key areas, Climate Change, Water Reduction, Waste Reduction, Packaging, and Responsible Practices, and includes an overall "Award of Excellence" for the project that best reflects Conagra's six Timeless Values: Integrity, External Focus, Broad-Mindedness, Agility, Leadership, and Results.

The program invited cross-functional employee teams to submit projects completed during Conagra's fiscal year 2025. Each submission was evaluated by a panel of peers, with the final winners selected by the company's sustainability leaders.

"At Conagra Brands, we're inspired by the ingenuity our employees bring to advancing sustainability across our operations," said Christine Daugherty, vice president of sustainability at Conagra Brands. "The Sustainable Development Awards celebrate their innovative ideas that not only make our operations more efficient and responsible, but drive cost savings, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to environmental progress and leadership."

The Sustainable Development Awards acknowledge exceptional performance, motivate continuous improvement and foster a positive culture by celebrating shared successes. Conagra's 2025 Sustainable Development Award winners include:

• Climate Change: Omaha, Nebraska, Chicago, Illinois – Conagra's Inbound Logistics Team improved transport efficiency by consolidating underutilized shipments into full truckloads using Oracle Transportation Management tools – a tool that provides transportation planning and execution capabilities. This zero-cost initiative saved approximately $250,000, cut 241 truck trips, reduced 123 metric tons of CO₂e, and fostered cross-team collaboration. The project's scalability and data-driven approach showcased cost-effective logistics operations.
• Water Reduction: Irapuato, Mexico – The Irapuato team optimized palm oil line cleaning, making the process more sustainable and cost effective by reducing both palm oil and water usage. The new method cut cleaning frequency by 75%, reduced palm oil use by 82,540 pounds and water use by 53,280 gallons annually. The zero-cost method saves approximately $78,000 per year, reduces waste, and supports Conagra's deforestation commitments through more sustainable, efficient operations.
• Waste Reduction: Waterloo, Iowa – The Waterloo plant reduced landfill waste by further controlling microbial activity through steam quality monitoring, digital audits, and cross-functional reviews. With a $70,000 investment, it achieved $1.29M savings, diverted 948 tons from destruction, improved reliability, and created a scalable, data-driven sustainability model shared across plants.
• Packaging: Omaha, Nebraska, Chicago, Illinois, Fayetteville, Arkansas – Teams reduced Evol and Gardein frozen meal bowl thickness by 25% and removed ink, saving $63,000 annually and cutting paper use by 31% (126,000 lbs.). Achieved with no operational changes, it maintained quality and showcases a transferable, low-cost packaging innovation for sustainability and efficiency.
• Responsible Practices: Waterloo, Iowa – The Waterloo facility repurposed sunflower seeds that did not meet production standards by donating them to the Prairie Rapids Audubon Society for bird feeders, avoiding landfill or feed disposal. To date, this zero-cost initiative has donated 1,200–1,800 lbs. of seeds, reduces disposal fees, supports local biodiversity, benefits community spaces, and strengthens ties with local nonprofits.
• Award of Excellence: Maple Grove, Minnesota – The Maple Grove team created a closed-loop recycling system for paper rolls that did not meet quality specifications, returning them to the supplier for reuse in new production. At zero cost, it diverts 50 tons of waste annually, saves $7,000, and strengthens supplier collaboration while advancing a circular economy and sustainability initiatives.

Each winning project team will receive a $5,000 grant from the Conagra Brands Foundation to invest back into their surrounding community, empowering employees to make a tangible difference where they live and work.

About Conagra Brands
Conagra Brands, Inc. is one of North America's leading branded food companies. The company combines a 100-year history of making quality food with agility and a relentless focus on collaboration and innovation. Conagra's portfolio is continuously evolving to satisfy consumers' ever-changing food preferences. Conagra's brands include Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, and many more. As a corporate citizen, we aim to do what's right for our business, our employees, our communities and the world. Headquartered in Chicago, Conagra Brands generated fiscal 2025 net sales of nearly $12 billion.