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RETAIL SUSTAINABILITY AWARD
No place for waste: Hy-Vee reinvents and repurposes produce in-store, from fresh-cuts to fresh squeezed juices and infused waters to a fully-stocked salad bar.
HOMEGROWN
According to Griesenbrock, that personal touch carries through to Hy-Vee’s commit- ment to hyper-localize, locally grown
produce. The de nition of local and the product’s sourcing proximity to its destina- tion have always been malleable arguments with both retailers and consumers.
Hy-Vee’s Homegrown program logo assures customers the produce they are buying is grown within 200 miles from that store. While that 200-mile distance would
HY-VEE’S CYCLICAL FOOD-WASTE OPERATION
All grocery retailers have to deal with food that goes unsold, but only a few have mastered the art of converting organic materials to compost and selling it back to the consumers through their garden centers.
“Since we began our partnership back in December 2011, GreenRU has worked about 21 million pounds of compost for Hy-Vee,” says Gary Chamness, president and chief executive of Chamness Technology Inc., which includes GreenRU. “It all started with a pick-up truck and our rst Hy-Vee store in Fair eld, IA.” Business with Hy-Vee grew exponentially, or more accurately, cyclically from there.
“Hy-Vee’s organic food waste composting business is a streamlined, cradle-to-cradle operation,” says Chamness.
Produce Business ventured out to Eddyville, IA, to meet with Chamness and his team for a tour of GreenRU. We had already been privy to what preceded this part of the loop. Earlier that morning, Chris Abbott, manager of perishables, and Dan Atkinson, produce manager, at Hy-Vee’s Waukee, IA, store showed us how food scraps and unusable produce items were being separated and placed in special organic waste bins provided by GreenRU. A GreenRU organic recycling vehicle arrived for its regular bi- weekly pick-up to take the organic waste to the facility, where it is recycled into compost and
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packaged to go back to Hy-Vee’s retail shelves to be purchased by customers to enrich the next generation of food.
“When we start up a new store on GreenRU, ongoing training and reporting is critical,” says Scott Amendt, territory representative at GreenRu. “I take our instructional manual with me and meet with the store directors and the department managers, and then we identify who oversees what area, and we make
sure everybody knows all the procedures and safety issues,” he says.
The plan needs to be easy for employees to follow. “It can be challenging for people to change the way they do things,” says Amendt, acknowledging an employee learning curve often requires the need for retraining. “If the managers don’t buy into this program, you won’t have success on the oor. At Hy-Vee, there is enthusiasm at every store.” pb
Photo Left: At the Waukee store, Chris Abbott, manager of perishables, places food into an organic waste bin. Below: Gary Chamness and Scott Amendt stand in front of the GreenRU truck outside of the Waukee store.