-By PG Staff

The supermarket industry has often been criticized as slow to recognize and adapt to cutting-edge trends, but that's not the case regarding what could be one of the most important trends in the history of the planet: environmental sustainability.

Driven primarily by the impacts of rising energy costs on their operations, but also by the growing concerns of their customers about the future of the environment, supermarket operators both large and small are taking major steps to make their stores and distribution arms more efficient now and in the future.

Their tactics range from using daylight harvesting and LED case lighting, to reducing refrigerants; implementing "smart" air conditioning systems; running vehicles using cleaner fuel; breaking new ground with recycling, composting, and waste reduction efforts; and more.

The list of retailers getting involved at some level in sustainable operations over the past year or so is too long to recount here, but a smaller number of retailers are leaders in creating sustainability programs that encompass as many of these tactics as they can while still remaining sharp and successful food merchants. These 10 supermarket operators are prominent in that pantheon; in a year in which many grocers have made public strides toward environmentally friendlier retailing, these are standouts, and that's why Progressive Grocer is recognizing them as our first-ever Green Grocers.

Delhaize Group: The Belgian retail conglomerate's U.S. banners became active in energy-saving initiatives before "green" was a major industry trend. Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion, LLC recently opened the nation's first grocery store to simultaneously incorporate two ozone-friendly product refrigeration systems that reduce by more then 60 percent the amount of refrigerants needed to keep products cool or frozen. The grocery chain owns more than half of the country's roughly 1,300 Energy Star-labeled grocery stores (recognized for superior energy performance), and is working to earn more than 100 Energy Star labels this year, to bring its total number of Energy Star stores to 800. The chain also rolled out low-priced reusable bags in stores across its multiple banners, which include Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Harveys, and Reid's. Food Lion, LLC and sister chain Hannaford Supermarkets, which is based in Scarborough, Maine, are founding members of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, a U.S. EPA cooperative alliance with the supermarket industry and other stakeholders to promote advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases. Hannaford has earned the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star label at 16 of its stores.

Giant Eagle:  The Pittsburgh-based regional grocer is a member of the EPA's GreenChill program and two-time recipient of the EPA "Energy Star Partner of the Year Award" for excellence in energy management. The company was also recognized with the Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award for continued leadership in protecting the environment through energy efficiency in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Giant Eagle operated the first LEED-certified supermarket in the country, back in 2004, and, more recently, another LEED-certified store that received Pennsylvania's first LEED Silver Commercial Interior certification in April 2007. In addition to these recognitions, the retailer offers environmentally friendly E85, or biodiesel fuel, at select locations of its GetGo fuel centers, and runs recycling and reusable bag programs.

H.E. Butt Grocery Co. (HEB): HEB is focused on a number of environmental sustainability projects in its home state of Texas. The grocer is an advocate of recycling materials, including aluminum, steel, plastic, oil, cardboard, and computers. It has also increased the amount of groceries that goes into each bag at checkout, to reduce the number of plastic bags it uses by an estimated 136.4 million. Meanwhile the company says it saves 6.2 million gallons of water each year by reusing condensation from manufacturing steam equipment. Other important achievements: HEB was the first retailer in Texas to offer customers E85 fuel (85 percent ethanol) along the IH-35 corridor, and close to half of its largest delivery trucks in Houston operate on liquefied natural gas. Due to these fuel-saving strategies, HEB was the only Texas-based company invited to serve as a charter partner in the EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership. Last but not least, the grocer is using wind energy to power some of its stores.

The Kroger Co.: Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. and General Motors are collaborating to increase the use of ethanol-based fuel in Ohio, and have launched 20 E85 fuel stations in Texas. As part of its overall environmental strategy, Kroger has also rolled out in its Central Division a national plastic-recycling initiative, "Bag 2 Bag," which will be fully operational by November and expand chainwide by the end of the year. Additionally, Kroger's Central Division has launched an environmental partnership with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. with an initial $25,000 contribution, and with a portion of that 2008 funding earmarked to support beautification projects in the neighborhoods adjacent to Kroger's newest regional stores.

Publix Super Markets: Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix is involved in a broad number of green initiatives. The company is focused on building new stores that are more energy-efficient than existing stores; minimizing water use while still maintaining the highest standards of sanitation and food safety in the industry; reducing fuel use and emissions through fleet modifications, training, and optimization of loads, routing, and delivery schedules; and recycling store-generated material destined for landfills, while also working with its suppliers to reduce materials, promote reusable and recyclable materials, and increase the use of recycled content where practical. In 2001 Publix created "Get Into a Green Routine," a program geared toward customers and associates, to promote environmental responsibility. The program began with education and emphasis on energy conservation, and has extended to waste reduction, recycling, and conservation of other resources, including water. Publix is teaming with the EPA in the agency's GreenChill program to evaluate new refrigeration technologies, and is seeking LEED certification for its new Publix GreenWise Market stores.

