News Briefs

Independent halal grocer Mannan Supermarket, located in the New York City borough of Queens, is teaming up with Zara Charitable Foundation to combat food insecurity among local children. The foundation will underwrite the cost of a year’s worth of fresh, culturally appealing products sourced from Mannan to feed 200 diverse families served by The Gaton Foundation, a Jamaica, N.Y.-based nonprofit group that provides proper nutrition and wellness.

According program organizers, the timing of the initiative comes after a rollback of pandemic-era assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). “Food prices are increasing at the same time inflation is eating away at the value of money at the same time food benefits are vanishing, making it three times more expensive for families to afford to eat healthy,” explained Mannan's Mahinur Rahman. “When Zara suggested we work together to secure fresh, culturally relevant food to help people make ends meet, we were proud to supply the need.”

Added Tony Subraj, managing partner of Jamaica, N.Y.-based Zara Realty and a leader of the Zara Charitable Foundation: “Many families are struggling to put food on the table and, after both SNAP and WIC resources got reduced, we knew how important it was to step up and help hardworking families maintain access to fresh, nutritious food.”

The program kicked off in early March, when a Mannan Supermarket location in the Queens neighborhood of Jamaica donated a variety of foods to feed local families through Richmond Hill High School. Residents received products such as roti, lentils, tortillas, rice, butter, bread and crushed tomatoes.

It’s been a busy week for sustainability news in the food retailing business, as Earth Day has become a touchstone for sharing progress toward environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. The latest:  United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) has rolled out a new Climate Action Partnership aimed at helping its suppliers make credible climate commitments.

The partnership, an extension of UNFI’s Climate Action Hub and part of its Better for All strategy, is designed to provide UNFI suppliers with resources and tools to “innovate and scale” climate solutions. To become a partner, suppliers must have their climate commitments verified through approved third-party organizations such as the Climate Collaborative, Climate Neutral, The Climate Pledge, the Science Based Targets Initiative or the SME Climate Hub.

According to UFFI, more than 40 suppliers have already joined the partnership following early outreach efforts, including Conagra, Bob’s Red Mill, Dr. Bronner’s, Gaia Herbs, Danone and Lundberg Family Farm. “By encouraging our suppliers to set climate goals, we are also making it easier for our customers to choose products that take action on climate,” said Alisha Real, UNFI’s VP of ESG and social impact. “It’s a win-win for all, and a collective step forward to addressing some of today’s most urgent issues.”

Earlier this month, UNFI revealed that it had completed its largest solar array investment to date at a distribution center in Howell, N.J., reflecting its own credible climate commitments through the Better for All sustainability agenda.

Providence, R.I.-based UNFI delivers a wide variety of products to customer locations throughout North America, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, e-commerce retailers and foodservice customers. The largest publicly traded grocery distributor in America, the company is No. 49 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

At Publix Super Market’s April 18 annual stockholders’ meeting, the company presented six associates with the Mr. George Community Service Award for exemplary commitment to their respective communities.

The award is named for Publix founder George Jenkins, affectionately called Mr. George, who espoused the belief that Publix and its associates should help others. One hundred and forty-seven associates have received the award since it was established in 1995.

“Mr. George believed that for a company to be successful, it must be involved in the communities it serves,” said Publix CEO Todd Jones. “Almost 93 years later, our associates still take these words to heart and remain committed to improving their communities and the people we serve.

Each year, one associate from each retail division and one support associate are chosen to receive the award. These associates are actively involved in their communities, display personal integrity and embody the generous spirit of Mr. George. Honorees get a personalized award, a feature in an internal company publication, dinner with Publix executives, three paid days off, and $5,000 donated to the charity or charities of their choice.

