BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Today, Walmart announced a commitment to improving farmed animal welfare across its global food supply chain with one of the most comprehensive animal welfare policies of its kind. The change in policy comes after six hidden-camera videos taken by animal welfare group Mercy For Animals (MFA) at Walmart pork suppliers across the country exposed extreme animal abuse.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
In their latest reports, two major companies are being forthcoming about respective shortfalls in terms of expected progress toward their long-term sustainability goals.In its latest annual report, released last week, British department store group the John Lewis Partnership — parent company of John Lewis department stores and the Waitrose grocery chain — says it will review its sustainability goals after seeing its absolute emissions grow by almost 7 percent last year.
CLEANTECH -
Sprint, in conjunction with Brightstar Corp. and HOBI International, announced today the winner of its inaugural Smartphone Encore Challenge, a contest for Net Impact college students to find profitable and innovative ways to repurpose old smartphones or their components.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Today marks the two-year anniversary of the devastating collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh. It also marks the second Fashion Revolution Day, launched last year to commemorate the Rana Plaza disaster with the aims of encouraging greater collaboration across the fashion sector supply chain.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Woolworths CEO Ian Moir announced a partnership with Grammy Award-winning musician, record producer and philanthropist Pharrell Williams last week. The collaboration is the first of its kind for a South African retailer.Williams will become the new Style Director in a groundbreaking collaboration across a series of sustainability-focused projects. The strategic partnership is grounded in the shared values of Williams and Woolworths.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Etsy’s IPO begins trading tomorrow, Thursday, April 16th. The online craft marketplace will be the largest B Corp to go public.Etsy’s stated mission — “To reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world” — is bold and decidedly social. Founder Rob Kalin launched the company in 2005 after struggling to find a place to sell his carpentry and artwork. He has been quoted as saying he started Etsy with sustainability and entrepreneurs, like himself, in mind, and that the enterprise would not become a ‘faceless corporation’ such as eBay or other online marketplaces.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Meijer was facing three compelling realities as it put together its recently released Simply Cook: Easy, Healthy Meals cookbook.First, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Midwestern grocery and discount chain in had committed its resources to help food pantries in its market areas and already was doing so in a major way.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Target plans to increase the pay of all its workers to at least $9 an hour starting next month, following similar moves by rivals Walmart and T.J. Maxx.In February, Walmart announced it would be giving pay raises to around 500,000 full-time and part-time associates at Walmart U.S. stores and Sam's Clubs in the first half of 2015. Starting in April, current and future hourly associates will make $9.00 per hour, or $1.75 above the federal minimum wage. By February 2016, current associates will earn at least $10.00 per hour.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Walmart recently launched its Sustainability Leaders online shop. While I commend the company’s efforts over the past six years to elevate sustainability as an important attribute of products and their manufacturers, I feel that this launch is a bit misplaced. I am sure that it will be successful in terms of awareness and conversions, and I hope that the intent is genuine, but should Walmart even be the creator of the index? How about an independent organization such as the B Lab? How about the brands themselves?
WASTE NOT -
In a report published this week, Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimates that an increase on product life of just one day across a range of foods could prevent roughly 250,000 tons of food waste each year — in households and in the supply chain — by giving consumers longer to eat the food that they buy.The “life” of a product is the time period over which food remains safe to eat, or over which the quality does not deteriorate to unacceptable levels, usually designated on-pack by companies through “Sell by” or “Best before” dates.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
“It was pretty basic. We self-financed. Five workers plus myself working inside a workshop situated on my grandmother’s plot of land inside our village of Zenabwork,” recalls Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, now CEO and managing director of soleRebels, one of the first global footwear brands to emerge from a developing country.“Right from the start of 2004, we aimed to create, grow and control a world class footwear brand that would bring even more jobs and prosperity for the workers by leveraging the artisan skills of our community.”
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
On Tuesday, Sustainable Brands joined a couple hundred Walmart team members and industry influencers at Walmart’s eCommerce headquarters in San Bruno, CA to learn about an important milestone on the journey shared by those attending. What drew these players together was a shared interest in helping shift the world toward a sustainable economy — and an awareness of the key role Walmart has, and is playing, in spurring this shift along.
CLEANTECH -
Procter & Gamble and Constellation — a leading retail supplier of power, natural gas and energy products and services — announced Thursday the development of an up to 50-megawatt biomass plant that will help run one of P&G’s largest U.S. facilities. The plant will significantly increase P&G’s use of renewable energy, helping move the company closer to its 2020 goal of obtaining 30 percent of its total energy from renewable sources.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
UK retailer Marks & Spencer has launched its first sustainable footwear collection, called Footglove Earth — the latest component of the company's ongoing Plan A initiative to become the world's most sustainable retailer by 2020.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The availability of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fish is better than ever with a million tons of MSC certified cod caught last year, but there is a growing gap between supermarkets that offer their customers ecolabelled sustainable seafood choices and protecting ocean environments, according to new figures released by MSC.Since 2010, Sainsbury’s has led the pack in terms of numbers of products stocked, with 163 MSC-certified seafood products for the last financial year, MSC says. The retailer’s product numbers are almost twice its closest competitor, Waitrose, which is in second place with 79 certified seafood products and more than three times the number of products stocked by M&S.
LEADERSHIP -
IKEA sold more than €1 billion ($1.13 billion) of sustainable products in 2014, a 58 percent increase over the previous year, according to the company’s new sustainability report.These products enable people to save or generate energy, reduce water use, cut waste and live healthier lives, the company says.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
UK supermarket giant Asda is trialing a new range of vegetable products it’s calling “Wonky Veg,” in a bid to reduce food waste.The retailer created its new range of misshapen fruit and vegetables — sold at reduced prices — after working alongside TV chef Jamie Oliver on initiatives to reduce food waste. The project is to be trialed in five stores across the UK beginning January 26.
WASTE NOT -
Safeway has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to settle allegations that its grocery stores improperly disposed of hazardous waste and customers' medical information in California. In a separate settlement, Los Angeles-based 99 Cents Only Stores will pay more than $2 million to settle retail hazardous waste disposal violations in California.
LEADERSHIP -
UK grocery giant Sainsbury’s has announced that 95 percent of the palm oil used in its own-brand products is now certified as sustainably sourced. The supermarket revealed this statistic late last month, on the day it also became the first UK retailer to launch a dishwashing liquid made with palm oil certified as sustainable by mass balance analysis.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
A whopping 97 percent of environmental impacts in the retail sector come from the product itself — from raw materials, transportation and product manufacturing. With impacts so heavily weighted in the supply chain, retailers are increasingly and creatively wading upstream to partner with their suppliers on their greatest impacts. The key to success lies in selecting the appropriate supplier engagement method and then using that approach as a vehicle to deeper collaboration. But can successful retailer approaches truly motivate meaningful supply chain improvements?The benefits of engagement