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RETAIL SUSTAINABILITY AWARD
and quality of the product is the same as the other items in their mix, then it’s accept- able,” says Craig Arneson, general manager, north region sourcing at CH Robinson, the parent company of Robinson Fresh.
The Mis ts program has up to 20 SKUs, but not all are offered at any given time because of seasonality or availability. “We try to give each retailer seven to nine choices each week; they pick the ones that would work for them because of the rota- tion or display, or pricing they might hit — whatever might work for them based on their department. So, there is a role they can play in customizing it,” says Arneson.
“Robinson Fresh coordinates with our
buyers on the number of items, and our team corresponds weekly with the produce departments to ensure they know what items are arriving the next week,” says Griesenbrock. “We have roughly between ve to eight items that we offer, and those items and merchandising tactics are adjusted based on availability and from store to store because of our autonomous system.”
“The reason we feel the Mist ts program is most successful is because we started the conversation with Hy-Vee’s purchasing group and quickly got buy-in and support from their executives, who championed the program and got the message down to the
Hy-Vee’s “Click-and- Collect” lockers for 24-hour service
SMALL STEPS, GIANT STEPS
Also falling under the sustainability umbrella, Hy-Vee runs a unique program called One Step, where it offers customers a selection of products, including bagged potatoes, with a portion of the proceeds earmarked for worthy causes. “We are always looking to add to the program with additional products,” says Pat Hensley, senior vice president of non-foods.
Since its inception in 2012, One Step has helped provide more than 300,000
meals to those in need across the United States and 23 water wells to impoverished countries, planted 114,000 trees throughout Hy-Vee’s eight-state region and built 724 community gardens. Some of those gardens are adjacent to Hy-Vee stores, linking social and environmental attributes of sustain- ability with the attributes of harvesting and consuming healthy, nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables.
The gardens often act as catalysts for
Hy-Vee’s in-store registered dietitians, who may incorporate them into fun, educational activities and cooking classes to encourage children and parents to eat more produce, according to Erin Good, registered dieti- tian at the Waukee, IA, location. As part of Hy-Vee’s sweeping, company-wide, health and wellness campaign, there are designated dietitions for just about every single store.
Hy-Vee also incorporates the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System, which utilizes an algorithm to assign foods a score from 1 to 100 based on its content of more than 30 nutrients. The criteria integrate data from a range of sources, including The Institute of Medicine, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USDA National Nutrient Database and World Health Organization. Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, ber and other food components associated with health add points to the score, while “negative” nutrients, such as sugar, sodium, trans fat and cholesterol reduce the total score. This in-store messaging complements healthy eating tips spotted throughout the produce department, sometimes on little signs with a photo of the store’s dietitian.
Promoting a healthy lifestyle goes hand- in-hand with Hy-Vee’s sustainability charge. “A grocery store and a grocery company touch so many customers every day,” says Hensley. Championing programs that are good for your community, good for your employees, and good for the store are all part of the sustainability plan and dovetail so completely.” pb
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