Ratio Institute

Join jonathan tan, EMBA and Peter Cooke on May 7th for the first course of an online series from Climate Collaborative. This 8-course series will dive deep into crucial climate issues facing the retail sector, including packaging, food waste, refrigerants, energy use, consumer engagement, and more. Jonathan and Peter will present a 90-minute course on food retail's role in climate change and where stores can have the most impact with their emissions reductions. https://lnkd.in/geKiCDQA #foodretail #sustainability #climateaction

Upgrade your store and reduce operating costs with U.S.D.A. REAP Grants! The recent Inflation Reduction Act added $1.7 billion to existing REAP funds, allowing the U.S.D.A. to increase its funding limits. Those limits are expected to decrease back to 25% in October 2024. Act now to maximize funding while you reduce operational costs, make a positive impact on the environment, and ensure your store is compliant with refrigerant hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gas phase down requirements. https://hubs.li/Q02sYDf30 #sustainability #energyefficiency #groceryretail #grocerystore

Walmart announced commitments that will enable the construction of nearly 1 gigawatt of new clean energy projects throughout the States. The portfolios include 70 megawatts from 26 new community solar and distributed-generation installations across six different states, which are anticipated to produce approximately 160,000 MW of clean energy annually. These will enable almost $8 million in annual savings on energy bills for households and commercial off-takers and around 75% of these savings are expected to benefit low-to-moderate-income communities. #cleanenergy #foodretail #sustainability

A USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Grant may be the answer to upgrading your store's energy efficiency. If you are an independent grocer looking to make improvements to your HVAC or refrigeration systems, upgrade to LED lights, or even install solar panels, the USDA may be willing to fund up to 50% of project costs. The best part? Ratio Institute can help you apply and do the heavy lifting of the grant application! https://hubs.li/Q02qbxMT0 #grocery #energyefficiency #sustainability #foodretail

Walgreens is taking action on their commitment to reducing plastic waste by 2030 by making what would seem like a small thing: switching black plastic caps to white. Many recycling facilities use mechanical sorting that rely on cameras to scan incoming packaging and they have difficulty correctly identifying black plastic, which then ends up in the waste stream or incorrectly recycled. Walgreens is projected to save a projected 13 tons of plastic just by swapping the black caps for white on 7 of their Walgreens brand products. Walgreens is also proactively suggesting to suppliers to switch from difficult-to-recycle PVC to the recyclable PET in their blister packaging.

Calling all independent grocers at The NGA Show! You can find us around the IGA booth to chat about grants to fund #energyefficiency updates in your store. Courtney Dragiff, Peter Cooke and jonathan tan, EMBA are your experts in food retail sustainability! #thengashow #foodretail #groceryretail

Are you going to the The NGA Show next week? Our entire Ratio Institute team will be there! Connect with jonathan tan, EMBA, Peter Cooke, and Courtney Dragiff to talk about ESG, USDA REAP grants, and about your store! Jonathan and Peter will also be speaking on a panel about marketing sustainability at 2:10 PM on Tuesday, March 12th. See you there! #TheNGAShow #sustainability #foodretail #grocerystore #energyefficiency

ALDI USA is continuing to take strides in sustainability, making “thousands of small, intentional operational decisions every day that have a big impact on keeping our prices and our environmental footprint low.” Such decisions include switching to electronic shelf labels, reducing paper waste while optimizing labor; keeping store layouts smaller to keep operational costs low; offering a more limited assortment of products that are more locally sourced, cutting down on transportation resources; and educating consumers with their How2Recycle logo, which provides simple instructions on how to best recycle the packaging of their products. ALDI is also part of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and became a founding activator of the U.S. Plastics Pact about 4 years ago. They’ve made changes in their packaging, streamlining designs across products such as removing clear plastic windows from pasta boxes, saving nearly 50 tons of plastic each year. Today, more than 75% of ALDI-exclusive packaging components are now reusable, recyclable or compostable. https://lnkd.in/gV8fJGEy #grocerystore #foodretail #energyefficiency #supermarkets

Wright’s Market had their best year of sales and profitability in 2023 with a combination of merchandising initiatives and marketing promotions. Wright’s most significant move was installing energy-efficient coolers and storing all refrigerated produce behind glass doors, which improved operational efficiency and generated cost savings, virtually eliminating their produce shrink. The new refrigeration also enabled Wright’s Market to introduce a prepared foods program and a bulk meats program, expanding their offerings and customers’ savings. #independentgrocer #profitability #grocery #groceryindustry

CVS Health now has five total renewable energy investments, including two separate long-term agreements to purchase energy and renewable energy certificates (RECs) with Constellation, as they continue to work toward sourcing 50% renewable energy by 2040. These two agreements represent a total 264,000 megawatt-hours: the equivalent to the annual electricity use of nearly 1,000 CVS Health locations in California; Washington, D.C.; Delaware; Maryland; and New Jersey. https://hubs.li/Q02jTVfT0