BOISE, ID - Albertsons Companies announced a spate of ways in which the retailer was working to improve sustainability practices this week. The company’s 2018 Sustainability Update highlights successful efforts to reduce waste, expand organic offerings, lead in seafood sustainability, and support the causes customers care about. The centerpiece of the report involves the purchase of 10 all-electric Tesla trucks for its Southern California fleet.

“Our employee promise is to Make Every Day a Better Day,” said President and CEO Jim Donald, in a press release. “That means being a good community partner and a committed steward of the environment. We take that obligation seriously because our company is growing and innovating at lightning speed. And when we move forward, we leave a trail behind.”

Albertsons noted, in that press release, that it plans to use these 10 Tesla all-electric semi-trucks to service Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions stores in Southern California. The trucks will be able to travel from 300 miles to upwards of 500 miles on a single charge while fully loaded, and the trucks use less than two kilowatt hours of energy per mile.

“Advancing supply chain efficiency and sustainability is an important goal for our company,” said Tom Nartker, VP of Transportation. “We’re excited to pilot this expansion of our transportation program with trucks that help us limit our overall carbon footprint.”

Other hallmarks Albertsons noted in the company’s Sustainability Update include:

• Having surpassed $1 billion in sales for the O Organics® line of USDA-certified organic products. O Organics is now one of the nation's largest private-label USDA-certified organic brands
• Having Won the 2017 Environmental Protection Agency Safer (EPA) Choice Partner of the Year Award for promoting safer products such as Open Nature™ household cleaning supplies
• The company trained 3,000 pharmacists to administer NARCAN® Nasal Spray, a life-saving drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose
• Albertsons donated more than $250 million in food donations to local food banks
• The company raised and distributed $44.6 million to support causes that impact customers’ lives, including wildfire and hurricane disaster relief, veterans’ charities, childhood hunger, and cancer research and treatment
• Albertsons was named an EPA Green Power Partner for the fourth consecutive year for procuring and using renewable energy

For more on forward-thinking companies in the fresh produce space, keep reading AndNowUKnow.

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