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GREEN FROM THE GROUND UP
BY MIRA SLOTT
About two years ago, Safeway executives had an epiphany. Championed under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), they devised a strategy to infuse sustainability into the company’s bloodstream, with a special place for produce at its heart.
“We developed our vision at the beginning of last year to be the premier grocery retailer in corporate social responsibility and make an important and measurable difference with respect to sustainability,” says Christy Consler, vice president of leadership development and sustainability for the Pleasanton, CA-based retailer of 1,725 stores under multiple banners, including Pavilions, Carrs, Vons, Ran- dalls, Tom Thumb, Genuardi’s and Dominick’s. The latter part of Consler’s expanded title encapsulates the Safeway’s emboldened CSR concept. “A
MAY 2010 • PRODUCE BUSINESS 19
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