How Solar Can Optimize Costs and Sustainability for Food and Beverage Facilities

In the food and beverage industry, facilities managers face the daunting task of balancing tight profit margins with the need to deliver high-quality, sustainable, and affordable products. For food processors, the net profit margin is just 6.01%, while beverage companies have a net profit margin between 9.29% and 14.07%. Rising energy prices, evolving consumer demands, supply chain disruptions, and tenuous commodity markets can make finding a solution that reduces costs while delivering a superior, healthy product a constant struggle.

Whether your goal is regulatory compliance, cost reduction, or enhanced sustainability, installing solar and energy storage systems at food and beverage facilities is an innovative and increasingly obtainable way to overcome some of the industry’s biggest hurdles.

The Global Energy Landscape and Challenges for Food and Beverage Facilities

An analysis from PwC suggests that the food and beverage sector could unlock nearly $300 million in energy savings annually across its entire value chain, or about 60% of its yearly electricity costs, by optimizing operations. The same study found that installing on-site renewable power and energy storage at facilities could save global F&B producers $127.2 million yearly.

With global food demand expected to grow by 70-100% by 2050, food and beverage producers are embracing energy efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency as mission-critical issues essential to increasing profit margins.

The food and beverage sector is particularly sensitive to energy price fluctuations, which impact production costs and profitability. While electrifying processes and technologies can support lower long-term operational costs and lower carbon emissions, they also increase energy prices in the short term as a facility’s overall energy load goes up. Higher energy costs are passed to the consumer, leading to a rise in the overall cost of quality. Additionally, power outages pose a serious threat, costing companies anywhere between $4,000 and $30,000 per hour in lost production.

Benefits of Going Solar: Price Reduction, a Stronger Brand Image, and Flexibility

Integrating solar energy into food and beverage facilities offers a range of benefits, including significant cost reductions, enhanced sustainability, and improved energy independence. Solar power helps businesses mitigate the impact of volatile energy prices and supports the global shift toward greener, more responsible operations. Furthermore, adopting solar solutions improves a company’s brand image, positioning it as a leader in sustainability and brand value.

Facilities managers have a prime opportunity to install solar on underutilized spaces like rooftops, parking lots, and vacant land. Solar developers familiar with the industry will provide guidance on the right size and type of solar array for a company’s site, goals, local regulatory landscape, and other critical factors. The developer can manage installation with minimal disruptions to operations—a critical task at F&B sites that operate nearly 24/7.

During peak solar hours, a solar system will often produce more electricity than the site requires, making on-site energy storage a smart investment to maximize the value of solar generated at a facility and provide critical backup power. This is where working with an experienced solar developer also adds value. They can review the needs of the facility and its overall decarbonization goals to suggest other appropriate initiatives like energy storage, plans that bundle solar with electric vehicle (EV) charging to support fleet electrification, and more.

By embracing on-site solar energy generation, storage, and other energy efficiency tactics, F&B producers can take control of their energy demand and portfolio, manage costs, and even sell excess energy back to the grid. Working with developers who offer power purchase agreements (PPAs) that cover all installation and ongoing maintenance costs can also help minimize upfront costs across these efforts and free up the facilities management team from any long-term servicing of the solar system. These agreements also provide peace of mind and certainty around future energy costs by allowing businesses to lock in a long-term rate.

Case Study: Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. was looking for ways to fuel rapid growth, lower and secure their energy bills, and become more sustainable. Seeking a proven energy solution they could rely upon for decades, the company installed one of the largest on-site solar arrays in the craft beer industry in 2021. The 2.1 MW solar array and a 281 kW solar carport encompass 9.7 underutilized acres in Paso Robles, Calif. In 2024, Firestone Walker Brewing Co. installed an additional rooftop solar array on a 60,000-square-foot cold storage facility to maximize solar generation in an underutilized space. Altogether, the brewer’s solar installations generate 5,809 MWh of electricity annually while offsetting over 1,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. With a PPA in place for the projects, Firestone Walker achieved this energy transformation with no upfront costs.

Facilities managers across the globe should proactively explore solar energy options as part of a comprehensive energy management strategy. By adopting solar, pursuing PPAs, and exploring additional clean energy upgrades like storage and on-site EV charging, businesses can unlock long-term operational benefits, reducing costs and enhancing energy resilience while contributing to a cleaner, more efficient industry capable of meeting the world’s growing food and beverage demands.

James Presta is business development manager at REC Solar, a nationwide commercial solar company.

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