The 2023 recipients are as follows:

• Atlanta Division: Store Manager Sefik Gluhic, Atlanta
• Charlotte Division: Store Manager Tim Bismarck, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Jacksonville Division: Store Manager Nicole Miller, DeLand, Fla.
• Lakeland Division: Store Manager Billy Ray Drake, Sarasota, Fla.
• Miami Division: Pharmacy Manager Deborah Lolo, Miami
• Support: Manager of Retail Security Solutions Rick Abbatiello

Employee-owned and -operated Publix has more than 1,300 supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, and more than 240,000 employees. The Lakeland, Fla.-based grocer is No. 12 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

 

The CEO of Unilever has taken a seat on the board of directors at professional services company Accenture. Alan Jope will serve on the committee devoted to nominating, governance and sustainability.

Jope brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to his latest role as one of 10 Accenture directors. As the leader of London-based Unilever, he steers the global CPG’s business across 190 countries.

He was promoted to that role in January 2019 after being president of Unilever’s beauty and personal care division and, before that, working on various leadership roles in North America and Asia. Recently bestowed a visiting fellowship at the University of Oxford, Jope earned a BA in commerce from Edinburgh University and graduated from Harvard Business School’s general management program.

“Alan is a dynamic leader with vast expertise in the consumer goods industry and deep experience driving change through sustainable business at a global scale,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Dublin, Ireland-based Accenture. “He will bring valuable perspective and insight to our board and our company as we continue to execute on our strategy and create 360° value for all our stakeholders.”  

Meanwhile, Jope continues to spearhead Unilever’s international growth through a still-murky economic climate. In February, the company reported full-year results for 2022 showing a 9% gain in underlying sales, and growth across each of its five business groups. Unilever still projects strong underlying sales growth for its fiscal 2023 as the company navigates high inflation and expected volume declines.

Plus Brand Industries, which offers the Aqua Plus line of water,  revealed that Kristen and Gary Toma are joining the organization as directors of community engagement. In this role, they will oversee the company’s widening distribution network and work with DSD distribution partners in key markets.

Leveraging their respective backgrounds in sales, marketing and healthy living, the Tomas will also engage with consumers through social media platforms, highlighting Aqua Plus’s “All-Scratch!” technology that allows for on-package personalization.

“Bottle confusion is a problem we constantly experience daily in our own family and social lives, so when we came across Agua Plus through a friend, we immediately knew that it was something we needed to be a part of. The idea of scratching something onto a drink to differentiate it from others is brilliant,” explained Kristen Toma.

George Zrinyi, national sales director for Sheridan, Wyo.-based Plus Brand Industries, emphasized the importance of community engagement and the Tomas’ new positions. “One of our goals as a company is to help our DSD partners increase their revenues, grow their nonalcoholic market share, incentivize their sales staff and ultimately move large volumes of Agua Plus quickly.” said Zrinyi. “When our partners win, we win. It all comes down to equipping them with a unique offering and then helping build awareness with retailers and consumers alike in their markets. Gary and Kristen are quickly proving to play a huge role in that process, and we are already preparing to replicate their approach, strategies and successes in additional markets.”

Walmart has received the 2023 INFORMS Prize from Catonsville, Md.-based INFORMS, the largest association for the decision and data sciences. The award is bestowed for consistent and innovative dedication to using operations research (O.R.) and analytics in organizational decision-making for demand forecasting, supply chain and merchandising operations. 

Use cases include tracking inventory positions, optimal truck routing, forecasting demand and inventory levels, cross-docking, and shelf space optimization.

“We have a long history of using O.R. across the enterprise,” said Srini Venkatesan, Walmart Global Tech’s U.S. omni tech EVP. “It all comes back to one core purpose: to make sure our customers can get the items they want, where they want them and when they want them. We are honored to accept the INFORMS Prize and will continue applying O.R. to drive innovation at scale.”

“Walmart is showcasing data science as a source of business success and a necessary element to achieve customer satisfaction with continuous and dedicated practice,” noted Nilay Noyan Bulbul, the 2023 INFORMS Prize committee chair. “Walmart is truly deserving of this prestigious prize, and the entire O.R. and analytics community joins INFORMS in thanking them for their priceless contributions to the field and the business world.”

Past recipients of the INFORMS Prize include Amazon and Procter & Gamble.

Each week, approximately 230 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on PG’s list.