Rosemont Market & Bakery Awarded Sustainable Food Retail Certification

Ratio Institute is excited to announce the newest food retailer to have achieved our Sustainable Food Retail Certification. Rosemont Market & Bakery, a chain of six small grocery stores in Portland, Maine, achieved the level of Steward in the certification, demonstrating the chain’s commitment to sustainability and a healthy environment and community.

The Sustainable Food Retail Certification program helps food retailers to achieve operational excellence and meet sustainability goals by benchmarking performance, reducing costs, and increasing margins. The program does this by assessing a retailer’s practices across its operations, verifying them, and awarding certification based on points earned and compliance with requirements. As part of the certification, food retailers also receive the additional benefit of insights into cost savings from operational sustainability efforts, revenue-generating sustainability opportunities, employee engagement opportunities, and metrics on waste, water, energy, and other efficiency measures.

“As we continue to grow and serve Portland communities, the Sustainable Food Retail Certification has allowed us to track and measure the social, environmental and financial impact of our sustainability initiatives in our store operations,” said Rosemont representative Atticus Naylor. “From waste and energy reduction to operational efficiencies, this information will allow us to be more strategic in how we create a positive impact for the communities we serve and our bottom line.”

Through the certification, Ratio Institute was able to estimate that Rosemont Market & Bakery is already saving more than 595,954 kWh of electricity per year via its energy efficiency efforts. That equates to 422 metric tons of CO2e not being released into the atmosphere, the equivalent of 92 passenger vehicles driven for one year. Those savings are valued at $66,000, an average of $11,000 per store.

Moreover, Ratio Institute identified opportunities through the certification for the chain to save an additional 295,000 kWh per year with further efficiency measures, equaling an extra $33,000 saved per year. That’s 209 metric tons more CO2e not being released into the atmosphere.

“Rosemont Market & Bakery is an excellent example of a community leader and how businesses in food retail are beginning to realize the value of being more sustainable,” noted Peter Cooke, director of Programs and Partnerships for Ratio Institute. “Rosemont Market & Bakery believes in being a good steward by benchmarking and advancing initiatives to reduce their impact on the planet. By operating more efficiently, they are showing that they value both their employees and their customers. We look forward to continuing working with them!”

About Ratio Institute

Ratio Institute is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating measurable sustainability and viability in food retail through expert collaboration, industry resources, and practical tools. We have worked with over 1,000 grocery stores and 20 grocery chains to create store-level and enterprise sustainability solutions that reduce costs, shift internal cultures, and improve overall performance.

For further information, please contact:

Peter Cooke

Director, Programs

Phone: 207-409-6732

Email: peter.cooke@35.88.125.106