News & Insights
VIDEO: Sustainable utilities for food & bev manufacturing
Why this matters now
For most food and beverage plants, the utility systems drive the largest share of energy, water, and emissions. Boilers, refrigeration, compressed air, and wastewater are the systems where sustainability commitments either become real or stall out. Customer scorecards and reporting rules have raised the stakes, while rising utility costs have improved the economics of doing the work. Plant leaders need clear paths from goals to projects.
What leaders are weighing
Operations and engineering leaders are weighing the appeal of major utility upgrades against the disruption of executing them in a running plant. They are deciding how to balance electrification, heat recovery, refrigeration redesign, and water reuse against capital availability and payback expectations. There are tradeoffs around redundancy, sanitation, and the realities of working around production schedules. Corporate sustainability teams set targets. Plant teams have to deliver them without breaking the operation. The right plan respects both.
How Salas O’Brien is helping clients respond
Our food and beverage utilities team helps clients translate sustainability goals into utility system strategies that hold up under operational and capital scrutiny. We bring deep experience across boilers, refrigeration, water and wastewater systems, and controls. We help leaders prioritize among options, model outcomes, and sequence work around production. Hear Bryan Cousino, Angie Howarth, Mathieu Fleury, and Rock Voyer discuss what sustainable utilities look like in practice.
Bryan Cousino PE, MBA
Bryan Cousino, PE, MBA brings a business-led approach to complex engineering challenges, helping clients turn unclear paths into practical solutions. He works across industrial, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, lab science, and mission-critical sectors, aligning teams and applying business insight to technical decisions. Bryan serves as a principal at Salas O’Brien. Contact him at [email protected].
Angie Howarth, CRL, TPM
Angie Howarth is an experienced business professional with 10+ years in performance and execution of a diverse range of engineering. As one of only 3,506 Certified Reliability Leaders globally, she applies both formal training and on-the-job manufacturing experience when working with clients. Angie currently serves as a Vice President at Salas O’Brien. Contact her at [email protected]
Mathieu Fleury, P.Eng
Mathieu is a process engineer with a diversified background in project,
production and maintenance management. He has a strong ability to
manage multidisciplinary projects in the field of building improvement,
packaging, process and utility, and he is able to consider the different
views of all groups involved in the project.
Rock Voyer, P.Eng., M.Eng.
Rock Voyer spent the first part of his career providing multi-million-dollar project management and leading sustainable process initiatives at Molson Coors Canada reducing energy usage by 42% and water consumption by 45%. Deeply experienced in process, building infrastructure, utilities, energy savings, and product innovation, Rock now serves as a Vice President for Salas O’Brien. Contact him at [email protected].