CINCINNATI, Sept. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In
September 2017, The Kroger Co. (NYSE:
KR) announced the launch of Zero Hunger | Zero Waste, the
company's bold social impact plan aimed at ending hunger in the
communities it calls home and eliminating waste across the company
by 2025.
Three years later, Americans are more conscious of food waste
than ever before. A recent national survey of Kroger shoppers
conducted by 84.51˚, Kroger's data analytics subsidiary,
revealed that food waste prevention is top of mind for many
families as they continue to enjoy more meals together at home:
- The majority of shoppers are eating more meals together as a
family
- Nearly 3 out of 4 are eating meals prepared at home multiple
times a day, with more than half of those meals requiring a
moderate to high amount of preparation
- 35% strongly agree they are more conscious of food waste since
the onset of COVID-19
- Nearly half cite food expiration as the biggest cause for food
waste during the pandemic
"The past several months have demonstrated just how much meals
matter, especially when they're prepared and enjoyed with family
and friends," said Keith Dailey,
Kroger's group vice president of corporate affairs and chief
sustainability officer. "As customers continue to rediscover their
passion for making food and gathering around the dinner table,
Kroger will be there to provide food inspiration and easy ways to
join our mission to create a world with zero hunger and zero
waste."
The company invites customers to join its Zero Hunger | Zero
Waste journey with support from several new and longstanding Kroger
initiatives, including:
- Round Up for The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste
Foundation: Customers can support The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger |
Zero Waste Foundation by rounding up their purchase to the nearest
dollar or committing a donation of their choice ($1, $5 and
$10 in value) at check lanes across
nearly 2,800 Kroger Family of Stores. Customers can also direct
individual gifts via e-commerce orders on Kroger.com and at
ZeroHungerZeroWasteFoundation.org.
This spring, the Foundation
accelerated funding totaling nearly $400,000 to five social enterprises in its
Innovation Fund portfolio. The innovators—Food Forest, Imperfect
Foods, Replate, Ripe Revival and Seal the Seasons—are actively
deploying their solutions for on-farm and at-home food waste
reduction across the country.
- Reference Kroger's Simplified Date Labels: In 2020,
Kroger's manufacturing plants and co-packing suppliers aligned to
the company's plan to standardize date labels for Our Brands
food products, providing simpler, easier-to-understand labels that
result in less household food waste.
- Access Food Waste Resources on Kroger.com: Visit
Kroger.com for food waste prevention resources, including fridge
organization tips, freezer-friendly facts, meal prep planners and
fresh, waste-free recipes.
- Recycle in Stores with Kroger's Plastic Film Recycling
Program: Customers can recycle single-use plastic bags, outer
package wrapping, plastic cereal box liners and shipping materials
through our free, in-store plastic film recycling program. In the
past three years, the program has recycled more than 180 million
pounds of plastic.
- Recycle from Home with Kroger's Simple Truth®
Recycling Program: Kroger's Simple Truth Recycling Program
offers customers a free and simple way to recycle the flexible
packaging of more than 300 products from Simple Truth, America's
largest natural and organic brand, without leaving home. Kroger
invites customers to sign up for the program at
TerraCycle.com/SimpleTruth.
Kroger Suppliers Join Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Journey by
Committing to Cut Food Loss and Waste in Half
Kroger today announced that 16 of its major suppliers to date
have joined the groundbreaking 10x20x30 initiative to identify and
reduce food loss and waste from their supply chains. Kroger joins
more than 10 of the world's largest food retailers and providers as
a founding member of 10x20x30, committing to engage at least 20
suppliers in a holistic approach to halve food loss and waste by
2030.
Kroger's goal is even more ambitious: achieve zero food waste in
its own retail grocery operations by 2025. In the past two years,
the company has decreased total food waste generated in stores by
13% and improved its food waste diversion rate by almost 18%.
Through the 10x20x30 initiative, Kroger's partner suppliers have
committed to a 50% reduction target in their own operations, to
measure and publish their food loss and waste inventories, and to
create actionable strategies to reduce waste. Participating
suppliers to date include:
- Amy's
- Chobani
- Clif Bar & Company
- Danone North America
- Dayka & Hackett, LLC
- Driscoll's
- Flowers Foods, Inc
- Grimmway Farms
- High Liner Foods
- Hormel Foods
- Impossible Foods
- Pacific Coast Producers
- Rich Products Corporation
- Taylor Farms
- Tillamook County Creamery Association
- Unilever
"Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste plan includes ambitious goals
that require partnership, collaboration and innovation," added
Dailey. "We're proud to partner with these leading suppliers that
are committed to bold action, and we encourage other producers and
CPG brands to join us. It will take all of our collective action to
realize our vision of a future free of hunger and waste."
10x20x30 was launched at the 2019 annual food loss and waste
summit hosted by Champions 12.3, a voluntary coalition of
executives from business, government and civil society committed to
raising ambition and motivating action to achieve the United
Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 12.3. SDG Target
12.3 calls for a 50% reduction in food loss and waste worldwide by
2030. The coalition inspired and helped develop 10x20x30, with the
World Resources Institute as co-secretariat of Champions 12.3 and
lead provider of technical assistance to the 10x20x30 retailers and
suppliers. This week's 10x20x30 announcements coincide with the
2020 UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC, further amplifying
collective efforts to achieve the SDGs.
Suppliers interested in joining Kroger's 10x20x30 initiative can
contact the company's sustainability team at
zerohungerzerowaste@kroger.com.
ABOUT THE KROGER CO.
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we
are Fresh for Everyone™ and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed
the Human Spirit®. We are, across our family of companies, nearly
half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily
through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner
names. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste
communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit
our newsroom and investor relations site.
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SOURCE The Kroger Co.