Ahold Delhaize USA, which operates more than 2,000 grocery stores under the Food Lion, Giant, Giant Food, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop brands as well as the online grocery brands Peapod and FreshDirector, on Thursday, 11 February unveiled new sustainability, traceability, and genetically modified ingredients (GMOs) initiatives that impact seafood.
By 2025, Ahold Delhaize USA will enhance its transparency information, starting with its fresh produce and meat offerings, it said.
The company “will expand its current progress to sustainably sourced seafood, coffee, and tea to be 100 percent sustainably certified in cocoa, palm oil, pulp, paper products, and packaging, and making key advances in animal welfare and human rights,” it said in a press release.
Ahold Delhaize USA also recently committed to “the most transparent” GMO labeling option, it said.
“All private brand products will have clear on-pack Bioengineered Food disclosure well ahead of the federal Bioengineered labeling deadline of 1 January, 2022,” Ahold Delhaize said.
In addition, the company is partnering with HowGood to bring customers an “easy-to-use” environmental and social impact rating system. HowGood analyzes each ingredient against environmental and social criteria, including farming practices, treatment of animals, labor conditions, and chemical use.
“Any product that receives one, two, or three leaves is one of the most sustainable products on the market. The more leaves a product has, the more sustainable it is, making it easy for customers to make informed choices when they shop,” Ahold Delhaize said.
The company said it is committed to developing a program that enables consumers to shop based on personal preferences such as using less plastic, ensuring humane treatment of animals, and finding products free of chemicals of concern.
“Ahold Delhaize USA aims to help lead the industry in traceability and is focused on driving clear transparency in the supply chain,” the retailer said.
By 2025, The company and its local brands aim to have 54 percent of private brand food sales come food it deems healthy. To support this goal, Ahold Delhaize recently announced a partnership with Partnership for a Healthier America through which it will increase access to healthier food options for consumers and publicly disclose the percentage of sales from healthier options.
"The announcement marks the largest pledge to increase healthier food sales and transparency from a grocery retailer in the U.S.,” the company said.
Consumers are demanding healthier, more transparent product options, the company said. Its proprietary research found that 43 percent of consumers feel sustainability is “extremely important” during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 28 percent of consumers who said it was extremely important to them prior to the pandemic.
Photo courtesy of William Howard/Shutterstock
