Investing in the Future

Giving back to consumers strengthens the community and engenders loyalty.

“Local” is all the rage these days as a growing number of shoppers seek out locally made and grown products on store shelves.

But the idea of being local need not stop there, as demonstrated by truly progressive grocers that make a point of reaching out to the communities they serve, offering donations of money and product, as well as time devoted by their employees toward their communities’ unique needs, primarily hunger — appropriate for our industry — but also education, wellness, sustainability and a host of other causes.

Such involvement by a retailer can go a long way toward establishing trust among local consumers, with the result that a company becomes as loyal to the community as its residents are to their grocer. From big chains to smaller regional and independent operators, grocers are finding that a little good will goes a long way, and that it’s the right thing to do.

National Strength, Local Focus

Atop the outreach food chain sits grocery giant Kroger, which is involved in scores of initiatives on the local and national levels.

Kroger’s efforts to reduce food waste as part of its sustainability program have fueled its outreach efforts through its Perishable Donations Partnership with Chicago-based Feeding America. Since 2008, the grocer has donated 175 million meals of fresh meat, produce, dairy and bakery items to hungry families — food that otherwise would have been discarded as cosmetically unsellable.

Kroger has been engaged in this hunger relief effort for more than 30 years and has longstanding relationships with more than 80 local food banks.

To be sure, Kroger has a long history of being engaged in the communities where its people live and work. As a company, Kroger believes its mission extends well beyond selling groceries.

Among Kroger’s other key outreach efforts are “Bringing Hope to the Table,” which generated $3 million in cash last year to combat hunger; “Honoring our Heroes,” which funds USO programs; and “Sharing Courage,” which has raised more than $21 million to support local breast cancer treatment, research and education. Additionally, the grocer’s Kroger Foundation awards millions of dollars in grants annually to local organizations that have been recommended by the company’s retail operating divisions, including scholarships, domestic violence relief, meals for the home-bound, and coastal cleanup efforts.

Further, Kroger associates donate thousands of hours of volunteer service, and managers serve on the boards of local food banks, providing guidance on food safety, logistics, facility operations and fundraising.

Kroger’s community outreach achievements were among the factors in its selection as PG’s 2013 Retailer of the Year (the full article, published last October, can be found — along with other coverage of Kroger’s philanthropy — at Progressivegrocer.com).

Similarly, the Safeway Foundation is how the Pleasanton, Calif.-based retailer enables its divisions nationwide to work hand in hand with local nonprofit organizations.

Safeway helps combat childhood obesity by supporting children’s hospitals and other healthy agencies in Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Seattle; Dallas; Houston; New York; Los Angeles; San Francisco; and other communities. The retailer has donated millions in food products to hunger relief programs in neighborhoods across the country, and many of its local divisions contribute through their own signature programs to help fight hunger in their neighborhoods. Additionally, its foundation supports numerous youth development organizations, along with after-school and physical education programs.

Regional Outreach

Several retailers, including Ahold, A&P/Pathmark, Dave’s Marketplace, Sweetbay Supermarket, United Supermarkets and Harveys, participate in “Take a Bite Out of Hunger,” created in 2013 by Yakima, Wash.-based FirstFruits Marketing to help feed the underserved while raising awareness of food insecurity by partnering with retailers to make fresh apple donations to local food banks.

Midwestern superstore chain Meijer made significant strides in its hunger relief efforts last year, completing the rollout of its food rescue program across its operating region.

With the addition of eight food bank partnerships, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer is now able to donate quality food that would otherwise go to waste at its stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, according to Doug Meijer, the retailer’s co-chairman.

Meijer donates more than 6 percent of its net profit each year to charities throughout the Midwest. With hunger as a corporate philanthropic focus, the grocer partners with hundreds of food banks and pantries through its “Simply Give” and food rescue programs. Meijer also supports education, disaster relief and health-and-wellness initiatives.

Over the past holiday season, customers of Shaw’s and Star Market donated nearly 56,000 bags of food to local hunger relief organizations under the New England banners’ “Spirit of Giving” food drive. The bags went to provide more than 250,000 meals to the region’s needy. Additionally, Shaw’s and Star Market contributed $110,000 to aid area organizations in feeding food-insecure residents.

“At Shaw’s and Star Market, we are acutely aware of the hunger problems within the communities we live in and understand how important it is to help get food to those who need it,” notes Shane Sampson, president of the West Bridgewater, Mass.-based, 157-store supermarket chain.

Supermarkets of Cherry Hill Inc., which owns and operates five ShopRite stores in southern New Jersey, has teamed with the nonprofit Center for Family Services (CFS) in a pilot program to bring fresh, healthy food options to the underserved in Camden, N.J., through the online ordering of groceries. The program, spearheaded by the administration of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, gives Camden residents free access to computers so that they can select fresh groceries for delivery, provides ordering support, and offers workshops for participants on such topics as nutrition and budgeting.

Further, the banner’s “ShopRite from Home” service enables customers to place online orders from a home computer or mobile device and have their groceries delivered; a store’s personal shopper selects the items right from store shelves for optimal freshness.

“This is a great way to provide access to healthy and affordable food, and will allow residents without access to cars or public transportation to have their groceries delivered to a centrally located designated pickup facility,” says Jason Ravitz, VP of retail operations for family-owned Supermarkets of Cherry Hill, which plans to open a Camden store in 2015.

Carlisle, Pa.-based Giant Food Stores in January donated $5 million to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for construction of the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care, earning the grocer the gratitude of the medical community and its name on the lobby of the facility.

“Giant has built such a powerful legacy of support at CHOP over nearly two decades,” says Steven M. Altschuler, the hospital’s CEO. Additional donations from the grocer have supported patient care and CHOP’s physical therapy gym, also named after the retailer, with total support exceeding $13 million.

“It underscores our commitment to improving the quality of life for children,” says Rick Herring, Giant’s president.