Green Grocers
Buying your greens from a Canadian grocery chain? Those greens may not be as “green” as you think. According to a 2007 poll by Decima Research, two-thirds of Canadian consumers say concern for the environment is impacting the way they shop. But are Canadian grocery stores listening?
Download the survey indicators here.
Our inaugural Green Grocer survey, modelled after the UK-based National Consumer Council’s grocer survey, looks at the ways major Canadian grocery chains promote and integrate environmental issues into the shopping experience. This was achieved through both in-store and corporate-level questionnaires.
We only rated the grocers on initiatives we could see in-store; we used the corporate surveys to provide a sense of where things are going for each chain but did not score them as such.
We rated the grocers on five areas: Climate Change, which looks at the availability of locally-produced food, the sale and promotion of CFL bulbs, and in-store conservation initiatives; Consumer Education, which looks at how organic and local food, fair trade products, and a reduced-meat diet are promoted; Food Sustainability, which looks at the availability of organic products as well as responsibly-farmed fish and meats; Household Sustainability, which looks at the availability of environmentally-friendly household products; and Waste and Recycling, which looks at the recycled and Forest Stewardship Council content in product packaging as well as the store’s efforts to reduce the use of plastic grocery bags.
The cream of the crop
Not surprisingly, the top two grocery chains in our survey were Planet Organic and Whole Foods, respectively. Having integrated the concepts of sustainability into their value proposition, the chains excel at stocking a wide assortment of organic, fair trade, and environmentally-friendly products.
The chains scored exceptionally well in the Consumer Education category – Planet Organic scored an A+ and Whole Foods an A for having prominently posted information regarding organic goods, fair trade goods, locally-grown food, and a reduced meat diet.
Each chain also integrates sustainability into their operations. Planet Organic staff members wear uniforms made of bamboo, and wind energy bought from the Pembina Institute powers Planet Organic’s computers. Their plastic bags are biodegradable, and stores are cleaned with environmentally-friendly cleaning products.
