Friday 24 July 2009
Thursday 23 July 2009
Waitrose green policy with ethical fish gives good results
In the UK-Market many customers seek for ethical sources for fresh fish. The English Waitrose stepped into this market by offering only sustainable fish, this step resulted into a growth of 15% in fish sales compared to the last years. The policy also implied froozen fish, which grew with 21% compared last year.
Waitrose has been one of the big sponsors of the movie “The End of the Line” a movie around ethical fishing, afterwards a big press campaign and consumer interest resulted into an increased interest about sustainability.
It is shown that when consumers know more about the reality of the situation, they most want to buy sustainable fish. The retail company only wants to provide this type of fish, meaning that for example swordfish cannot be offered, the company did not find a sustainable source for this type of fish. The ethical fishing policy of Waitrose includes a ban on many species under threat, and on damaging fishing methods.
Tuesday 21 July 2009
New generation green supermarket Tengelmann Klimarkt
Their newest Klimamarkt can be seen as an example of an environmental-friendly store. This green supermarket uses 50% less energy than the traditional supermarket and they also succeeded to reduce the emission of CO2 to almost the level of 0.
What did they do and how did they do it? This green supermarket of the newest generation, warmth is being used to transform it into energy, the cooling and refrigeration departments have environmental-friendly furniture with all the doors closed. Furthermore there was a lighting plan created, were LED-lighting could promote the products, make them more sustainable and reduce the level of energy.
Belgian Supermarket Chain Colruyt obtaining energy in their supermarkets by introducing Sun Panels
The Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt is looking for ways to obtain a sustainable way of obtaining energy, this energy needs to support reducing the emission of CO2-gases. The price stunter will install as many sun panels as possible on the roofs of their supermarkets, where possible this will be the new way how the supermarkets obtain their energy.
Currently Colruyt already obtains 7 million kWh of electricity by wind mills, sun panels and warmth recuperation. The Belgian is with these action leading the Benelux revolution in green retailing. In neighbour country The Netherlands we do not yet see this many way to use sustainable energy in the supermarkets.
Mars further develops plan with new action to Sustainable Business
This manufactured chocolate will be used in the Mars products like Bounty, Twix and Mars. Next to the UTZ certification Mars also works with Rainforest Alliance. The method of UTZ is a structural approach to improve the productivity and reduce the level of poorness in the areas. Farmers learn how to improve their productivity, with improved methods. Furthermore they explain that farmers need to produce a wider assortment of products, to avoid depending to much on one product. Mars thinks this new production methods will increase the benefits between 30 and 50 per cent, mainly focusing on Ivory Coast (worlds biggest manufacturer of cocao for Mars).
UTZ Certified Good Inside is dedicated to creating an open and transparent marketplace for agricultural products. It offers coffee, tea and cocoa certification programs and manages traceability for RSPO certified palm oil, UTZ CERTIFIED vision is to achieve sustainable agricultural supply chains where farmers are professionals implementing good practices which lead to better businesses, where the food industry takes responsability by demanding and rewarding sustainably grown products, and where consumers buy products which meet their standard for social and environmental responsability.
Monday 20 July 2009
American retail study shows that low Income Shoppers are More Willing to Pay a Premium for Sustainability
In the study it states that Income is not the only important factor when consumers decide to do green shopping, consumers with lower income are willing to pay a premium for green products. Women are also willing to pay more than men for green products.
To download a copy of the study results, visit the Miller Zell blog, Inside the Aisle at http://insidetheaisle.com/mz-research-surveys/.
Organic Food Program and Carbon Neutral Program of Dole
'Carbon neutral,' as applied to the banana and pineapple product supply chains, means that the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted to produce, pack, transport and distribute the fruit will be offset by mitigation practices which increase the capture of CO2 in order to achieve a 'neutral' balance. These practices entail new, more efficient transportation methods, changes to agricultural processes to reduce CO2 emissions, and partnering with local farmers to implement preservation and reforestation programs. http://www.doleorganic.com