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WAKEFERN/SHOPRITE RETAIL SUSTAINABILITY AWARD
Jeff Brown of Brown's Super Stores, works with under- privileged youth at 'Teens for Good' in a local garden at a West Philadelphia Recreation Center.
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along with co-op goals, guidelines and tools to move forward,” she says, keen to point out, “Our members are all eager to become more sustainable organizations and at the same time get costs out of the system.”
The Sustainability Committee focuses on members, who help identify new oppor- tunities, such as a Fair Trade initiative, sustainable packaging, or retail tool kit for measuring impacts. “We meet quarterly, and then subcommittees take action. In the past couple of years, we’ve experienced an influx of companies coming in with claims of products being eco-friendly or green,” says Forbes.
Realizing the need to discern these claims, Wakefern formed a new Category Management Training Committee to glean and disseminate basic knowledge on these products, as well as discover better ways to merchandise and promote them.
“We always believe we should begin the sustainability journey here at home before requiring such edicts from our suppliers,” says Forbes. At the same time, “We are looking to work with more sustainable companies and brands,” she says. “We will be partnering with suppliers on a fairly new initiative to start our own private label sustainable packaging.”
Wakefern runs a company-wide recy- cling program, where members collect all types of materials, including cardboard, wooden pallets, plastic bags, floral buckets, and food packaging across departments to
ShopRite of Flemming’s, bio-digester
ures,” emphasizes Forbes. Still, they want to be on board, evidenced by the fact that members not only reach goals but also often far exceed them, according to Karen Meleta, vice president of consumer and corporate communications at Wakefern.
Store owners accumulated prestigious government and industry-based sustain- ability awards, she explains. These include
Outstanding Achievement in Food Waste Prevention and Diversion from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), multiple EPA Gold Green Chill Award Certifications, in addition to state and local recognitions for estab- lishing smart, sustainable workplace
and community programs.
Dual Strategies And Definitions
In certain instances, separate corporate sustainability programs complement those of its individual members and vice versa. For example, Wakefern Food Corp. under- takes a far-reaching and impactful campaign to fight hunger.
“At the corporate level, we’ve had a
funnel back to Wakefern, which manages the process.
“We’ve also helped members set up food waste recovery programs, connect with vendors and assist in negotiating contracts for more favorable rates,” says Forbes.
While Wakefern and its members are invariably bonded, members remain self- determining. “Members are independent, and we don’t mandate sustainability meas-
Karen Meleta, vice president of consumer and corporate communications at Wakefern, manages the company’s communications and reputation management initiatives as well as its corporate social responsibility, philanthropy and sustain- ability efforts. Meleta also oversees the social media strategy for the company as well as its media and public relations including serving as corporate spokesperson for Wakefern’s member-owned ShopRite stores and its corporately owned PriceRite chain.
34 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2014