Brandweek got together with Frito-Lay vp-marketing Gannon Jones about the recent success of a previously less-than stellar (pun intended) product – Sun Chips. Sales for Sun Chips are up 17.6%, or $201.8 million for the 52 weeks ending June 15.

Back in 2006, when Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth came out, (can you believe it has only been two years?!), Mr. Jones says he and his colleagues really began thinking about how to connect Sun Chips with the environment and people’s health. The brand began offering 18 grams of whole grain, low sodium, no trans-fat and installed solar panels at their production plant in Modesto, CA.

What has really made it work for Sun Chips?

As we’ve said before, any company that wants going green to be a profitable, positive, lasting experience needs to make being green a part of daily operations. In this interview Gannon Jones speaks to that same point –

“One thing also learned about green brands and believe very much is that the brands that are most successful in speaking about green make it core to their business strategy. It’s not something you can treat as a consumer promotion and do it for three months and move to the next promotion. Like Prius and Stonyfield Farms who make it core to brand operations, that’s something we believed in. We needed to take a series of steps.”

More on Green Strategies for Business?

Do we Need to Hire an Energy Management Person?

How to Take Your Business Green – Green Strategy

and much, much more you might even read how a PA-based paper company has gone green in Dunder Mifflin Goes Green