How to Make a Grocery Store Eco-Friendly

Creating a sustainable commercial foodservice business is becoming an ever-growing need, especially for grocery stores. As consumers and companies alike are becoming increasingly aware of their environmental impact, the push for a more sustainable way of life has become more urgent.

The grocery segment in particular has been working to slowly build a green strategy to meet the eco needs of their customers and make a positive impact on the planet. But where does one start? Here, we’ll talk about some effective and innovative ways to make your grocery store eco-friendly through both small and big changes.

Reduce Food Waste

As reported by RTS, which is a sustainable waste management organization: grocery stores throw out an estimated 40% of food products. Not only are retailers tossing food, but they’re tossing money away; RTS also states that “Wasted food from the retail sector is valued at about twice the amount of profit from food sales.”

Additionally, much of the food that’s thrown away is slightly damaged or imperfect but still intact and safe to eat. When considering the ecological, economical and moral implications of wasting food, it’s easy to see how this problem can be fixed with simple operational changes.

There are many ways for you to reduce food waste in your grocery store, including selling imperfect foods, keeping up with regular equipment maintenance, checking your stock and more. In addition to these tips, there are a few other solutions that are becoming more trendy in the grocery store space:

• Learn the Shelf Life of Produce – Knowing the shelf life of produce is crucial for running a sustainable grocery store; not only does this information help your bottom line, but it also helps you curb food waste. Understanding the shelf life of produce not only can save money and space in the landfills.

• Have Produce Composted
  
  – For fresh produce that is truly past its prime, have it composted into nutrient-rich soil. This can then either be donated to community gardens, schools or bagged and sold at your store during the spring and summer months. Better yet, if you buy from local farmers, you can donate your composted soil to them to create a closed-loop system of sustainability.

• Offer Bulk Shopping – Bulk shopping, or bulk refill shopping, is an up-and-coming grocery shopping practice where customers purchase the exact amount of food ingredients they need from dispensers and bins. The price is calculated by weight like produce, so many customers bring in their own containers. You’ll also be able to better calculate stock to help minimize over-purchasing.

Make Sustainable Shopping Easy

While sustainable shopping seems simple enough on paper, in practice it might not be for many of your customers. Shopping sustainably nowadays is easier than before but still requires some thought, research and planning. In a study conducted by the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Councils (CCRRC), consumers polled said they were willing to pay 4% more at stores that support sustainability and their community. Additionally, the study gives insight into ways consumers would love to see their local grocers utilize eco-friendly initiatives. These include:

• Offering incentives for customers practicing sustainability—Give out discounts to customers who bring their own reusable shopping bag, offer incentives for those purchasing imperfect foods or even hand out coupons to those who drop off their recyclables at your store. Not only will it “reward” good sustainable behavior but you’ll also make a repeat customer.


• Having biodegradable produce bags available—Cut down on the consumption of plastic by using compostable or biodegradable produce bags at the ready in your produce and meat departments. Rather than living in landfills for thousands of years, these eco-friendly bags will break down naturally over time.


• Provide recycling bins on-site—Big box stores like Target and Walmart offer in-house recycling bins that are clearly labeled and easily accessible. Having designated shopping bags, plastic, aluminum, glass and electronics recycling bins will make the process simple and convenient. Once it’s time to empty the bins, take all the recyclables to your local recycling center.


• Labeling products that are locally-sourced—Showcasing locally-grown or produced foods can indicate to shoppers what’s fresh and in-season and give them the chance to support small businesses within their community.

Additionally, you can take this up a notch by keeping your shoppers informed about product details and food certifications. Post signs that detail the appropriate shelf life of produce, what expiration dates really mean, and certificates like organic and fair trade. Not only does insight like this give you ideas on how to be more eco-friendly, but it also makes shopping sustainably easy for your customers.

Cut Your Emissions

From your distribution center to shipping products to powering your building, grocery stores can create quite the carbon footprint. If you think about it, almost all aspects of your business require some sort of fuel from gas to electricity to refrigerant. A crucial part of making your grocery store sustainable is to make the switch to renewable energy sources and reduce your environmental impact. With this in mind, let’s talk about ways to cut down those emissions and consider eco-friendly alternatives.

Make Distribution Energy-Efficient

As seen with UNFI (or United Natural Foods, Inc.)—a grocery chain that’s a leader in sustainability in all aspects of their business—they’ve made the pledge and active attempt to cut down on their emissions and be as energy-efficient as possible. One of the most impactful ways they’ve done this is by working on making their distribution centers and methods as eco-friendly as possible.

Look into greener, renewable fuel alternatives to power distribution centers. Both wind and solar energy are popular and accessible options that are easy on the environment. These alternative fuel options will keep the lights on and your operations working smoothly. Additionally, many local and federal governments will offer incentives or tax breaks for businesses who make an eco-friendly switch like this, which can save your business money in the long run.

Fuel Your Fleet Efficiently

Another area to look at within your supply chain are the transport vehicles you use for deliveries. From electric to hybrid to ethanol and biodiesel, find one that will fuel your fleet without making such a significant emissions impact. You can also cut down on emissions by making the transportation and delivery process much more strategic.

As outlined by UNFI, their goal to a greener distribution involves “…continuing to optimize routes, consolidate stops by organizing deliveries into more full truckloads, use behavioral best practices to minimize the amount of fuel required per delivery, upgrade our equipment, and frequently phase out older trucks to get the most efficient equipment on the road.”

Focus on In-Store Energy

One of your biggest energy usage culprits are going to be your equipment. Whether it’s your reach-ins, merchandisers, hot cases or freezers, these all require energy to run. Start by phasing out your older equipment for more energy-efficient models—even ENERGY STAR®-rated units. These types of equipment function just like conventional freezers and merchandisers but are much more eco-friendly and can actually help you save on your energy bills. You can even choose refrigeration units that use a more eco-friendly refrigerant to diminish CFC emissions.

Finally, you can take it up a notch by utilizing renewable energy sources like solar power and wind power. And if you really want to go all in, consider getting your brick-and-mortar stored LEED-certified. A LEED certification is a globally-recognized marker for eco-efficiency that’s granted to businesses when they’ve achieved certain sustainable standards. LEED certification looks into a myriad of aspects for your business including your contribution to helping reduce climate change, the protection of the ecosystem and the promotion of sustainability. On top of that, because LEED-certified structures are more energy-efficient, they produce lower carbon emissions and can save money in the long run.

Add Air Curtains

Using air curtains to cover merchandisers and refrigerated units can help keep the cold from escaping, costing you more on your energy bills as well as breaking down your units faster since they have to work harder to maintain temperature.