Innovation

Shoprite’s waste reduction efforts help the world to be a cleaner place. This sustainability effort falls under UN SDG #11: sustainable cities and communities. Furthermore, Mr. Cavo, the general manager of a local Shoprite, states that “Shoprite has always been improving its waste sustainability efforts during the 40 years I have worked there.” Shoprite keeps its materials out of landfill by operating its recycling center. Since its start in the late 1970s, the facility has recycled more than 2.6 million tons of materials. It recycled 128,648 tons of waxed and corrugated cardboard, 421 tons of newspaper, 132 tons of office paper, and 38 tons of metal in all their retail locations last year. In addition, over 8,200 tons of food waste was composted at Shoprite stores.

Additionally, Shoprite supports “The Life Below Water” sustainability efforts under UN SDG #14. ShopRite has had a sustainable seafood policy in place for over a decade to help customers find sustainable options. The supermarket collaborates with suppliers who guarantee that wild-caught and farm-raised seafood comes from certified, sustainable fisheries and farms. Shoprite recognizes the global importance of preserving marine resources and mitigating the impact on the environment of overfishing on marine and freshwater structures.

ShopRite has always been looking for new ways to provide customers with more sustainable options. For example, ShopRite debuted Wholesome Pantry Shrimp in January 2018. The Wholesome Pantry Shrimp has four stars from the Global Aquaculture Alliance, indicating that all phases of the production line, including feed mills, hatcheries, farms, and processing plants, adhere to Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP). Shoprite believes that it can create a sustainable seafood market by encouraging and promoting sustainable seafood options sourced from fisheries or fish farms that can function indefinitely without lowering the target species or having a negative impact on other species in the freshwater and marine ecosystems.

Inspiration

The inspiration for the waste reduction program was to find a way to help the environment. Mr. Cavo mentioned that the issue they were trying to solve was “How to provide for customers sufficiently without creating issues in the environment?” The emergence of this program was for the best because not only are they saving money by recycling materials, but they are also helping the environment by decreasing what they put into landfills. Also, they are providing free food for cattle because the spoiled produce isn't going to waste. The purpose for doing this innovation is “to lessen the waste of food and materials, and emissions of running equipment” (Mr. Cavo). The innovation supports the company's mission because if the New Jersey grocery council is not working to improve the environment, the landfills will expand uncontrollably, and a lot of food and materials will be wasted.

The inspiration for the seafood sustainability program was “to protect the flow of seafood in the marketplace in order not to affect the environment,” according to Mr. Cavo. This innovation emerged because ShopRite wanted their customers to find top-quality seafood at affordable prices in their local grocery stores instead of taking a trip to a fish market. Since the average American eats about 20 pounds of seafood, the motivation for this innovation is to make it easier for customers to include seafood in their meals while being fresh and sustainable. This innovation further supports the company's mission because “ShopRite is trying to provide premium seafood while limiting what they sell to protect the ecosystem” (Mr. Cavo).

Overall impact

ShopRite’s sustainability efforts have been recognized as they were a recipient of EarthShare New Jersey’s 2019 environmental Leadership award. According to an article by Tapinto, “In 2019 alone, Shoprite stores had donated 5,000 tons of fresh foods to community food banks along with composting another 10,000 tons of food waste from landfills.” This will help prevent long-term issues by protecting valuable land from turning into landfills, helping reduce pollution, which is impacting our environment heavily, and conserving our natural resources. Additionally, as mentioned previously, ShopRite’s considerable efforts to recycle its materials are worthy of note. The same article states that “ShopRite operates its own recycling center in Elizabeth, NJ, which has recycled over 2.5 million tons of material, including cardboard and plastic, since first opening in the late 1970s. ShopRite stores also promote bag reuse and provide recycling bins in stores for customers to return used plastic bags.”

Additionally, these sustainability efforts will tremendously affect our environment in a positive light, whether long-term or short-term. Short-term, it will educate customers about what they are doing and inspire the future generation to continue their mission so that future generations can experience a cleaner/safer environment. To quote Mr. Cavo during our interview, he stated regarding Shoprite’s short-term goals, “We are trying to educate and teach our associates and customers the importance of what they are doing.” Furthermore, Shoprite’s long-term goals are first to protect the ecosystem, which they are doing with the help of their Seafood sustainability program. With regards to their waste reduction efforts, they want to prevent landfills and help reduce pollution, which will be a foot in the right direction when it comes to saving our environment. To quote Mr.Cavo on ShopRite’s long-term goals, he stated, “protecting the eco system is important when it comes to our Seafood sustainability efforts and making sure we are sustaining from damaging our ecosystem and environment.”

Business benefit

The innovation of waste reduction and seafood sustainability has been beneficial to Shoprite in several ways, including cost efficiency, consumer price increases and profitability. When discussing with Peter Cavo, he mentioned that waste isn’t the only thing being reduced. Cavo says,” We collect giant bins of old produce (spoiled meat), which gets picked up weekly by a vendor, and turned into beef for cattle.” The reason why this action ends up having a positive effect on profit is that it saves money. Cavo tells us that before they discarded spoiled meat it was put into large containers and they paid, by weight, for the Garbage bailer to pick it up and dispose of it. By focusing on waste reduction, the costs are cut down by almost 100%, since they do not need to pay for the disposal.

When we try to be sustainable we use less waste because there is a purpose, which cuts that cost down. Shoprite’s seafood sustainability policy also has a positive effect on profit through consumer demand. In fact, the Marine Stewardship Council says that around ”56% of seafood consumers globally are willing to pay more for seafood from a certified sustainable fishery, and 65% believe that in order to protect the ocean, we must consume fish and shellfish only from sustainable sources.” With this ideology, Shoprite is able to increase pricing for seafood and because of sustainability, there is less waste. Cavo concludes that “when we are trying to be sustainable and reuse as much of the produce as possible and find other purposes for it, it becomes positive and at no cost to us.” Both waste reduction and seafood sustainability are innovative ideas that have a beneficial impact on both the company and more importantly the planet.

Social and environmental benefit

Both Shoprite sustainability and waste reduction programs contribute to responsible consumption and production, Sustainable cities, and life below water. The waste reduction program aims to provide for customers without creating issues for our environment. The program recycles materials to be used again in production saving them and the customers money while also saving extra waste from going towards the economy.

With the help of this program ShopRite won New Jersey’s 2019 Environmental Leadership Award. ShopRite stores donated 5,000 tons of fresh food to community food banks last year while composting and diverting another 10,000 tons of food waste from landfills. ShopRite operates its own recycling center in Elizabeth, NJ, which has recycled over 2.5 million tons of material. ShopRite stores also promote bag reuse and provide recycling bins in stores for customers to return used plastic bags. According to Peter Cavo, “the best way to reduce food waste is to avoid it to begin with. Our biggest efforts go into preventing food waste and losses before they occur.” The Group does this by reviewing its ordering, replenishment and ranging processes, using data analytics to identify food waste hotspots. For example, by optimizing the product range in its delis, the Group reduced food waste by 11% in that department.

The Shoprite Group says it's closely aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, including the target to halve food waste at retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along the food chain by 2030. ShopRite's Seafood sustainability provides customers with top quality seafoods at affordable prices. Peter Cavo states that since 2014, the launch of their sustainable seafood program, ShopRite's Sustainable seafood is caught or farmed using methods that consider the long-term vitality of the species, the environment, and the people and communities involved throughout the supply chain.

Interview

Peter Cavo, Head Manager