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PROFILE RETAIL SUSTAINABILITY AWARD WAKEFERN/SHOPRITE
program pretty easily with the same deal. We trained everyone a store at a time,” says Brahl. “The Wakefern organic team came in with us for two months.
“It takes time and resources to roll out these programs. This was not easy to do and required an ongoing commitment. One of the benefits of being part of the Wake- fern cooperative is working with all the members to share best practices.
“There are so many disparate parts and hands in different departments, we have to go employee by employee, department by department and explain how to do things along with the reasons for doing them,” says Ravitz. “This wasn’t about saving money, although there are money savings,” he says. “It feels good to be a community partner.”
HARRY GARAFALO, owner, Milford Markets
About Milford Markets
Harry Garafalo’s connection to the
ShopRite of Milford, CT goes back to 1974 when he bagged groceries in the original store. Fast forward to 2004, Harry and his wife, Ann, become the owners of the ShopRite of Milford and members of Wake- fern. They added a West Haven store in 2008 and two more Connecticut locations in late 2010. Born and raised in Milford, Garafalo’s kinship with his customers and community runs deep.
Wakefern Environmental Committee Chairman
When Harry Garafalo first purchased the Milford store, he teamed with the Connecticut Food Association for the recy- cled-bottle retention programs, became actively involved in state litter issues and sought community solutions to other envi- ronmental problems. “Deregulation of electricity significantly increased costs, and we looked at ways to gain savings,” he says. He was keen on the advantages of Wakefern’s cooperative structure for devel- oping meaningful resolutions to a range of sustainability issues.
fern’s Environmental Committee. A couple of years ago, the chairman wanted to step down, and he recommended I take his place,” says Garafalo, who had been vice chairman at the time. The structure has changed since. “We have two vice chair- persons now, and they represent the next generation. They seem to be more envi- ronmentally focused. They bring a lot of energy and new ideas to the committee and are eager to participate,” he says.
“My role as committee chairman is to interact with Wakefern staff, Karen Meleta, consumer/corporate communications, Suzanne Forbes, environmental affairs administrator, and others, to set the agenda on diverse projects at different parts of Wakefern.”
The Environmental Committee meets on a quarterly basis to facilitate ways to bring best practices to members. “Our recent agenda meeting in Philadelphia with members covered a zero-waste-reduction project. Environmental affairs people attended to update us on the recycling program and legislative initiatives, both
“I became pretty engaged with Wake- state and federal. Engineering people
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