Earth Day 2008: Food and Grocery Industry
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Showing posts with label Earth Day 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth Day 2008. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Green Retailing Memo: Whole Foods Market, Inc. Self-Bans the (Plastic) Bag Tomorrow; Has Related Regional Earth Day Promotions Planned For All Stores
Tomorrow is G (green)-Day for supernatural grocery retailer Whole Foods Market, Inc.
Beginning first thing tomorrow morning (Earth Day 2008) when the doors open at the retailer's stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, Whole Foods will no longer be offering customers the option of single-use plastic carrier bags for their grocery purchases.
Instead of the typical "reusable, paper or plastic" (bag) question asked each shopper at the checkout stand in a Whole Foods' store, tomorrow that refrain will be shortened to just "reusable or paper," with a major emphasis on the "reusable" option.
Beginning tomorrow, Whole Foods Market, Inc. becomes the only major food and grocery retailing chain in the United States and likely the world to voluntarily stop offering the thin, plastic single-use carrier bags to customers in its stores.
In order to celebrate the event as well as Earth Day 2008, the supernatural grocer is holding regional promotions throughout the USA, Canada and at it's store in the UK tomorrow and the rest of the month, since Whole Foods has proclaimed April as "Earth Month" in honor of Earth Day.
For example, in many regions of the U.S., Whole Foods will donate 10 cents for every single reusable shopping bag customers bring into the store tomorrow to local environmental organizations.
In Atlanta, Georgia for example, the Whole Foods' stores in that region will donate 10 cents for every reusable shopping bag customers bring in to bag their own groceries with to Atlanta Beautiful, a non-profit organization that creates and implements public education and community improvement programs designed to make the Atlanta Metropolitan region cleaner and greener, according to the group.
All Whole Foods stores currently give shoppers 10 cents for every reusable shopping bag they bring in to have their grocery orders bagged in. That program will continue with the elimination of single-use plastic carrier bags in all of the grocer's stores starting tomorrow morning. Whole Foods will still offer shoppers free paper grocery sacks made out of 100% recyclable paper.
The supernatural grocer's store team members will be getting into the Earth Day spirit in a literally "green" way tomorrow. Every store-level Whole Foods worker in the U.S will participate in what the grocery chain is calling a "Green Out" tomorrow by wearing green attire from head to toe all day on Earth Day in the stores.
The jolly "green" store team members will be doing lots of environmental educating in the stores tomorrow, including making a big push for shoppers to adopt a reusable shopping bag lifestyle and habit.
Whole Foods is selling numerous reusable bags in its stores, as well as giving a certain number of the bags away for free in its stores tomorrow. The grocer sells a variety of canvas reusable shopping bags--including those made from organic and Free Trade cotton as well as conventionally-grown material--in a variety of price ranges.
The grocer also recently introduced its "A Better Bag," which is made from recycled (80%)plastic bottles and sells for 99 cents each.
Another fun and interesting regional event to celebrate the end of the plastic carrier bag era at Whole Foods is being conducted tomorrow at one of its stores in Raleigh, North Carolina. Store team members there will be holding an "eco-fashion show" from 6-8pm in the store, with all of the outfits made from single-use plastic carrier bags. No word if Heidi Klum will be in attendance.
In addition to celebrating the elimination of plastic grocery bags in the stores and the promotion of reusable ones, all Whole Foods' stores also are offering a myriad of Earth Day "green" events and promotions tomorrow and throughout the month. These include celebrations and in-store tastings of organic and sustainable foods, promotions featuring locally-grown food and grocery products with appearances by local farmers and food purveyors in-store, natural and organic body care promotions and giveaways and more.
The stores across the U.S., Canada and the UK also are conducting numerous tie-in promotions with local non-profit groups which are designed to raise money for environmental activities, ranging from local litter clean up projects, "green" education programs for children, sustainable urban gardening projects, and other similar activities.
Whole Foods also is working on finding alternatives to the use of the plastic bags it currently is using in its produce, bakery, seafood and bulk foods' departments, we've learned.
Among those alternatives the food retailer is looking at include a new-generation bag that's made completely from natural ingredients such as cornstarch. Any such bag must meet USDA standards for food grade quality however, which makes finding alternatives easier said than done at present.
Paper bags made out of 100% post-consumer recycled materials might be a good solution for the bakery and bulk foods' departments however, since paper bags have been used throughout history to contain fresh baked goods and bulk foods' products.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. is a trend-setter in food and grocery retailing, especially in the U.S. It was the first large chain to push organic food and grocery products in a major way, although independents were doing so long before Whole Foods was even founded. It's also the largest chain focusing on "locally-grown" foods and grocery products in the U.S., among other innovations.
Major supermarket chains and mass merchandisers like Kroger Co., SuperValu, Inc., Safeway Stores, Inc. Wal-Mart, Target and others pay very close attention to what Whole Foods does in terms of corporate policies (especially environmental) and in it's merchandising. Beginning tomorrow, these chains and most others will be watching the effects Whole Foods' elimination of single-use plastic carrier bags from all its stores has on the retailer.
