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WAKEFERN/SHOPRITE RETAIL SUSTAINABILITY AWARD PROFILE
PRODUCE BUSINESS profiles a range of ShopRite members that embody the core Wakefern principles, and embrace company- specific sustainablity initiatives.
The Individuals Behind The Cooperative
BY MIRA SLOTT
W
hether it be a Russian immi- grant or fourth generation
RICK SAKER, vice president of operations, Saker ShopRites, Inc.
About Saker ShopRites, Inc.
Beginning with a small “mom and pop” store, which opened in 1916 in Freehold, NJ, the Saker family has oper-
ated grocery stores for almost 100 years. Saker ShopRites owns and operates 30 supermarkets in central New Jersey.
Composting
Rick Saker, vice president of operations, offi- cially started at his family business, representing the fifth generation, when he was 15, and has worked in just about every department and aspect of the business, getting a masters degree in inter- national food marketing along the way.
There is one area of responsibility, however, which especially gets Saker excited. “Sustain- ability programs span my responsibilities, and we’ve been ramping up various sustainability efforts for many years.”
Composting has really evolved at Saker ShopRites during the past 10 years. Supply and demand drives some of these efforts, he explains. “Initially, that demand came from local farmers (pig farmers, specifically) coming to stores asking for our organic waste and paying for it. That’s how we began the process of segregating out waste.
“Things do change over time, and over the past five years, we only dealt with a couple of farmers in that way. Now we work with waste management companies and we actually have to pay for pickup and disposal,” he says.
landfill,” he says.
“We pay landfill costs and a hauling fee. It
costs $60 per ton for the waste management companies to take it away versus landfill costs of $113 per ton, plus a $200 hauling fee every time,” he says. “It’s about half the cost for us to do composting, acknowledging that economics drive these decisions. There is the philanthropic aspect, but we’re also a business, so it’s a win/win.
More innovation in this arena is likely on the way. “We’re currently experimenting with compost liquefiers in one of our newest stores. We put the organic waste in a large stainless steel liquefier bin, which turns and breaks down the product with woodchips and bio-microorganisms, producing a clear watery liquid safe to go down the drain so you don’t need a permit for it. We lease the unit, so it’s fully serviced and we don’t have to add the bio-microorganisms needed for the process to work.
“The advantage of that from our perspective is that it really works for higher volume stores, but the lease program for those units is too high for smaller volume stores. When economies work, it seams to be a good alternative. From a sanitary perspective, you don’t need composting bins outside your store, especially in warm weather, which can lead to various issues,” says Saker.
Part of the challenge of a good composting program is getting buy-in from store management down the line, according to Saker. “We separate the responsibilities within departments, and department managers take the lead. For example, the produce manager is responsible for bringing his composting product to the warehouse receiver. Segregated blue compost bins sit outside of the store, nice and clean, waiting for the waste management company to dump into their recip- rocals,” he says.
“It also really helps our department managers and store managers from a category management standpoint. By going through everything that needs to be thrown out, they are able to analyze shrink and evaluate whether they ordered too many apples, and what they need to curtail or
grocer, these
individuals and their families have made huge strides in the Wakefern cooperative. The next series of profiles introduces the sustainability innovation and passionate creativity behind stores that range from mom-and-pop style grocers to mega stores within the Wakefern family tree. Over the years, owners formed special kinships with their clientele, and they discuss their philosophies to successful business practices.
Despite the extra cost on that side, “we still do
it for a couple reasons. First, it’s the right thing to
do, but it’s financially beneficial as well, if you look
at landfill costs,” he says. “Companies come three
times a week. For us, it costs $60 per ton, and we
average 300 tons of compost a month; it’s
substantial, for our 29 stores. Consider the price
of throwing all of this into a compactor for the improve on,” he says.
38 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2014