Shardul Soni
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
Chris Laszlo
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Earth Fare is a grocery store that was created with the aim to have shoppers walk in and purchase products with confidence that their purchases will be healthy food choices without having to look at the back of the label. Earth Fare also uses biodegradable boxes, bulk products to reduce packaging, and incentives for shoppers who use reusable bags.
The business model of Earth Fare has had sustainability at is core since the founding in 1975. The business model has grown from a small local store called Dinner for the Earth in 1975 to a chain of various grocery stores now by the name of Earth Fare, with 43 locations among 9 states. Sustainability has been in the core of their business model ranging from improving overall health, quality education, clean energy, and life on the earth. Earth Fare uses LED lights, skylights, reflective roofing to reduce cooling, fans, and energy efficient hand dryers to reduce energy costs and help the environment.
In addition, Earth Fare uses concrete floors to reduce the use of harsh cleaning chemicals. About 100 billion plastic bags are used in the US per year. With one person who eliminates plastic bag usage, an estimated 22,000 bags will not be added in a landfill. Earth Fare offers shoppers incentives to use reusable bags such as increased reward points, offer boxes to customers, and they even offer bulk shopping options. One of the most unique characteristics of Earth Fare is their implementation of the “Boot List”, which is a list of over 150 ingredients scientifically proven to be detrimental for human consumption. During our interview Laurie Aker explained “The items on the boot list are banned from all products in their store and if a customer were to find a new ingredient that is not on the boot list which is proven to be bad for human health, Earth Fare will give the ingredient the ‘boot’ and prohibit any of their products from having that ingredient and offer the shopper a $50-dollar gift card.” This shows how Earth Fare tries to live and breathe their food philosophy and their mission since their founding in 1975. Earth Fare also educates children in schools about healthy eating and builds community gardens for local schools.
The inspiration behind the business model of Earth Fare was due to Roger Derrough’s aim to create a shopping experience that is both affordable and healthy for shoppers, and to get rid of the stigma that healthy eating is expensive. Roger wanted to have a store where food is grown ecologically and wanted to have a store without processed foods free from bleached flour, artificial coloring, preservatives, and no high fructose corn syrup. Inspiration for the current business model is a result of the drop in US life expectancy in 2015. The average between both sexes dropped for the first time in 22 years from 78.9 to a 78.8. Laurie gave input explaining that “This may be due to unhealthy dieting practices and because of this Earth Fare released the Live Longer with Earth Fare Campaign. Earth Fare wishes to reverse this trend by offering affordable healthy food choices to everyone and get rid of the stigma that healthy eating is expensive and unaffordable”.
The overall impact of Earth Fare and their business model has given customers a positive experience where they know they are able to purchase a product that is good for their health and free of high fructose corn syrup. Eco-friendly vendors such as homestead creamery are offered at Earth Fare as well. Shoppers can purchase a 2-dollar glass milk container and bring their empty glass milk container back to the store to refill and reuse the packaging.
Earth Fare also gathers farmers through the love local program where they learn why the farmers grow their specialty and learn and educate their farmers of healthy lifestyle practices and partner with those farmers who would like to sell their specialty product in their stores if they fit the Earth Fare brand. Their business model has caused Earth Fare to grow at a fast rate and they opened a brand-new store in Roanoke Virginia, and two more in Florida.
In order to achieve better sustainable farming, they offer specialty products such as Biodynamic products, which are similar to organic products. Biodynamic products are where farmers generate health from the farm itself by using healthy farming practices such as fermented manure and use of minerals and herbs. Laurie further explained that “These healthy practices ultimately result in enhanced flavor and an overall better health and quality of their produce.” During the interview Laurie mentioned “Nature is organic, Earth Fare believes food should be as well. Earth Fare offers more certified organic produce than anyone in the industry”. The overall of the business model breathing the mission of Roger Derrough has resulted in an overall satisfactory experience with shoppers, and resulted in the growth of the Earth Fare franchise.
The business benefits from their current business model by reducing energy consumption and building relationships with the community. Earth Fare has implemented a wide array of initiatives to reduce energy consumption. These initiatives benefit Earth Fare by reducing costs for energy usage. In addition to saving costs, they are benefiting by reaching out to local farmers to build networks with the community. Local products are sold in stores after building relations with the farmers in the area. Laurie mentioned that “typically, ‘local’ is about a 150-mile radius for Earth Fare, and the business benefits by offering premium specialty products and builds a relationship with the local farmers.
In addition to keeping relationships with farmers, Earth Fare is aware of the decline in the Honey Bee population and how the impact of pollinators account for the majority of the variety in produce we see in grocery stores year-round. Earth Fare works with pollinators and protects habitats in agricultural areas, and they also use signage in their stores spreading awareness of pollinator friendly produce. This benefits Earth Fare by allowing the diverse selection of produce for shoppers year-round and further builds networks with members of the community.
Earth Fare gives back to the community in many different ways. They offer programs that aim to educate members of the community about healthy eating practices and to get rid of the stigma that eating healthy is an expensive endeavor. Laurie mentioned another example of Earth Fare giving back to the community is how they’ve donated $3000 to schools and opened up community gardens within the respective schools. In addition to community gardens at schools, they offer nutrition seminars at these schools about healthy eating practices to the children.
Earth Fare also participates in the Day Boat program where they get inland seafood with the highest certification. Earth Fare guarantees they will buy the catch of the day regardless of size, thus, maintaining the relationships with the local fisherman. This reduces timing sorting the fish for certain parameters and ensures that the product shoppers obtain in-store is at the freshest quality and reduces waste. Earth Fare builds relations with fisherman, farmers, and the local community through offering local products in-store, quality education in schools, and spreading awareness of healthy eating practices. The business model of Earth Fare benefits locals within the community by first building relationships, and then educating farmers and locals of the building health from the farms to the homes of the consumer.
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Laurie Aker, Spokesperson