In our analysis, all the effects will be positive ones we believe. We doubt any customers will stop shopping Whole Foods' stores because it will no longer offer plastic grocery bags as an option. In fact, we believe the grocer has already benefited from all the pre-Earth Day plastic bag-ban publicity it's received, which likely has increased the customer count in the already booming stores.
We don't believe however that any major supermarket and mass merchandiser chains like those we mentioned above will stop offering the thin, single-use plastic bags in their stores anytime soon. The consumer focus of the retailers is more "mass" than Whole Foods and they still believe eliminating plastic bags would cause them a loss of customers--and business.
We think some small to medium-size regional chains and local multi and single-store independents in the U.S. could follow Whole Foods' lead and stop offering the plastic grocery bags in their stores.
However, for the near to medium-term we think Whole Foods will remain the only major U.S. chain for now that doesn't offer single-use plastic carrier bags in all of its stores, with the exception of course of those food and grocery retailers who are in states or cities where single-use plastic carrier bag-bans have either been passed or soon will be passed. And, of course, in those instances the bag-ban laws are uniform for all grocery retailers. Therefore there isn't a real or perceived competitive advantage one way or the other.
Green Retailing Memo: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA launches New 'Green' Initiatives For Earth Day and Beyond
Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has just announced two new Earth Day 2008-related environmental retailing initiatives in addition to its previous free "bags for life" reusable shopping bag giveaway which we reported on last week.Tomorrow on Earth Day, Fresh & Easy will bag all customers' grocery orders for the day at its 61 small-format, convenience-oriented grocery stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada in free, reusable grocery bags which the retailer calls "bags for life."
The bags are free for life because Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will replace the bags if they are damaged for life. That's for the life of the consumer we believe.
The "bags for life," which are slightly larger and more durable than single-use plastic carrier bags, are made from recycled materials (we don't know if 100%) and 100% recyclable when worn out.
The plastic "bags for life" retail everyday in Fresh & Easy stores for 20 cents each. The grocery chain also sells canvas reusable shopping bags for $2.50 each.
New Earth Day 2008 initiative: Green building web page
Tomorrow on Earth Day, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to launch a new web page dedicated to the retailer's various green building initiatives, according to a company spokesperson.
Among the features of the green building web site will be highlights of Fresh & Easy's green building goals and practices, along with a "real time" "green" energy meter from its 500,000 square foot solar panel installation on the roof of the grocery chain's 850,000 square foot distribution center in Riverside, California.The website energy meter will show how much power the distribution center is generating and using from renewable solar energy in "real time." According to a Fresh & Easy spokesperson, the facilities solar panel array generates about 30% of the distribution center's power needs at present.
Check out the new website tomorrow and you can monitor how much power the solar installation is providing to the mega-Riverside distribution center yourself. http://www.freshandeasy.com/greenbuilding
New Earth Day 2008 Initiative: North America Climate Registry
Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA also is announcing it has joined The Climate Registry (TCR), which is an organization that builds on and expands the climate and greenhouse gas measurement and accounting work of the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR). CCAR is a voluntary greenhouse gas reporting organization of which Fresh & Easy is currently a member of.
TCR is an expansion of the California organization's effort. It extends a common carbon footprint reporting standard across North America. Numerous North American businesses are joining TCR as part of their corporate environmental initiatives.
In announcing Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Earth Day 2008 initiatives, company CEO Tim Mason said, "We all have a responsibility to put thought into our impact on the environment. At Fresh & Easy, we take this responsibility seriously, and strive to be good stewards of the environment. Collectively, we can all make a big difference."
Earlier this year, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market joined the U.S.-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) organization. LEED, also known as the U.S. Green Building Council, is a nonprofit third-party certification program and the nationally excepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance "green" buildings. Learn more about LEED here.
Green Retailing Memo: Arizona-Based Supermarket Chain Basha's Launches 'The Ultimate Green Bag' Earth Day Reusable Shopping Bag Giveaway and Promotion
Arizona-based Basha's supermarkets and one of its suppliers, Shamrock Farms dairy, have teamed-up to offer Basha's customers what the grocery chain says is "a new kind of reusable shopping bag" for Earth Day 2008.We're calling it the 'Ultimate Green Bag' because it's good for the environment and good for your wallet," Johnny Basha, the vice chairman of the family-owned, multi-format chain told Natural~Specialty Foods Memo.
The Basha's-Shamrock Farms dairy reusable bag promotion kicks-off tomorrow on Earth Day in all of the grocer's Arizona supermarkets and will run for the rest of this year.
Store customers can get a free (one per-person), reusable 'Ultimate Green Bag' by bringing in and exchanging five or more single-use plastic carrier bags for the reusable bag. Bashas' will recycle all of the plastic grocery bags brought in to the stores by shoppers.
