Sustainability
Tesco To Use Discarded Coastal Plastic In Fresh Fish Packaging
Plastic waste such as drinks bottles which is at risk of getting into the sea, is now being collected and recycled and used again in retailer Tesco’s fresh fish Retail-owned brand packaging. The British supermarket’s fresh Salmon, Haddock, Cod and Sea Bass ranges will be sold for the first time in trays that contain at least 30% Recycled Coastal Plastic collected from beaches, coastlines, and coastal communities around the Mediterranean Sea. The move into the new packaging is expected to remove around 500 metric tons of plastic from the environment each year and reduce the amount of ‘virgin plastic’
What is ‘Scope 3’ and why should we care?
What is it, and why do you need to know? Your private brand customers are unlikely to ask you about Scope 3. But they will talk about Sustainability. Carbon. Net zero. Climate action. Greenhouse gases. Supply chain emissions. Whatever we call it – lets keep it simple and say GHG (greenhouse gas) – what is important is that according to McKinsey in retail over 90% of your GHG impact is in your products and supply chain. These are what the GHG Protocol calls Scope 3. You will need to understand your Scope 3 to engage the increasingly sustainability aware
Sip sip hooray! Waitrose Debuts Compostable Tea Bags
Waitrose has announced it is the first UK supermarket to sell certified Retail-owned Brand (private brand) home compostable tea bags. All of their Duchy tea bags are now accredited with a TUV OK compost HOME certification so tea bags can be placed directly into a home compost bin or heap. This compost can then be used to enrich the soil in the garden, using tea bags in compost adds a nitrogen-rich component which is beneficial for your plants. The packaging on the tea bag tags has also been amended to reduce ink coverage, ensuring the tea bags can break
Waitrose cans small bottles from the wine aisle
Waitrose has announced plans to move small wine formats from bottles into cans. Beginning in January, the majority of small wine formats (apart from Champagne. Prosecco and Cava, and Rioja, due to appellation restrictions) will be moved from glass bottles to aluminium cans as part of our ambition to reduce our carbon footprint. Barry Dick, MW, Beer, Wine and Spirit Bulk Sourcing Manager at Waitrose comments: “We’re delighted to pioneer this move and make reducing waste even easier for our customers. Aluminum cans weigh significantly less than glass and create less than half the amount of CO2 than the
Tesco’s plant-based pioneer celebrated as next phase of strategy begins
After six years at the helm, Derek Sarno, Tesco’s Director of Plant-Based Innovation is set to leave the British retailer this month, ushering in the next stage of Tesco’s plant-based strategy, with new ‘veg-led’ products which incorporate more vegetables in their recipes set to feature prominently across the category in the future.Sarno was instrumental in bringing plant-based food to the UK, setting the benchmark across the industry with the development of two pioneering plant-based Retail-owned Brands - Wicked Kitchen, which led the way for plant-based retail brands when it launched in 2018, and the affordable and accessible Tesco Plant Chef
Aldi UK To Become First Supermarket Member of Podback
Aldi UK is set to become the first British supermarket member of the Podback recycling program, helping customers to recycle their used coffee, tea, and hot chocolate pods. As part of its membership, the supermarket will introduce its Retail-owned Brand pods into the Podback scheme in an industry first, whilst also helping to promote the free recycling service to shoppers throughout the country in over 980 stores. From early next year, Aldi customers can visit the Podback website to either order recycling bags, which can be filled and taken to one of 6,500 Collect+ drop-off points or register for
Sainsbury’s ramps up removal of single-use plastic lids, saving 71m pieces of plastic annually
UK grocer Sainsbury’s will be removing more single-use plastic lids from its Retail-owned brand ranges, with dips set to be the next product that will see the change. From March 2023, household favorites such as guacamole, tzatziki and sour cream and chive dip will no longer be sold with single-use plastic lids. Since 2019 Sainsbury’s has removed single-use plastic lids from a wide range of products including cream, crème fraiche, custard, cottage cheese and sour cream. Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s also removed single-use plastic lids from all own-brand yoghurt. After removing plastic lids from Sainsbury’s own-brand brandy cream last
Tesco suppliers to use online swap-shop to cut costs and reduce waste
More than 3,500 Tesco UK suppliers can now cut production costs and reduce waste by selling or donating surplus stock or products to other suppliers who can make use of them. Tesco Exchange is a new online marketplace that matches suppliers who have too much of a product, for example, crops, by-products, ingredients or packaging, with other Tesco suppliers that need it. It is expected that savings in production costs will ultimately benefit customers too. In the same way that consumer marketplaces work, suppliers can advertise surplus stock for sale on Tesco Exchange, post requests for things they need and
Meijer Reaches 4 Million Meal Donation
This past Thanksgiving week Midwest big box retailer Meijer will donate $1 million – equating to 4 million meals – to food pantries across the Midwest after customers made more than 4 million purchases including Meijer Retail-owned Brand (private brand) products. The donation came as a result of the retailer's recent commitment to provide up to 4 million meals to its signature Simply Give hunger relief program – one meal for every purchase that included a qualifying Meijer private brand food bought November 20-26. "To have met our goal of 4 million meals by Thanksgiving Day is especially exciting because
Tesco Opens Doors to the Give Back Express
As FareShare and the Trussell Trust report they expect to provide food support to more than 1.2 million people in the U.K. this winter, retailer Tesco and its charity partners have launched The Give Back Express - their first ever ‘reverse supermarket’ to help spread Christmas joy and boost donations.Visitors are invited to buy and donate the 25 most needed items as identified by Tesco and both charities – including tinned food, tea, and toiletries – at The Give Back Express pop-up store. Customers simply pay for the products they have chosen, with the value of all purchases donated to
