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ated 41 million pounds of food, or an equivalent of some 35 million meals, in 2011, and is on trend to match those numbers this year. In the spirit of the common good, Kroger has no qualms sharing its innovative program model with retail competitors, including discussions with some of Kroger’s fiercest competitors, says Marmer.
“We’re happy to pass on our learning. Many times it’s the smaller grocers who are overwhelmed by the idea,” adds Janet Aus- denmoore, manager of corporate affairs, and one of the chief staff members who is instru-
mental in cause-marketing initiatives, including managing the Kroger Foundation, its non-profit organization that makes grants to other chari- ties, schools and public entities.
“PDP wasn’t an easy program to implement and scale, and there were barriers we had to overcome tied to food safety from both sides of the spectrum,” Ausdenmoore continues. “First, internally for the food safety and risk manage- ment teams, we had to get comfortable partnering with an outside agency and devel- oping and monitoring standardized guidelines
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KROGER
and certifications; then, training employees on handling procedures and insuring proper stor- age, refrigeration and temperature control once the product leaves our facility.”
Kroger’s commitment to alleviating hunger and doing the right thing wasn’t about “going green,” she says. However, putting these causes under the sustainability umbrella raises them to the level of an institutional imperative; looking through the sustainability lens creates a collec- tive conscience as a community, she explains.
PDP’s genesis began eight years ago, pulling from programs within specific banners and looking at what other supermarket chains were doing, according to Marmer. “We looked at what our Fred Meyer folks were doing with food rescue in the Pacific Northwest, a joint effort with some local food banks collecting fresh food that needed to be turned around quickly, and to Food Lion in the South, where it was happening on a very small scale.”
Catapulting PDP, Kroger teamed up with Feeding America, the country’s largest domes- tic hunger-relief organization, which orchestrates a network of some 200-member food banks. “I spent 15 years on the board of a local food bank, so I understood the impor- tance and challenge of offering variety and fresh nutritious items like healthy fruits and vegetables,” says Marmer.
“Food banks live and die on excess,” a crude reality, says Eric Davis, director of retail product resourcing at Feeding America, head- quartered in Chicago, IL. [See his interview detailing the Kroger partnership on page 32].
28 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2012