Not all supermarkets are born the same: how a sustainable retailer delivered on its ethical strategies
Thornton’s Budgens, the supermarket franchise based in North West London, has a clear vision at its core: have minimum negative impact on the environment.
Since taking this pledge in 2007, they have worked hard to bring it to reality: they were ahead of the plastic charge law when they stopped handing out carrier bags back in 2008. They were also the first to add doors to their chillers in 2010, soon followed by other convenience supermarkets.
Their latest campaign is the high visibility Plastic-Free initiative launched in November 2018 and now they are one of the first supermarkets in the world to offer over 1,700 products in non-plastic packages and plastic-free zones to their 16,000 weekly customers.
We spoke to Kate Avgarska, Facilities Manager, about their sustainable sourcing practices and to how far they are ready to go when it comes to organic produce.
Kate, what drives your attitude towards sustainability?
We clearly want to stand out for our ethical stance. We are not afraid to try new initiatives to get close to our environmental goals, breaking a few boundaries in the process. For us, this is a no-brainer and is supported by commercial logic as well: market research tells us that 70% of our customers is ready to pay a premium for food that is sustainably grown and sourced.
What has your latest “sustainability” challenge been?
We had a hard time when we lost our free-range chicken provider in 2018. We had to look for a new farm but were struggling to find a new partner that would guarantee the high level of quality we were looking for at the quantity we needed. It was also tricky to find a producer that would deliver to our London location weekly.
After six months of unsuccessful research, we decided to give COLLECTIVfood a try, as we wanted to still source directly but were not finding the right solution for our needs. That helped us move forward in our search for quality produce.
Eventually we got matched with Castlemead, a fully free-range poultry farm in Somerset, and we couldn’t be more pleased.
How do you promote the free-range provenance of your meat and does that have an impact?
We have a sign over our meat hot counters letting our customers know where the meat is from. Usually, supermarkets do not know where their meat comes from because they buy it from wholesalers who remove the farms’ labels. We instead are doing something different by adding the Castlemead brand to our offer.
We now serve 800kg free-range chickens and 160kg pork ribs and the quality and variety of flavours have had an immediate impact on sales. Our hot meat counter business was suffering because of the inconsistent quality while researching a new supplier, but we believe we have now found the ideal solution for our business and for our customers by committing to work with this farm.
What would you advise farms who want to build relationships with retailers such as yourselves?
Consult with your potential clients. Ask them what they want to see in terms of branding, ingredient lists, packaging and any other specs they might have. These initial consultations are key to building an appealing offer and could make or break a deal.
What would you say to the Castlemead farm?
Keep up the quality! We’re proud to serve your organic meat at our store and we’re excited to explore how we can bring more of your products to our customers.