Safeway, Inc.: Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway is one of the top retail purchasers of wind energy, ranks as the fifth-largest retail purchaser of renewable power, and is the first retailer and grocer to join both the Chicago Climate Exchange and the California Climate Action registry. The company is focused on reducing energy consumption by designing more efficient stores and using new technology, and continues to make recycling a priority throughout its operations. In 2006 Safeway joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a voluntary public/private alliance launched by the EPA and the freight industry to increase fuel efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gases. Its distribution fleets in California and Arizona have converted to biodiesel.

Stop & Shop: The Quincy, Mass.-based grocer recently received the John A.S. McGlennon Environmental Award for Corporate Leadership from the Environmental Business Council (EBC) of New England, for its outstanding environmental leadership and commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability. The recognition came on the heels of Stop & Shop's attainment of LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for 51 of its existing stores, making the Ahold USA banner the first supermarket chain and the first company in the country to earn volume certification for existing buildings (LEED, EB) under the "Portfolio Program." The banner also ran an Earth Day-themed promotion that took five cents off the total grocery bill for each shopping bag a customer brought from home to use while shopping, whether paper, plastic, or reusable. Stop & Shop additionally launched a promotion with General Mills that gave customers reusable bags at no charge.

Ukrop's Super Markets: Even though Ukrop's is a relatively small regional and privately held grocer based in Richmond, Va., the company is big on innovation when it comes to being green. Most recently, Ukrop's has begun to recycle its chicken-fryer soy oil to supply its truck fleet and refrigerated trailers with B15 biodiesel. The company estimates that 50,000 to 60,000 gallons of B15 biodiesel will be produced as a result. This is just one part of its companywide initiative to focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling. Ukrop's has been baling paper and cardboard for 35 years. It collects plastic from stores and provides recycling bins for customers. In 1998 it began offering a four-cent bag credit for reusing paper bags, averaging 12,000 per week. Ten years later, it provides a five-cent credit on its 100 percent recycled paper bags, and began offering mesh bags in September 2007, which its in-house marketing department designs. Since the introduction of the mesh bag program, 275,000 have been sold, and weekly bag credits average 55,000. Ukrop's also works to practice smart energy use in all of its stores, recycles more than 3 million pounds of fruit and vegetable waste per year from its Central Kitchen operations by turning it into compost, and donates proceeds from sales of Ukrop's Organic Compost and Ukrop's bottled water to the James River Association.

Walmart Stores, Inc.: As the world’s largest retailer, Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Stores, Inc. recognized the impact it has on the environment and began taking steps in the mid '90s to make a difference. In 2005 president and c.e.o. H. Lee Scott made a commitment to reduce the environmental impact of the company by embedding sustainability into the business model. Its goals: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, to create zero waste, and to sell products that sustain natural resources and the environment. Scott announced two building goals: to reduce greenhouse gases at existing facilities by 20 percent by 2012, and to design and open a viable store prototype that's up to 30 percent more energy-efficient and will produce up to 30 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions by 2009. Today the mega-retailer's HE.5 pilot store is up to 45 percent more energy-efficient than the 2005 baseline store. Walmart has also influenced major packaging changes in the industry. The company is extremely open about what it's doing, and supports the idea of sharing information with other companies in the retailing community.

Whole Foods Market: Whole Foods' efforts in sustainability have largely been tied to its product selection and sourcing practices. The grocer has long focused on local and organic foods, fair sourcing, and strict product standards. For instance, the Austin, Texas-based chain just announced it's enhancing its farmed seafood standards. In January Whole Foods became the first U.S. supermarket to commit to completely eliminating disposable plastic grocery bags, to help protect the environment and conserve resources. Meanwhile most of its stores participate in a composting program in which food waste and compostable paper goods are regenerated into compost. In January 2006 the company made a landmark purchase of renewable energy credits to offset 100 percent of the electricity used in all of its stores, facilities, bakehouses, distribution centers, regional offices, and national headquarters in the United States and Canada. Another bonus: Whole Foods has been awarded Green Power awards by the EPA for four years for efforts in accelerating the development of renewable energy capacity.