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ident and then as vice president of market- ing/planning, before joining the produce team. “One of the things we do as an organization is cross-pollination and lateral moves to get a broader aspect of the business, which is really exciting and one of the big successes of Safe- way, says Burnham. “I think it really keeps it exciting for the individual and adds new blood and perspective for the business.”
White provides his take: “Steve and I are both grocers and so that’s where our heads and our hearts are, but deep inside our heart and our soul is produce. Steve’s got two years of produce, and I’ve got 28 years, but once you’re in, it’s in your blood. It’s a very tight- knit group. We all compete with each other, but we all support each other. We all have the
same issues. We all love Mother Nature, good and bad. And the industry is very solutions- oriented. We have to be,” he says.
White gives credit to Safeway’s savvy buy- ing team, which understands the strategy, and is very in-tune to local markets. Feedback from each of the local divisions helps guide corporate as well because they’re in the mar- ket every day. “They won’t let us miss a beat,” adds Burnham.
“Although Safeway buying is centralized, it has division geographical management. “We run the marketing and merchandising expectations from here,” White says. “We’re a tight knit group from both corporate and retail so they know what the strategies are, what our guidance is, right down to our weekly ads. I
would call it a strong partnership where pro- duce managers understand what we’re trying to accomplish and are able to execute that,” says White.
“We certainly have shared our perfor- mance objectives together,” Burnham contin- ues. “We’re moving forward with the sustain- ability objectives for the corporate team, as well as rolling those out further throughout the organization. These are part of our perfor- mance objectives and what we’re targeting and developing; then creating a trickle-down effect so all employees embrace sustainability as a priority.”
And in the spirit of a true sustainable life- cycle, new employee ideas will trickle back up again. pb
JEFF BROWN,
DIRECTOR ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
else, but basically, it allows me to move it from the plant to the stores and to buy elec- tricity in some states and move it to others,” he says, describing the process, which it has been doing well over four years now. “So it saves money and we’ve invested some of that money back into our green activities.”
Safeway also has about 20 acres of solar panels in California. “Now, a lot of people have solar panels, but for Safeway, the elec- trons that are produced on the roof go into our store, which gives us that green ability,” says Pettus. Most others who implement solar sell it back to the power company, he notes.
Globally, Safeway is organized around sustainability in its CSR initiatives and then there are four pillars within that. Team Planet and Team Product are two of those pillars dear to Mike Vincent, director, sup- ply chain sustainability, supply chain and strategic sourcing. “My core expertise is packaging, so some people might think I’m part of the problem, but I like to think I’m part of the solution,” he says, committed to the traditional mindset of the 3 Rs — reduce, reuse, recycle.
“We were always taught to be cognizant
JOE PETTUS,
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FUEL & ENERGY
of the end-of-life story, so we used to call it cradle-to-grave. Now it’s cradle-to-cradle, so we’re trying to close the loop,” he says. “Our perishables group is dynamic and we’re get- ting some traction with our local sourcing initiative,” Vincent adds. He also speaks highly of Traci Adams, vice president of flo- ral, who really bit onto a goal of zero waste in that department.
“The first time she brought up the con- cept of zero waste, I went, ‘Uh, I’m an engi- neer. I don’t know if that’s physically possi- ble or feasible’ and I got very nervous.” Traci remained undeterred, describing her vision as a lofty goal to work toward. “We set that as a shining light,” and a spirited team was formed to make it happen.
Inundated by suppliers with various claims of green packaging and environmen- tal sustainability, Vincent helped sort through the claims. “I’m a realist...so I kind of have one eye closed on all these claims and you have to provide it to me,” he says, conducting his own intensive product test- ing, for example, to find containers with natural composting properties, and working closely with universities, including the Cal Poly consortium, doing groundbreaking
MIKE VINCENT, DIRECTOR, SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY, SUPPLY CHAIN & STRATEGIC SOURCING
research in the field.
Safeway is also a member of Stanford’s
socially and environmentally responsible supply chain forum (SER), “which is more about practices within the supply chain and optimizing our logistics to minimize our footprint on the environment,” says Vincent.
The economics of business often leads to the most sustainable application, accord- ing to Vincent. Everyone has sustainability objectives. Managers in our areas present at least four sustainability projects annually, and buyers and analysts at least two, he says, adding, “We’re embedding sustainabil- ity into their goals this year.” But the other piece can’t be underplayed; to be sustain- able, it needs to be a sustainable business practice. In other words, the economics have to support it. “What we do is build a business case — what the objective is, what the consumer impact is, what the carbon benefits are, and what the economic pay- backs are. If it costs more, consumers are gong to need to be willing to pay more or it’s going to have to offset some kind of processing cost or freight efficiencies or something that it pays out for itself.” pb
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