Franklin dos Santos
As customers' purchasing behavior is constantly evolving, our desire to know where our products come from, how our food is packaged, delivered to and stored in supermarkets, and how cattle are fed and reared is growing.
From Foodland Supermarkets CEO Franklin dos Santos.
Not only do we want to know whether our bread was kneaded by a baker nearby or that our meat comes just a few minutes away from a farm with land to roam and grass to eat, but we also want to know that our food is packaged in an environmentally friendly way and packed.
At Foodland, our community is just as important to us as our environment. We want to live, work and play in a place that will be preserved for future generations.
With this in mind, we review our Foodland values on a daily basis.
We will not stop when we have achieved what we perceive to be greatness. Over time there will be market changes that will cause us to wonder how we can continue to improve our operations to ensure that the best shopping experience is maintained and that the food lineage remains sustainable and strong.
As we navigate a climate of Covid-19, we praise our dedicated frontline staff in our 95 stores, thank our loyal customers, and recognize the tireless efforts of our suppliers and distributors.
What we are giving back is our commitment to fighting climate change, food waste, recycling, sustainable sourcing, renewable energy, community building, and health and wellbeing.
We are the first independent supermarket in Australia to develop and implement a sustainability strategy. Every decision we make in the future will be made through the lens of sustainability.
In the past six months, we've made some significant and critical changes to the Foodland brand that will bring this strategy to fruition.
In May of this year, all Foodland brand bread labels were switched from plastic to 100% recyclable cardboard. A small change, but to create a true circular economy you have to start small and expand from there.
As of July 1st, Foodland will no longer sell Foodland brand cage eggs. A decision that is not only based on our own wishes, but also on the wishes of our customers. As these cage eggs are phased out of our stores, there is also a great opportunity for local suppliers to develop and meet the growing demand for this indispensable everyday item.
We know that the smallest things can have the greatest impact. We believe these small steps are essential for us on our way to a more sustainable future.
Another new addition to our branches are intelligent battery collection units. Equipped with electronics, GPS tracking, level sensors and heat detection, these intelligent battery recycling units are designed to safely collect and store mixed household batteries and cell phones. This new initiative will minimize landfilling of such items.
Our community-minded mindset means that our neighbors, whether they are customers or contributors to our network, are paramount. Our growth strategy continues to provide South Australians with more jobs, more opportunities for South Australian brands to have a presence on our shelves, more support and opportunities for our local farmers, and more repayable donations from the Foodland network to those who need them most.
Sustainability is just the beginning. There is so much to look forward to in Foodland, and all of it is for the good of our state and everyone around us.
