Kroger 2013 Annual Report Download - page 5

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The Kroger Difference
Kroger’s฀culture฀and฀deeply-rooted฀values฀are฀also฀reflected฀in฀how฀we฀serve฀our฀friends฀and฀neighbors฀
in฀local฀communities,฀and฀how฀we฀take฀care฀of฀each฀other.฀
We฀strive฀to฀be฀connected฀to฀and฀responsive฀to฀the฀local฀communities฀we฀serve฀by:฀
•฀ Delivering฀the฀equivalent฀of฀more than 200 million meals to more than 100 local Feeding America
food฀banks฀in฀2013.฀
•฀ Engaging฀vendors฀and฀customers฀to฀donate฀more than $6 million in 2013 in support of women’s
health and breast cancer awareness programs.
•฀ Contributing฀$3.3 million to the USO฀in฀2013฀to฀help฀support฀the฀military฀and฀their฀families.฀Since฀
2010,฀Kroger฀has฀donated฀$8.5฀million฀to฀the฀USO฀–฀the฀largest cumulative gift to the USO in that
organization’s history.
•฀ Hiring more than 22,456 veterans since 2009,฀and฀helping฀the฀“100,000฀Jobs฀Mission”฀–฀a฀coalition฀
of more than 130 companies with the common goal of hiring more than 100,000 transitioning service
members฀and฀military฀veterans฀by฀2020฀–฀surpass฀its฀original฀goal฀in฀January,฀seven฀years฀early.฀
•฀ Supporting฀ more฀ than฀ 30,000 schools and local organizations฀ with฀ $46฀ million฀ in฀ 2013฀ through฀
our฀ Community฀ Rewards฀ program฀ that฀ delivers฀ personalized,฀ customer-driven฀ donations฀ based฀ on฀
total purchases.
•฀ Contributing฀an฀additional฀$9.1฀million฀to฀local฀organizations฀in฀2013฀through฀The฀Kroger฀Co.฀Foundation.฀
In the past five years, our foundation has donated nearly $40 million.
Let’s฀remember฀that฀we฀make฀these฀investments฀because฀our฀customers฀tell฀us฀these฀causes฀are฀important฀
to฀them,฀and฀because฀they฀strengthen฀the฀communities฀we฀call฀home.฀When฀you฀combine฀the฀cash,฀food฀and฀
product we donate to a variety of causes and programs, Kroger contributed more than $250 million to
our local communities in 2013.
We฀ also฀ make฀ a฀ difference฀ in฀ the฀ lives฀ of฀ our฀ associates,฀ customers฀ and฀ communities฀ through฀ our฀
commitments฀to฀safety,฀sustainability,฀supplier฀diversity฀and฀job฀growth.฀
Kroger is one of the safest companies in our industry. Associate engagement in innovative safety
programs฀has฀reduced฀accident฀rates฀in฀ our฀stores฀and฀manufacturing฀plants฀by฀ 77฀ percent฀since฀1995.฀In฀
2013,฀831฀retail฀locations,฀three฀manufacturing฀plants,฀and฀ three฀ distribution฀centers฀ went฀the฀entire฀year฀
without฀a฀recordable฀accident.
One฀ of฀ Kroger’s฀ key฀ sustainability฀ priorities฀ is฀ moving฀ our฀ retail฀ stores฀ and฀ facilities฀ toward฀ “zero฀
waste”.฀Our฀stores฀are฀sending฀less฀waste฀to฀landfills฀and฀incinerators฀through฀a฀variety฀of฀efforts,฀including฀
composting and our innovative Perishable Donations Program฀ –฀ a฀ process฀ to฀ rescue฀ safe,฀ edible฀ fresh฀
products฀and฀donate฀them฀quickly฀to฀local฀food฀banks.฀This฀system฀has฀been฀replicated฀by฀other฀retailers฀and฀
today฀fresh฀products฀make฀up฀more฀than฀half฀of฀the฀food฀distributed฀nationwide฀by฀Feeding฀America.฀Our฀
manufacturing facilities continue to lead waste reduction. Today, 26 of our 38 manufacturing plants are
designated as “zero waste” facilities.
You฀ can฀ learn฀ more฀ about฀ our฀ sustainability฀ initiatives฀ by฀ reading฀ our฀ annual฀ sustainability฀ report,฀
available฀on฀our฀website฀sustainability.kroger.com.
Kroger is a leader in supplier diversity,฀ spending฀ nearly฀ $2฀ billion฀ annually฀ with฀ women-฀ and฀
minority-owned฀businesses.฀We฀proudly฀remain฀a฀member฀of฀the฀Billion฀Dollar฀Roundtable฀and฀the฀United฀
States฀Hispanic฀Chamber฀of฀Commerce฀Million฀Dollar฀Club.
Kroger is doing our part to create jobs and opportunity.฀We฀employ฀7,000฀more฀associates฀today฀
than฀we฀did฀last฀year,฀and฀nearly฀90฀percent฀of฀those฀new฀jobs฀are฀in฀our฀supermarket฀divisions.฀Over฀the฀last฀
six฀years,฀Kroger฀has฀created฀more฀than฀40,000฀new฀jobs฀in฀the฀local฀communities฀we฀serve.