Some retailers are partnering with environmentally conscious specialty food companies for Earth Day tie-ins, alongside their annual announcements about sustainability initiatives and reusable bag giveaways.
Ahold’s Giant banner and Airly Foods, for example, are working together on a donation to Caring for Friends, a Philadelphia-area food bank. Airly Foods donated more than 13,000 packs of its Airly Oat Cloud Snack Crackers to the nonprofit, which provides food for homebound seniors and veterans, people with disabilities, and others impacted by hunger. Giant provided an additional donation of Airly Oat Clouds to Caring for Friends as part of a larger donation of shelf-stable food items, also donating $5,000.
St. Louis, Missouri-based Airly Foods makes oat-based snacks that the company touts as having a positive impact on the environment because its oats are sourced from “carbon farmers” who focus on practices that remove carbon from the air. The company is also working toward taking carbon emissions out of the rest of its supply chain through zero-emission baking, electronically powered transportation, and a negative carbon footprint for all its ingredients, said Kris Corbin, co-founder of Airly, in a YouTube video posted by the company.
Each box of Airly Foods crackers includes details about its negative carbon footprint. The brand is owned by Bright Future Foods, an incubator subsidiary of Post Holdings.
“While we may be a small food brand, we believe that together, small changes can make a huge difference,” said Jennifer McKnight, co-founder of Airly, in a statement.
Other partnerships between retailers and sustainable brands include Sprouts Farmers Market’s rollout of products from Brewer’s Foods, the Somerville, Massachusetts-based company that makes snack products from upcycled “spent grain” that has been used to brew beer. Brewer’s Foods previously had limited distribution in the Northeast.
Sprouts will carry Brewer’s Foods’ pita chips and flatbread crackers in more than 380 stores across the country.
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, meanwhile, has continued its tradition of promoting organic and environmentally products in connection with Earth Day. The Lakewood, Colorado-based grocer is offering discounts on several food items and other products, such as compostable food scrap bags, during a three-day sale between April 22nd and the 24th. Discounted foods include Cascadian Farms Organic Cereal and Granolas, Charcutnuvo Organic Brats and Sausages, Endangered Species Chocolate Bars, Siete Grain Free Tortilla Chips, Equal Exchange Select Organic Coffee, Maya Kaimal Indian Simmer Sauces, Cucina Antica Pasta Sauces, Nature’s Path Organic Cereals, and Bellwether Farms Organic Whole Milk Yogurts.
NGVC has also rolled out its fifth annual Ladybug Love Pledge drive in partnership with the nonprofit Beyond Pesticides to raise funds for eradicating synthetic pesticides in public places. NGVC is matching customer donations up to $25,000, with a goal of reaching $250,000.
Lassens, the 11-store Southern California chain specializing in healthy and minimally processed foods, takes a similar approach to Earth Day, with a week-long sales event that ends this Saturday. The retailer was offering two-for-one deals on hundreds of items throughout the store, as well as daily online prize drawings for Instagram followers.
Among the products Lassens is highlighting in its Earth Day promotion is Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One Chocolate Bars, which the California-based, environmentally conscious soap maker introduced last year. The bars feature chocolate sourced from cocoa farmers who use regenerative and organic practices.
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