October 2021 Newsletter
Our Industry | UNFI Showcase Raffle Winner | Article: Sustainable Grocery Shopping & Online Delivery | Featured Brand
Our Industry – Deadline set for Grocery Code of Conduct
Canada's agricultural ministers have given the country's grocers until the end of the year to propose measures to regulate the industry, in a move lauded by Canada's second largest grocery retailer to promote fairness in the market.
Sobeys’ parent company Empire Co. Ltd., Canada’s second-largest supermarket chain, broke ranks with its main competitors and forged a partnership with Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP), the top industry association for the grocery suppliers.
The pair presented a proposal to the ministers’ working group in March, asking for a legislated code of conduct with a government-appointed enforcement body — similar to a model used for the past decade or so in the United Kingdom’s heavily consolidated grocery industry.
It comes after the ministers heard a report from a working group created to improve transparency and fair dealings in the grocery industry.
Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, along with agriculture ministers from the provinces and territories, formed a working group to lead the inquiry last year after a series of controversies centered on the big grocers squeezing their suppliers with extra fees and fines during the pandemic.
"The set of findings shared give all Ministers a solid basis of understanding of why an industry-led proposal to improve transparency, predictability, and respect for the principles of fair dealing would be beneficial for the agri-food sector and all supply chain partners," said federal minister of agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau.
"We are urging industry to continue their constructive dialogue to develop a concrete proposal designed for the Canadian context that will improve fair dealing in retailer relationships with their suppliers."
UNFI Innovation Conference and Showcase 2021
This year, UNFI Canada changed the direction that Innovation Showcases usually took place. As a result of Covid-19, UNFI hosted their first National Virtual Innovation Conference and Showcase. The event spanned for 2 days, June 17th & 18th. Over 1300 show attendees participated in our UNFI Innovation Conference and Showcase. Our brands, Caulipower and Swerve participated in the event.
Aside from participating in the show, Swerve also conducted a draw among the booth visitors and the lucky winner, Sara Aysan, Vita Health Fresh Market, received a Kitchen Aid hand mixer and chopper, along with the gift assortment of Swerve Sweeteners!
Sustainable Grocery Shopping & Online Delivery
Going to the store every week for fresh groceries can be a chore. It’s no wonder that online grocery shopping has become a growing industry. The ease of browsing at your leisure, getting items in your list ticked off, ordered in half an hour, and quickly delivered is convenient for the fast pace of our society. But does this convenience come at an environmental cost? Here’s the breakdown on how sustainable online grocery shopping is.
With more people choosing to get groceries delivered, how does this impact the environment? If done correctly, grocery delivery can actually lower overall carbon emissions. The reason is simple. Instead of everyone individually driving to the store, shopping, and then driving home, a delivery service can deliver to multiple homes in one trip. Though delivery trucks produce more emissions, but just like a bus, this is offset by the number of people serviced. The researchers found that the distance traveled by a delivery vehicle is shorter than the sum of the distances traveled by customers’ cars. In fact, with a strategic planning of a delivery route, it could be a whopping 85% - 95% less.
Types of Grocery Delivery Services and their Sustainability
Online Grocery delivery services can be of several types.
Centralized Delivery Services
These services are usually by big box grocery stores and make use of a large-scale storage or storefront with scheduled deliveries for specific routes in a van or a truck, hence minimizing the need for multiple travel to different customers.
Some popular services are Walmart Grocery, Voila by Sobey’s, etc. They are by far the most efficient and sustainable form of grocery delivery service types and making use of them is actually better than individual travels to the grocery stores. A downside is that deliveries are usually not instant. An order placed in the morning may only be delivered by evening or even next day in some cases.
Personal Shopper Services
Personal Shopper grocery deliveries are on the rise and turning out to be people’s favorite type. In this service, an individual person does the shopping for the customer and delivers it to their homes. This is an instant delivery method as groceries can be delivered as early as an hour from the order time. But this type of delivery does not always be a better choice for sustainability as the personal shopper almost always can be a driver and will pickup and deliver in a personal vehicle. Although, there are delivery drivers who utilize bicycles or on-foot for delivery, but the numbers are much lower than a vehicle delivery driver. Some main examples for these services are Instacart, Uber Eats Grocery, etc.
Meal Kit Delivery Services
Meal Kits are a relatively new type of delivery service where the provider only delivers groceries for a certain type of meal with a recipe included, so, the consumer can prepare the meal on their own and doesn’t have to go through the struggle of finding all ingredients for their meal. However, this type of grocery delivery is considered as very inefficient and unsustainable. Though no personal shopper is involved, the packaging is what breaks the deal for most.
Many meal kits include a cardboard box for storage but also packaging to preserve all the ingredients, individual packing for different ingredients, linen materials, ice packs, recipe cards and more. Recyclers found "each had more than two dozen different packages, including one with 31 different pieces of packaging." Much of the packaging was also found to be plastic and many weren't recyclable. Another major cause for concern with many meal kits is the ice packs they are delivered with. These are almost always non-recyclable because they contain chemicals which need to be disposed of safely and cannot be reused. Some examples for meal kit services are Hello Fresh, Chef’s Plate etc.
Sustainably Sourcing Your Groceries
While the packaging of groceries being delivered to your home can be a problem, there can also be issues with finding a sustainable grocery delivery option that sources groceries in an eco-friendly way. It’s important that recyclable or compostable packaging is used for the individual products themselves, instead of plastic wrapping. While we can go into a store and choose unwrapped produce, there’s not always that option when you order online.
More than this, being able to buy fairly traded produce is an important factor in sustainable grocery shopping. The deforestation caused by cocoa farming and palm oil is rampant, and so online delivery is only worth it if the carbon emissions you’re saving aren’t negated by unsustainably sourced groceries. For all the convenience, a trip to the store is better if that’s the case.
Featured Brand: SunButter
Nearly 20 years ago, the SunButter brand emerged from the growing need for a niche product to fulfill the needs of the growing number of households struggling with food allergies, especially to peanuts. As a division of a large sunflower processing company which was facing a shrinking export market for sunflower kernel, the great leaders of Red River Commodities here in Fargo ND, worked hard to develop the delicious sunflower spread we now call SunButter.
As it turns out, there is much more than a small niche market out there who love flavorful sunflower butter made from dry roasted and ground sunflower kernel with simple ingredients. Being more nutritious that most items in the traditional nut butter category doesn’t hurt either.
SunButter is naturally good for you. They contain one-third less saturated fat than most peanut butter. SunButter also has the same amount of protein, more vitamin E, and no trans fats when compared to leading brands of peanut and tree nut spreads. SunButter is also high in iron, phosphorus, and zinc!
We are proud to have been pioneers of the highest quality sunflower butter to be on the market. Move over peanut butter, spread some sun with SunButter!
New from Sunbutter - Chocolate Sunflower Butter!
Chocolate SunButter is a deliciously creamy blend of rich cocoa and savory sunflower butter that is sweetly satisfying and nutritious.
With only 5g of sugar, 6g of plant-based protein and free from the top 8 allergens, Chocolate Sunbutter is one of the tastiest and healthiest spreads in the market.
Learn more about Sunbutter’s products and new updates, visit https://sunbutter.com/
