EPA Recognizes Food Lion as Leader in Energy Conservation
Food Lion has routinely set and achieved many goals as part of its long-term commitment to sustainable retailing, with this year marking a special milestone. For the 20th consecutive year, Food Lion has received the 2021 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy — the only company in the United States to earn this distinction.
Additionally, this marks the 18th consecutive year that Food Lion has been recognized with the Sustained Excellence Award, which is one of the highest honors in the Energy Star Partner of the Year program. The Sustained Excellence Award is given only to partners that have gone above and beyond the criteria needed to qualify for recognition and that have already received Energy Star Partner of the Year recognition for a minimum of two consecutive years.
Energy Star is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions.
“Energy Star award-winning partners are showing the world that delivering real climate solutions makes good business sense and promotes job growth,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Many of them have been doing it for years, inspiring all of us who are committed to tackling the climate crisis and leading the way to a clean energy economy.”
More than 900 Food Lion stores have received the Energy Star certification at least once. These stores make up 89% of all Food Lion locations and account for 36% of all Energy Star-certified supermarkets in the entire country.
"We are proud and honored to serve as a leader in energy conservation and efficiency,” said Matt Yates, VP of brand strategy for Food Lion. “Our work to reduce our energy usage stretches through every part of our business, from our supply chain to our store operations. We remain committed to reducing our carbon footprint and doing our part to be a responsible, trusted neighbor in the towns and cities we serve.”
Since 2000, Food Lion's energy reductions in carbon emissions are equivalent to supplying the energy needed to charge more than 75.6 billion smartphones or take 128,136 passenger vehicles off the road for one year. An example of an energy-saving technique it uses is upgrading in-store lighting to LEDs. So far, nearly half of Food Lion’s more than 1,000 stores have been upgraded to LED lighting within its 10-state footprint.
Additionally, last September, Food Lion’s store in Southport, North Carolina, earned EPA’s 2019-2020 GreenChill Store Re-Certification Excellence recognition for achieving five Platinum-level certifications (the highest-level certification within GreenChill’s program) in a row for its advanced commercial refrigeration system.
GreenChill is an EPA partnership program with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change. The Southport store is one of two Food Lion locations currently GreenChill certified. The second location is in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Southport location has an advanced refrigeration system that uses CO2, which is a natural refrigerant that has zero ozone depletion potential and a very low global-warming potential. The store has earned platinum GreenChill certification every year since opening in 2015.
Food Lion has achieved a number of goals tied to its 2020 Sustainable Retailing plan, including goals related to energy conservation, sustainable seafood, recycling, and food rescue efforts through its Food Lion Feeds program. Just recently, Food Lion Feeds helped to provide more than 2.2 million meals, in partnership with the retailer's customers, as part of its annual orange bag campaign.
Salisbury, North Carolina-based Food Lion has more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 77,000 associates. Its parent company, Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize operating more than 2,000 stores across 23 states, is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
