Walmart, Albertsons Back The Clean Fight’s Accelerator Program

Albertsons Cos., and Walmart have joined The Clean Fight’s accelerator program as Customer Collaborators. The aim of the program is to speed the adoption and scale of high-impact climate tech solutions in New York state, with this year’s edition – the fourth – dedicated to solutions for decarbonizing the storage, distribution and retailing of food. As collaborators, Albertsons and Walmart, along with Carrier, Con Edison and NYC/EDC, will work toward mutually beneficial learnings and real-world deployment projects of these technologies.

“With 2,400 large supermarkets in New York state each having on average the equivalent carbon footprint of over 600 passenger vehicles, there is a massive opportunity for easy-to-adopt, scalable decarbonization solutions,” noted Kate Frucher, managing director of The Clean Fight, which is based in New York City. “We are excited to welcome our newest cohort of companies that will help this consequential industry deploy their proven solutions to help both the sector and New York State meet their climate goals.”

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The seven selected companies are as follows:

• Air Water Global's technology purifies the air in food storage and retail spaces without added chemicals, filters or residues. Its solution increases the storage and shelf life of fresh produce and other food items while reducing the need for energy-intensive air purifiers and contaminants. 
• Bedrock Energy provides ultra-efficient clean geothermal heating and cooling systems. Its proprietary drilling and technology platform lowers the cost, space, time and risk of constructing geothermal systems by three to five times, and makes geothermal increasingly accessible for buildings in space- challenged urban environments. 
• Blue Frontier is a cooling and dehumidification liquid desiccant dedicated outdoor air system. It cuts electricity use by as much as 90%, shifts consumption to clean-energy generation using embedded energy storage, and eliminates the use of high global-warming potential refrigerants. 
• Energy Machines enables buildings to generate, store and reuse their own energy, with the goal of making every building a high-performance energy system. Its combined heat pump and chillers provide properties with simultaneous heating, cooling and domestic hot water, operating on a continuous cycle to efficiently move and store heat from ground, air and waste heat sources. 
• Flipturn offers a unified platform for EV fleet, charger and energy management. Its system can monitor the location and state of charge of all vehicles, track availability of chargers, auto-schedule charging, and provide visibility into crucial issues, all from a central dashboard. 
• Glacier Grid has developed an integrated hardware, software and data science solution for refrigeration and HVAC monitoring and energy management. Its system mitigates refrigerant leaks, prevents food loss and lowers overall energy costs. 
• Ndustrial is a cold-chain energy management system to help plants and warehouses worldwide measure energy and carbon intensity, maximize refrigeration efficiency, maintain temperature compliance and manage fleet electrification.

Each of the selected companies is eligible for up to $125,000 to support demonstration projects and capacity building in New York state, hands-on matchmaking with top customer and capital partners, customized support services, and expert advice on navigating the New York state market.

“As innovative technologies and solutions continue to play a key role in reducing emissions in the grocery industry, we are excited to have our stores be part of the conversation to scale these efforts in New York,”  noted Suzanne Long, chief sustainability and transformation officer at Albertsons Cos. “Improving energy and refrigerant use is an integral aspect of our Recipe for Change and a way we can make a difference in the communities we serve and the planet we share.”

According to Clayton Casteel, senior director for strategic partnerships at Walmart: “As we work toward decarbonizing our operations across Walmart, scalable, cost-effective innovations remain a critical driver in our transformation. We are thrilled to learn more about these clean-tech innovators and look forward to collaborating with them to explore potential opportunities as part of The Clean Fight’s Accelerator Program.”

In addition to the customer collaborators, The Clean Fight’s annual capital partners will work closely with cohort companies to find the right financial solutions to support their growth.

Each week, about 240 million customers and members visit Walmart’s approximately 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, while its Sam’s Club division is No. 8. As of Feb. 24, Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons operated 2,269 retail stores with 1,725 pharmacies, 402 associated fuel centers, 22 dedicated distribution centers and 19 manufacturing facilities. It has stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia under more than 20 banners. Albertsons is No. 9 on The PG’s list. PG also named Walmart and Albertsons among its Retailers of the Century.