Customers also can get a free 'Ultimate Green Bag' by purchasing one gallon of Shamrock Farms' milk at any Bashas' supermarket.
Additionally, the reusable shopping bags are currently on sale and will be for the foreseeable future for 99 cents each in all Bashas' stores, according to Johnny Basha.
The grocery chain also is using the 'Ultimate Green Bag' as part of a value-oriented promotion for shoppers. The chain will have numerous in-store and advertised weekly promotions which will allow customers to earn more free reusable bags when they purchase certain products, similar to the current promotion which gives shoppers one free bag when they buy a gallon of the Shamrock Farms milk. A variety of Bashas' suppliers and vendors are participating in the promotional program.
Johnny Basha says the retailer's goal is to get as many of its customers as possible multiple, free 'Ultimate Green Bags' so they can bring the reuseable bags with them when coming to shop the stores, thereby reducing both the number of single-use plastic carrier bags the chain uses, as well as decreasing the overall amount of plastic grocery bags that enter the waste stream in Arizona.
The reusable bag giveaway and ongoing promotion is one of the grocery chain's numerous environmental initiatives. Those initiatives include energy, water and fuel conservation programs, packaging source-reduction and recycling programs and other "green" measures for all of its 160 stores.
Johnny Basha says the retailer currently is recycling about 25,000 tons of cardboard and plastic materials each year, is at present conserving enough energy annually to power 7,500 homes in Arizona, and is launching a fuel-efficiency program for its distribution center truck fleet, with the initial goal of eliminating 1,775 tons of carbon emissions annually. Bashas' said it arrived at this initial goal because it represents the equivalent of removing about 1/3 of its current trucking fleet from the road.
Green Retailing Memo: City of Los Angeles, CGA, Grocers Team-Up For Big Reusable Bag Giveaway Program Today and Tomorrow
The California Grocers Association (CGA), the trade group for the state's chain and independent grocers, is spearheading a major, multi-grocery retailer Earth Day 2008 reusable shopping bag giveaway in Southern California in partnership with the City of Los Angeles.
Beginning today and through tomorrow (Earth Day) a group of retail grocery companies which includes: Albertsons, Inc. (a division of SuperValu, Inc.); Ralphs Grocery Company (a division of Kroger Co.); Vons and Vons Pavilions (owned by Safeway Stores, Inc.) ; Food 4 Less; Smart & Final, Inc.; Henry's Farmers Markets (owned by Smart & Final); K.V. Mart supermarkets; El Super supermarkets; and Superior Grocers; is giving out about 50,000 free reusable shopping at more than 40 stores throughout Los Angeles.
Each district of Los Angeles has at least one store participating in the reusable bag giveaway, which is designed to encourage shoppers to bring their own bag to the supermarket, according to Ronald Fong CGA's new president.
"Reuseable shopping bags are a readily available, viable, and cost effective alternative to traditional (single-use) shopping bags," Fong told Natural~Specialty Foods Memo. "We commend the city of Los Angeles for taking the lead in reuseable bag awareness and education and hope this event sets the stage for partnerships with other municipalities throughout the state," Fong added.
The two-day Los Angeles Earth Day 2008 free reusable bag giveaway promotion began this morning at 6am. Each store customer will get one free bag per-transaction today and tomorrow or until the available 50,000 reusable shopping bags run out.
The reusable shopping bags being distributed to shoppers for free by the Southern California grocers are constructed of a polyester-like fiber material and are made from 100% post-consumer recycled material which includes recycled water and soda bottles. The bags have a message on them touting the fact they are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. That message is: "Great Taste and Zero Waste."
CGA and its member-grocery chains and independents are trying to increase consumer use of reusable shopping bags in California, along with decreasing the amount of single-use plastic (and paper) carrier bags used in the state's supermarkets and grocery stores.
The grocers' association and its members supported AB 2449, the law which was enacted last year requiring California grocers with larger stores to place plastic grocery bag recycling bins in those stores, as well as to sell reuseable shopping bags in all those stores.
As we reported yesterday a new bill AB 2058 passed the California State Assembly Natural Resource Committee last week.
That bill, written by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, the same Southern California Assembly Member who authored AB 2449 (the in-store bag recycling bill), would require the state's grocers with larger stores to meet two single-use plastic carrier bag use reduction goals, one by 2011 and another by 2013. If either of those goals aren't met, the law would then require the grocers to charge a 15 cent per-bag fee to any customer who requested plastic.
AB 2058 now goes to the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee for debate and an eventual vote.
The city and county of Los Angeles also is considering a proposed single-use plastic carrier bag law which would either levy a fee on each plastic grocery bag shoppers request in the city's supermarkets and drug stores or perhaps ban the bags completely.
The California Grocers' Association represents about 500 retail members, who collectively operate about 6,000 food and grocery stores in California. The association also has over 200 supplier members who do business with these retailers.
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