Food Retailers Advised To Hang On To Sustainability During Hard Times

While some companies might be tempted to ease up on their sustainability efforts in less than favorable economic times, other companies are doing more and counting their ROIs, The Retail Bulletin reports.

Speaking at the IGD Global Retailing conference recently IGD chief executive Joanne Denney-Finch, said:

“Sustainability is about making your business future-proof. There is a massive transformation taking place and we urgently need to use the world’s scarce resources carefully.”

Denney-Finch notes that, while it is not always easy for retailers to maintain an active social responsibility policy, particularly in a downturn, larger retailers are asking their partners to do more. Wal-Mart, for example, is asking its 65,000 suppliers to reduce their GHG emissions.

The food and grocery industry expert says food retailers run the risk of falling behind if their missions to build ethical businesses are put on the back burner for any reason.

A panel of agriculture marketing experts at Cabrillo College recently encouraged farmers in the race toward sustainability to focus more on communicating the story of sustainable agriculture, if they want consumers to compensate them for their conservation efforts.

Wal-Mart has reported an adoption rate increase of 66 percent from last year in its sustainability Live Better Index, which it says serves as a nationwide trend indicator of consumer demand for green products.