Page 142 - Retail_Sustainability_Award_09-to-18

PB: We are proud to honor Sprouts with this year’s Retail Sustainability Award. Three things resonated and I wanted your comments.
FIRST: With his conventional grocery chain background, Chief Operating Of cer Dan Sanders (formerly president of Acme Market) was able to articulate what made Sprouts unique. He described waking up each day with a higher purpose: To service and enrich people through education and choices so they can live longer and healthier lives.
SECOND: The signi cance of Sprouts as a brand synonymous with certain characteris- tics — nutritious, quality products at afford- able prices, ethical sourcing, environmentally conscious, etc. With the brand, there’s an association where health care professionals, for example, actually refer people to Sprouts because you’ll be helping them take steps toward a healthier, happier life.
THIRD: Sprouts seems to tie these ideas together, with the overall importance of fresh and produce-centric positioning within the sustainability mission.
Carlos: That’s great and refreshing to hear. I also hear that from a lot of people... our guests who shop here, stakeholders, and government agencies — the EPA, for example, has really sung the praises of our brand, and we’re humbled.
A lot of people, and a lot of retailers especially see sustainability as a marketing opportunity. We want to make sure our customers and stakeholders — inves- tors, vendors, suppliers, team members, customers, NGOs, government agencies — have a say in how we approach sustain- ability. Not just because it’s good for marketing, but it’s simply the right thing to do. It’s also good for business, it’s good for people, and it’s good for the environment.
It’s built into our DNA of how we approach sustainability and the way we do business. We can’t profess a healthy life- style and not live it ourselves. It’s part of our core philosophy. Dan Sanders is a very passionate and knowledgeable spokes- person about sustainability.
12-SPROUTS / MAY 2018 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
PB: Could you tell us more about your role and provide some context of how sustainability ts within Sprouts’ core philosophy and its overall mission?
Carlos: Sustainability resonates throughout our company, and it really boosts morale. All our team members feel it and understand we care. Our customers under- stand we care, and this helps build more af nity to the brand and better loyalty to the brand. We see sustainability as part of our business, not a gimmick or a marketing ploy, but the way we do business. That has helped us to really advance and move these initia- tives forward.
PB: Was there a time when Sprouts created a formal sustainability plan or plat- form?
Carlos: Let me give you some back- ground as to the company itself. Our rst Sprouts Farmers Market was founded in 2002 in Chandler, AZ, by the Boney family, and Shon Boney, speci cally. This is an indi- vidual who comes from a long line of grocers in his family. His grandfather Henry opened stores in California, named Boney’s Market- place, which became Henry’s Marketplace, and they eventually sold that.
Then Shon came to Arizona and opened
the rst Sprouts store and started growing the brand with this philosophy of healthy living. Our rst slogan, I remember, was “Healthy Living for Less.” The intent was how could we provide healthy alternatives to customers where they don’t have to pay the prices of the premium natural organic grocers, which was mainly Whole Foods at the time. That was the tenet or the premise of the business model.
PB: Has that business model remained constant?
Carlos: Fast forward from 2002 to 2011, where a group out of New York sees the potential in the Sprouts brand, acquires and starts merging us with other companies, similar to the philosophy Sprouts had, really understanding the Sprouts concept was something special, and therefore, Sprouts was always the brand that survived through those consolidations.
We grew to about 130 stores by 2012, and that’s when I came along. We’ve merged three companies into one banner, and we’re trying to integrate three different companies with three different cultures into one. We did it in a way to ensure the Sprouts brand survived and our identity was formed and eventually became who we are today.
q&a with
CARLOS ROJAS
Vice President - Legal, Risk and Sustainability Sprouts Farmers Market, Phoenix, AZ
GOING ALL IN