Wakefern Collaborates on Sustainability Initiatives
Wakefern Food Corp. and Manomet’s Grocery Stewardship program are collaborating on new environmentally-friendly initiatives at 40 ShopRite stores in New Jersey. Wakefern, the nation’s largest retailer-owned cooperative, and Manomet will work together to reduce stores’ environmental footprint and save money for customers by implementing more sustainable practices at those ShopRite stores.
“Wakefern is already putting a tremendous effort into their role as environmental stewards and we are pleased to work with them to focus their efforts on operational sustainability,” said Peter Cooke, program manager of Manomet’s Grocery Stewardship program. “The cooperative has a number of great programs underway on resource conservation, retail engagement and sustainable sourcing. This new sustainability partnership will help them quantify what they’re already doing in ShopRite stores and build out their programs for the future. We are pleased to be able to work with Wakefern and the EPA.”
Wakefern and Manomet have worked in the past with ShopRite stores in New Jersey and Connecticut to reduce stores’ environmental footprint by reducing waste, energy and water usage – practices that have resulted in nearly two million pounds of waste being diverted from landfills.
“This latest project will help business owners reduce their use of greenhouse gases and conserve energy. By taking steps to reduce waste at the source, businesses can improve the environment and their bottom line at the same time,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “Pollution prevention is some of the most important work being done by retailers to protect the environment.”
“There are so many opportunities for us to be a more sustainable company,” added Karen Meleta, vice president of Consumer and Corporate Communications at Wakefern. “Rolling out Manomet’s Grocery Stewardship program right now across more of our ShopRite stores is just one of the ways we get there and one of the many examples of how we are investing in sustainability in our stores.”
The purpose of the Manomet’s Grocery Stewardship program is to substantially reduce the environmental impacts (waste, water use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions) of grocery stores, consumers, and entire supply chains. The Grocery Stewardship program is run by Manomet’s Sustainable Economies program and was launched in 2012 as the nation’s first and only grocery sustainability certification program. To learn more about the Grocery Stewardship program, visit http://grocerycert.org/.
About Wakefern Food Corp.
Wakefern is the nation’s largest retailer-owned cooperative and comprised of 50 member companies who own and operate retail supermarkets under the ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite and Dearborn Market banners. These family-owned businesses, with retail locations in six states, make up the Wakefern cooperative and reach into the New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland markets.
About Manomet
Manomet is a nonprofit organization that believes that people can live and work in ways today that will enable our world to thrive and prosper tomorrow. Manomet’s mission is to conserve natural resources for the benefit of wildlife and human populations. Through research and collaboration, Manomet builds science-based, cooperative solutions to environmental problems. Visit www.manomet.org for more information.
