CINCINNATI, Aug. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co.
(NYSE: KR) today released its 2020 Environmental, Social and
Governance (ESG) Report, highlighting progress toward its
sustainability goals and confirming the company's commitment to
creating communities free of hunger and waste.
Kroger's 2020 report leads with an updated materiality
assessment, outlining the ESG topics most meaningful to the
company's key stakeholders. The in-depth assessment, conducted in
partnership with an external consultancy in early 2020, resulted in
an updated list of priority topics.
"Our annual ESG report underpins Kroger's vision to serve
America through food inspiration and uplift," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO. "We
are committed to continuing to integrate ESG metrics into our
business strategy, driving shared value for our associates,
customers, communities and company. We're pleased to share Kroger's
latest performance on key topics, including our 2020 sustainability
goals and Zero Hunger | Zero Waste metrics. We also look to what
lies ahead, and we're proud to announce the first of several new
priorities and commitments that will help affirm Kroger's
sustainability leadership through the next decade and beyond."
Kroger's 2020 ESG Report Highlights
"As the largest
grocery retailer in America, Kroger is committed to being a force
for good in the communities we serve," said Keith Dailey, group vice president of corporate
affairs and chief sustainability officer. "Our Purpose—to Feed the
Human Spirit—continues to guide how we operate our business, care
for our communities and deliver value to all our stakeholders.
We're proud of our progress in 2019 and remain committed to our
vision of a future with Zero Hunger | Zero Waste."
Among the several topics highlighted in the company's 2020
materiality assessment, 12 emerged as the most meaningful to
Kroger's key stakeholders. These important issues shaped the
content of Kroger's annual ESG report and will continue to guide
the company's management approach in the year ahead.
Environmental
- Food Waste
In 2019, Kroger reduced retail food waste
generated by 4% and improved food waste diversion from landfills by
5%. Since introducing Zero Hunger | Zero Waste in 2017, the company
has reduced total retail food waste generated by 13% through
strategic ordering best practices, item markdown programs and
innovative supply chain initiatives.
Since 2017, Kroger's store associates have also improved food waste
diversion from landfills by 18% through increased food waste
recycling, including (in order of priority) animal feed, anaerobic
digestion and composting programs for food that is no longer
edible. The company's goal is to achieve zero food waste by
2025.
For more on the impact of Kroger's regional food waste recycling
programs, visit here.
- Packaging
Kroger continues to bring sustainable
packaging solutions to customers through collaborative partnerships
in the retail sector and beyond. In 2019, Kroger became the
exclusive U.S. grocery retail partner for Loop, TerraCycle's
revolutionary reusable packaging platform.
As part of Kroger's commitment to phase out single-use plastic
shopping bags in its stores by 2025, the company recently became
the Grocery Sector Lead Partner for Closed Loop Partners' Beyond
the Bag Initiative—a multi-year collaboration across retail sectors
to identify, test and implement alternatives to the traditional
single-use plastic retail bag.
- Climate Impact
Kroger continues to manage its
climate impacts through strategic investments in energy efficiency,
refrigerant emissions reductions and renewable energy. In 2019, the
company activated its largest solar array to date at Kroger's
automated distribution center in Paramount, Calif., and installed a
2,900-solar-panel array at La Habra Bakery in California that will offset 20% of the
facility's electricity needs.
Social
- Food Safety
In 2019, Kroger announced its plan to
standardize date labels for Our Brands food
products, providing simpler, easier-to-understand product quality
and safety information as part of its Zero Hunger | Zero
Waste social impact commitment.
Kroger's manufacturing plants and co-packing suppliers are now
aligned with the standardized date labeling practice of "Use by" to
indicate food safety and "Best by" to indicate quality for Our
Brands products.
- Food Access
Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social
impact plan is committed to creating communities free of hunger and
waste by bringing attention and resources to the complex issues
surrounding food insecurity and increasing the availability of
affordable and nutritious food for all.
In 2019, Kroger directed the equivalent of 493 million meals to
improve food security in the communities it serves, including food
and funds donated to Feeding America and its affiliated local food
banks and other key hunger-relief partners. This brought the
company's total to 1.1 billion meals, surpassing its three-year
target.
- Health & Nutrition
Kroger Health's Food as
Medicine strategy aims for 20x5by2025: 20% improvement in five
critical dimensions of population health: obesity, diabetes, food
insecurity, cost and product assortment by 2025.
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Kroger invested
nearly $3.4 billion with minority-
and women-owned businesses in 2019—a 12% increase from the prior
year and a 30% increase since 2017. The company also received a
perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate
Equality Index for the second consecutive year.
To learn more about the steps Kroger is taking to advocate for
racial equity, visit the company's Better Together
page.
