Supervalu Wins National Sustainability Awards

Supervalu Inc. has recently received multiple national honors for its sustainability efforts.

The Minnesota-based grocer is featured in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s 2012 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index, which honors companies for environmental performance and transparency in this area. Supervalu received the highest score among national grocery retailers in this report.

This honor comes on the heels of Supervalu receiving two major honors as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2012 GreenChill Environmental Achievement Awards.

Supervalu has reduced total emissions by 3 percent in the past year, with total waste reduction of more than 11 percent across its network of 2,400 retail stores nationwide. Since 2007, Supervalu has consistently lowered business expenses and increased recycling revenues through its companywide sustainability efforts, bringing $56.8 million in total savings to the company.

“Supervalu has built a much-deserved reputation as a leader in the area of environmental sustainability, and that effort is very important to our business moving forward,” said Wayne Sales, president, CEO and chairman. “Reducing our carbon footprint and limiting our waste is not only good for the environment, it’s good for the bottom line.”

This year, Supervalu won the Distinguished Partner Award, given to the organization that helps best advance the overall mission of the GreenChill program, becoming the only company to win this award twice. Additionally, the company’s Albertsons Carpinteria, Calif., store earned the Best Certified Store Award for being the first in the nation to use only all-natural emission refrigerants. Supervalu won the same award in 2010 for its groundbreaking Chestnut Hill Star Market store. No other company has won either of these awards more than once.

The recently-remodeled Carpinteria store is Supervalu’s signature project for its participation in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, which aims to reduce energy usage in institutional, industrial and commercial buildings by 20 percent by 2020.

Supervalu details several additional sustainability achievements in its recently-issued 2012 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, including the following:

• 9 percent reduction in carbon emissions since baseline year of 2007, keeping the grocer on track to meet its 2012 goal in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund to reduce carbon emissions by 10 percent.
• $55 million invested in energy-efficiency projects since 2007, resulting in a 7 percent reduction of company-wide electricity use.
• More than 60 million pounds of food donated through the Fresh Rescue program last year, helping feed thousands of families in need while keeping unnecessary waste out of landfills.
• Commitment to 300 “zero-waste” stores during the current fiscal year; these stores recycle or reuse 90 percent or more of all waste.
• Major expansion of the company’s seafood sustainability program to include both farm-raised and wild-caught seafood, as well as the discontinuation of six wild-caught seafood species due to sustainability concerns.

Supervalu Inc. operates a network of approximately 4,400 stores composed of 1,101 traditional retail stores, including 798 in-store pharmacies; 1,336 hard discount stores, of which 939 are operated by licensee owners; and 1,950 independent stores serviced primarily by the company’s food distribution business. Supervalu’s banners include Acme, Albertsons, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher’s, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s/Star Market, Shop ‘n Save, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, and Save-A-Lot.