Sara Lee ranked as innovative company

DOWNERS GROVE — Sara Lee Corp. ranked as a top performer in the areas of climate innovation and carbon management programs according to Maplecroft, a leading source of global risk analysis.

Maplecroft's Climate Innovation Indexes include 350 companies with a combined market cap of $3.5 trillion. Sara Lee Corp.'s rank this year of 67 on the CII Leaders list is a dramatic rise from last year's ranking of 234.

Sara Lee Corp. was commended for its inclusion of environmental sustainability throughout its product development processes, as well as its energy efficiency audits. According to Maplecroft, key areas of climate innovation include technological advances in fuels, equipment and emissions monitoring, managing exposures to the impacts of climate change and creating efficiencies in energy use, business processes and transportation.

“At Sara Lee, we are committed to our sustainability efforts around three pillars of focus: Environment, Wellness and Nutrition and Social Responsibility, said Audra Karalius, vice president, sustainability, environment and safety, Sara Lee Corp. “Our employees worldwide have made great strides and recognition such as this underlines the hard work from everyone. Although we are pleased with our success so far, we recognize that we still have a long journey ahead.