Safeway releases sixth annual sustainability report
PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Wednesday released its sixth annual sustainability report, informed by the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guidelines. The online report, titled "Heart of Safeway," highlights progress Safeway made in the areas of environmental sustainability, community impact and responsible business practices. The report contains updates such as Safeway's progress toward its goal to responsibly source all of its fresh and frozen seafood by the end of 2015.
The report spotlights stories of lives positively impacted by Safeway — from employees and nonprofit partners to local farmers and producers — and suggests ways in which Safeway's customers can adopt more sustainable, healthy habits.
"The Heart of Safeway is made up of people we proudly employ, the variety of products we offer customers, the communities in which we live and work, and the planet that we aim to protect," stated Larree Renda, EVP and chair of the companywide Sustainability Executive Task Force. "Safeway is very proud of the strides we made in 2013 in an effort to continually create better lives, vibrant neighborhoods, and a healthier planet."
Safeway's 2013 performance highlights include:
- People. Safeway hired 1,833 military veterans and continued to support leadership development training for employee veterans through Junior Military Officer and Non-Commissioned Military Officer programs. The company scored 100% in the Human Rights Campaign Buyer's Guide and Corporate Equality Index. And Safeway helped 65% of employees and health plan participants enrolled in the company's Healthy Measures program to improve their cholesterol level from the previous year;
- Products. Safeway achieved No. 2 ranking on Greenpeace's sustainable seafood retail scorecard. The grocer also continued to make progress in sourcing seafood sustainably, surpassing the 51% milestone toward having all fresh and frozen seafood responsibly caught or farmed by the end of 2015. And Safeway announced a sustainable sourcing policy for palm oil and a goal to source 1 million pounds of sustainable palm oil in 2014;
- Community. Safeway donated nearly 72 million pounds of food to support hunger relief and employees volunteered more than 1 million hours with nonprofit organizations. Safeway also raised and contributed over $41.2 million to charitable causes through The Safeway Foundation; and
- Planet. Safeway always considers its environmental impact and actively seeks new ways to minimize its footprint. The company also progressed toward its 2015 goal to eliminate 1 billion plastic and paper bags in its stores, announcing that it already eliminated over 300 million bags since 2011. The grocer has set a goal to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 versus a 2010 baseline. And Safeway saved more than 75 million gallons of water across its stores.