Retailers Share Sustainability Programs at Summit

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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- At the Food Marketing Institute's Sustainability Summit this month, retailers shared their experiences with green programs that work and experiments that could lead to widespread savings.

U.K. chain Tesco, which is affiliated with the Fresh & Easy stores in the western U.S., is still testing is carbon labeling program. The company chose 20 products - light bulbs, potatoes, laundry detergent and orange juice - calculated each product's lifecycle carbon footprint and put the information on the labels. Although customers like the labels, the company found it needs to do a better job explaining what the information means, according to ThePacker.com, a media site covering the produce industry.

Tesco also said it has $200 million set aside for green efforts, and has invested in nightshades for chillers and LED lights, among other technologies, ThePacker.com reported.

Fresh & Easy has adopted some environmental programs as well. The only light bulbs it sells are energy efficient, it provides in-store recycling and has parking spots set aside for hybrid vehicles.

Wegmans Food Markets, which has locations in the northeast U.S., has taken up experiments companywide and is encouraging stores to recommend or test other ways to save resources and energy.

One store started turning lights off throughout departments to see how many could be turned off before it make shopping difficult for customers. The store was eventually able to shut off, and keep off, 490 lights. Another store helped the chain prevent creating 1 million pounds of waste a year by recommending it stop selling a deli item in wax packaging.

Wegmans is also making its recyclable plastic packages easier to identify and sort, and works with a composting company to dispose of deli, floral and produce waste instead of sending it to landfills.

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