- Associate Health & Safety
Managing health and
safety is critical to the company's success. Each part of the
business—Retail Operations, Manufacturing and Supply Chain—has its
own management structure to help minimize incidents in its
operations.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kroger has reinforced the
continued protection of frontline associates by making free
COVID-19 testing available, based on symptoms and medical need. The
following procedures and programs further reflect Kroger's
commitment to protecting the safety and well-being of its team.
-
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - Kroger has
increased its investment in PPE to encourage a safer working
environment. The company has supplied protective masks to all
associates, enhanced daily sanitation practices, installed floor
decals and protective partitions at check lanes to promote physical
distancing, reduced customer capacity limits, and taken several
other steps.
- Helping Hands Fund – Kroger's Helping Hands
Fund continues to provide financial assistance to associates
who are facing personal hardship due to COVID-19.
- Emergency Leave – Through the company's Emergency
Leave Guidelines, associates most directly affected by the virus or
experiencing related symptoms are provided paid time off.
- Community Engagement
Kroger and its affiliates
directed more than $279 million in
food and funds to local communities in 2019. Of this, $205 million aligned with the company's Zero
Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan and hunger relief
programs.
In 2019, The Kroger Co. Foundation, the company's private
foundation, directed more than $10.5
million in grants to its nonprofit partners. The Kroger Co.
Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, an independent nonprofit
public charity, also directed $10
million to catalyze change and innovation that helps create
communities free of hunger and waste, including $1 million in grants to seven innovators with
solutions to reduce food waste.
The 2019 Foundation reports are available at
TheKrogerCo.com/Community.
Governance
- Responsible Sourcing
Kroger continues to make
progress toward its goal to source 100% sustainable wild-caught and
farm-raised seafood. In 2019, the company supported 25 Fishery
Improvement Projects through sourcing or funding and, through its
partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), increased the amount of
sustainable wild-caught seafood sourced by 198% between 2010 and
2019.
Learn more in the Kroger Seafood Sustainability Report.
- Supply Chain Accountability
Kroger actively manages
its global supply chain through Supplier Hub, its vendor management
system. The platform enables Kroger to more easily collect and
maintain important information about its suppliers' compliance with
company commitments, including U.S. food safety standards, facility
audit outcomes, certifications and relevant company
initiatives.
Kroger recently established a new business team to implement a more
holistic approach to supplier lifecycle management. The
cross-functional Supplier Solutions team is developing new ways to
speed up suppliers' "time to market" with Kroger through seamless
navigation of the company's supplier-facing portals
and simplified vendor processes.
- Data Privacy & Cybersecurity
The Kroger Family of
Companies operates in a highly competitive, increasingly complex
and ever-changing business environment. To safeguard systems and
information, it continually upgrades security governance and
protocols to reflect changes in technology, potential risks and
business needs.
Earlier this year, Kroger Technology & Digital was named to
Computerworld magazine's Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT
for the third consecutive year.
New & Updated Sustainability Commitments
As part
of the company's 2020 ESG report, Kroger formalized and refined
several key sustainability commitments that align with stakeholder
priorities, including:
- Sustainable Packaging: For all Our Brands
products, Kroger will improve packaging by 2030 in the following
ways:
-
- Complete a baseline product packaging footprint to fully
understand current packaging impacts.
- Seek to achieve 100% recyclable, compostable and/or reusable
packaging for Our Brands products.
- Increase recycled content in packaging so that the Kroger
Our Brands portfolio collectively contains at least 10%
recycled content in packaging.
- Reduce unnecessary packaging.
- Increase awareness among Kroger customers about how to properly
manage Our Brands product packaging at end of
life.
- Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Kroger commits to
reduce its absolute enterprise-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 30%
by 2030, from a 2018 base year.
- No-Deforestation Commitment: Kroger is committed to
eliminating tropical deforestation in the raw materials and
products it sources into Kroger Manufacturing facilities and into
its fresh meat case by 2025.
Kroger's Response to COVID-19
"Since the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic, we have remained focused on our most urgent
priority—to provide a safe environment for associates and customers
with open stores, comprehensive digital solutions and an
efficiently-operating supply chain so that our customers have
access to fresh, affordable food and essentials," continued
McMullen. "Kroger's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has uplifted
our purpose, values and vision, and I'm confident we will emerge
from this crisis even stronger."
The Kroger Family of Companies has invested more than $830
million to reward associates and safeguard associates,
customers and communities so far in 2020. Key actions to support
associates, customers and communities include:
- The company, The Kroger Co. Foundation and The Kroger Co. Zero
Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation have committed more than
$10 million in grants to support
communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants are funding
local nonprofit partners that help ensure individuals and families
have access to nutritious meals.
- Continuing to donate food and funds to local food banks and
advance hunger-relief efforts like Kroger's Dairy Rescue
Program.
- Offering free curbside pickup nationwide (a value of
$4.95 per order) with no minimum
order threshold and accepting SNAP/EBT benefits for grocery pickup
service at across the Kroger Family of Stores.
- Temporarily waiving fees for prescription delivery via mail or
courier.
About Kroger:
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.