Giant’s New Shelf Labels Highlight Diverse Suppliers
Giant Food is giving customers the tools they need to quickly identify products with characteristics important to them by introducing shelf labels that spotlight products owned by minority-owned businesses.
Starting next month, all 164 Giant stores will incorporate shelf labels indicating whether products are from businesses that are women, Black, Asian-Indian, Hispanic, LGBT, Asian-Pacific or veteran owned. More than 3,100 products in Giant stores will feature the updated shelf labels, owned by 218 businesses in the grocer's network of vendor partnerships.
The new initiative comes as part of Giant's supplier diversity efforts in developing strong relationships with businesses that offer quality products, excellent customer service and competitive prices to shoppers.
"Giant Food is proud to better highlight our diverse suppliers," said Ira Kress, president of Giant Food. "We're committed to making it easier for customers to identify product attributes that are important to them by fostering a diverse and inclusive network of suppliers that reflects the unique backgrounds and experiences of our Giant family, our customers and our communities."
These labels will also be featured on giantfood.com for shoppers looking to purchase groceries online through Giant Pickup or Giant Delivers. Additionally, in the new year, Giant will begin highlighting its diverse partners on a new supplier page on its website through storytelling and product spotlights.
In another move reflecting Giant’s efforts to be inclusive and support diversity, the retailer revealed in October the first recipient organizations of its $500,000 commitment geared toward local community organizations dedicated to racial equality and advancing diversity and inclusion. Recipients included the Urban League of Philadelphia, a nonprofit and nonpartisan civil rights organization that works to empower African Americans and other underserved people to secure economic self-reliance, parity and power across the region, and HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, in support of the Inclusion & Diversity Fund for Excellence to implement college-wide initiatives related to inclusion and diversity, and awarding of scholarships to students from diverse backgrounds.
Also as part of its $500,000 commitment, the retailer awarded $100,000 to an additional six groups last week. Among them are five YWCA chapters in Pennsylvania to support their missions of eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice and freedom.
Landover, Maryland-based Giant Food operates 164 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia with approximately 20,000 associates. Parent company Ahold Delhaize USA is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
