Cuisine Solutions Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer and distributor of sous vide foods, has received their LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for their processing facility located in San Antonio, TX.
Named Food Engineering Magazine’s 2021 Sustainable Plant of the Year and San Antonio Business Journal’s Best Industrial Project last year, the facility is the largest sous vide plant in the world measuring at 311,000 square feet with nearly $200 million in investment. The plant features the largest community solar installation in San Antonio, stormwater management, a water recycling program, and the use of compressed earth blocks (CEB), allowing for future expansion without disruption to the surrounding environment.
“We are honored to receive our LEED certification, further proving our unwavering commitment to sustainability and social responsibility,” said Cuisine Solutions Chairman Stanislas Vilgrain. He continued, “It’s of the utmost importance that we look towards making sustainability and real social impact decisions key components in development plans for all manufacturing facilities worldwide.”
The plant is the largest to participate in San Antonio’s Big Sun Community program, featuring a 300-space parking lot, shaded by solar panel carports, which are available for purchase by residents of San Antonio. This clean and renewable energy is then put back into the power grid and the savings are credited to the resident’s electric bill.
When constructing the building, the Cuisine Solutions team wanted to place a premier emphasis on water management. Therefore, the team constructed parking area bioswales, helping to assist with stormwater runoff. They implemented a water recycling program, allowing for the water used in the sous vide cooking process to be sanitized and then used again for future production batches. The facility was also able to see a 30% reduction in potable water consumption.
With plans of future expansion on the horizon, the Cuisine Solutions team designed a bridge that was built into the structure, allowing for an adjacent plant to be built in the future. This allows for the construction of a 100,000 square-foot facility with an additional product line that won’t cause interference with the current plant’s operations.
