Franken Tours Faribault Foods Manufacturing

Equipped with safety glasses, hair net, earplugs, hard hat, steel-toed boots and a scientific-looking white lab coat, Sen. Al Franken toured Faribault Foods Monday morning to learn about the facility’s recent implementation of cutting-edge heat recycling technologies.
Starting in 2007, the company began revamping the way it used energy and resources, especially water and heat. Now, it’s the only cannery in the world that recaptures all the heat used in its manufacturing operations.
Sen. Franken was quick to laud their efforts.
“Industrial manufacturing efficiency is very important,” he said. “The cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use.”
The plant has experienced a 20 percent drop in water consumption and 25 percent drop in water waste. Energy savings from heat recycling have also been substantial.
He met with company leadership and discussed the obstacles to implementing these types of systems, and how the technology could be expanded.
Franken said he learns from Minnesota business.
“Minnesota is a leader in some of these key businesses,” he said. “And I try and bring that knowledge back to Washington.”