Giant Food, P&G Recognized for Innovation in Reducing Unsaleable Costs
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Giant Food, Inc. of Landover, Md. and the Procter & Gamble Company were honored yesterday with the inaugural Unsaleables Innovation Awards, presented by The Grocery Manufacturers of America during the 2004 Joint Industry Unsaleables Management Conference. The awards were created to recognize outstanding collaboration among trading partners that resulted in quantifiable reductions in unsaleable products.
Giant Food, a subsidiary of Ahold USA, was recognized for a waste reduction initiative developed in conjunction with Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc. (AERT). Giant's program collected polyethylene grocery bags and shrink film as well as corrugated cardboard packing materials, including items such as damaged dry goods packages, that were then converted by AERT into home building products for sale by Lowe's and Weyerhauser. The program generated revenue and tax credits for Giant as well as keeping about 100 million pounds of cardboard out of landfills in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
"We're very honored that GMA recognized our efforts," a Giant Food spokesman told Progressive Grocer. "Giant has been involved in solid waste collection for over 30 years. These initiatives are good for the environment, and they allow us from a business standpoint to be more efficient."
Procter & Gamble was recognized for collaborating with Universal Solutions International, Inc. to create an internal training program called "Load Stabilization/Stretch Wrap University." The training helped to prevent damage to loads, produce a 50 percent reduction in internal quality incidents, reduce the company's use of stretch film wrap by 20 percent and led to an increase in load retention between 10-15 percent.
Visagent Corporation received runner-up recognition for its work with the WorldWide Retail Exchange to create an online exchange that allows retailers and suppliers to trade surplus, close-out and short-dated goods.
Giant Food, a subsidiary of Ahold USA, was recognized for a waste reduction initiative developed in conjunction with Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc. (AERT). Giant's program collected polyethylene grocery bags and shrink film as well as corrugated cardboard packing materials, including items such as damaged dry goods packages, that were then converted by AERT into home building products for sale by Lowe's and Weyerhauser. The program generated revenue and tax credits for Giant as well as keeping about 100 million pounds of cardboard out of landfills in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
"We're very honored that GMA recognized our efforts," a Giant Food spokesman told Progressive Grocer. "Giant has been involved in solid waste collection for over 30 years. These initiatives are good for the environment, and they allow us from a business standpoint to be more efficient."
Procter & Gamble was recognized for collaborating with Universal Solutions International, Inc. to create an internal training program called "Load Stabilization/Stretch Wrap University." The training helped to prevent damage to loads, produce a 50 percent reduction in internal quality incidents, reduce the company's use of stretch film wrap by 20 percent and led to an increase in load retention between 10-15 percent.
Visagent Corporation received runner-up recognition for its work with the WorldWide Retail Exchange to create an online exchange that allows retailers and suppliers to trade surplus, close-out and short-dated goods.