Wegmans will eliminate plastic bag use companywide by the end of 2022, with a goal to shift customers to reusable bags, the best option to solve the environmental challenge of single-use grocery bags.
Sprouts to Hold First Private Brand Sustainability Vendor Summit
Sprouts Farmers Market will host its first Our Brands focused Sustainability Vendor Summit June 21-24 as part of the company’s commitment to offer responsibly grown and sourced food to customers.
The virtual event, hosted in partnership with ECRM and RangeMe, will allow Sprouts to discover new suppliers to support the continued expansion of Sprouts Branded items in departments including grocery, produce, frozen, deli, bulk foods, meat and seafood, and vitamins and supplements.
“At Sprouts, we believe that doing good extends beyond selling healthy products,” said Jac Ross, VP of Our Brands. “Our long-term growth strategy is rooted in sustainability efforts that improve our business while caring for our customers, team members, local communities and planet. Sprouts Sustainability Vendor Summit will help advance our dedication to expand our sustainable selection of Sprouts Branded products in our over 380 stores across the country and beyond.”
Starting now through April 25, Sprouts encourages private brand suppliers and manufacturers who align with its commitment to ensure ethically source ingredients and sustainable packaging and who prioritize and support improved animal welfare to sign up at www.rangeme.com/sproutssustainabilitysummit.
Learn more about Sprouts’ ESG initiatives at sprouts.com/sustainability.
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Wegmans to End Plastic Bag Use by End of 2022
“We understand shoppers are accustomed to receiving plastic bags at checkout and losing that option requires a significant change. We are here to help our customers with this transition as we focus on doing what’s right for the environment,” said Jason Wadsworth, Wegmans category merchant for packaging, energy, and sustainability. “As we’ve encountered plastic bag legislation in numerous markets, we’ve learned there’s more we can do, and a bigger impact we can make, together with our customers.”
Wegmans will incentivize the use of reusable bags by charging five cents per paper bag, an approach that has proven successful in New York and other markets. In stores where the company has already eliminated plastic bags, on average, paper bags are used for 20-25 percent of transactions, while the remaining 75-80 percent use reusable bags, or no bag at all. By eliminating plastic bags from the rest of our stores and focusing on transitioning our customers to reusable bags, we’re preventing approximately 345,000,000 single-use bags from going into circulation in a year’s time.
The amount collected from the paper-bag charge will be donated to each store’s local food bank and United Way. In 2021, the more than $1.7 million Wegmans collected and donated from the bag charge was used to increase access to wholesome food and address the most critical needs of our communities.
Wegmans’ elimination of single-use bags is coupled with its commitment to reduce single-use plastics. Wegmans has committed to reducing its in-store plastic packaging made from fossil fuels, along with other single-use plastics, by 10 million pounds by 2024.
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Misfits Market Launches Private Label Brand
Online grocery platform Misfits Market has launched its first private label, Odds & Ends, which includes pantry staples such as coffee and snacks like nuts, dried fruit and dark chocolate-covered mini pretzels.
Many of Misfits Market’s Odds & Ends products have been specifically designed to address supply chain inefficiencies. By working directly with farmers and producers who share the company’s vision of eliminating waste, Misfits Market is taking new steps to prioritize sustainability and utilize creative sourcing methods to offer high-quality staple products at value.
For example, Misfits Market’s new direct trade premium coffee blend is purchased directly from the farms where it was grown in the context of lasting and mutually beneficial relationships, providing growers with fair prices and stable incomes while protecting them from market risk and volatility. The end result is a better market for their coffees and more accessible, high-quality coffee for consumers.
“Three years ago, Misfits Market set out to rebuild the food supply chain from scratch in order to provide everyone, regardless of where they live, access to quality food at an affordable price,” said Abhi Ramesh, CEO and founder. “It’s clear that shoppers are looking for new ways to save, especially with food prices at all-time highs. Our value-conscious customers are saving an average of $25 per order and with the launch of our new private label line, we’re excited to provide our customers with an even wider variety of affordable and sustainably sourced pantry staples.”
To date, the company has sent out nearly 13 million orders and rescued more than 230 million pounds of food. In Q1 alone, the company has experienced record-breaking growth fueled by expanding to all of the lower 48 states, launching product categories such as wine, releasing the brand’s mobile app and now Misfits Market’s private label launch.
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