Kroger 2014 Annual Report Download - page 6

4
Taking Care of Our Communities
We฀are฀a฀locally-connected฀retailer฀that฀is฀embedded฀in฀the฀community.฀When฀you฀combine฀the฀food฀
and฀ funds฀ we฀ donate,฀ working฀ together฀ our฀ Company,฀ foundation,฀ customers,฀ associates฀ and฀ suppliers฀
contributed more than $280 million to our local communities in 2014.
We฀strive฀to฀be฀connected฀to฀and฀responsive฀to฀the฀local฀communities฀we฀serve฀by:฀
•฀ Delivering฀the฀equivalent฀of฀more than 270 million meals฀to฀more฀than฀100฀local฀Feeding฀America฀
food฀banks฀in฀2014.฀
•฀ Donating฀ more than $6 million in 2014 in support of women’s health and breast cancer
awareness programs.฀Fully฀half฀of฀it฀was฀contributed฀by฀customers฀and฀associates.฀
•฀ Contributing฀$3.3 million to the USO฀in฀2014฀to฀help฀support฀the฀military฀and฀their฀families.฀Since฀
2010,฀Kroger฀has฀donated฀$11.9฀million฀to฀the฀USO฀–฀the฀largest cumulative gift to the USO in that
organization’s฀history.฀
•฀ Supporting฀ more฀ than฀ 30,000 schools and local organizations฀ with฀ $51฀ million฀ donated฀ in฀ 2014฀
through฀our฀Community฀Rewards฀program฀that฀delivers฀customer-driven฀donations฀based฀on฀purchases฀
in our stores.
We฀ make฀ all฀ of฀ these฀ strategic฀ investments฀ because฀ they฀ strengthen฀ the฀ communities฀ we฀ call฀ home฀
and also improve our connection with our customers, who have identified these causes as the priorities that
are฀most฀important฀to฀them.฀We฀see฀our฀community฀connection฀–฀the฀Kroger฀difference฀–฀as฀an฀important฀
competitive advantage for our company and as a point of pride for our associates.
We฀also฀see฀engagement with local farmers and producers฀as฀part฀of฀our฀efforts฀to฀make฀a฀difference฀
in฀our฀communities.฀We฀work฀closely฀with฀growers฀to฀buy฀local฀and฀market฀their฀seasonally-fresh฀products฀in฀
our฀stores,฀and฀we฀participate฀in฀established฀programs฀such฀as฀Colorado฀Proud,฀Kentucky฀Proud฀and฀Go฀Texan฀
to฀meet฀the฀growing฀demand฀for฀fresh,฀locally-sourced฀foods.
Kroger฀ is฀ a฀ leader in supplier diversity,฀ spending฀ more฀ than฀ $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, received a Top Organization
for Multicultural Business Opportunities award from Diversity Business, and was named one of
America’s Top Corporations for Women Business Enterprises by฀the฀Women’s Business Enterprise
National Council.
Taking Care of the Planet
In฀2014,฀we฀continued฀our฀12-year฀journey฀to฀reduce฀our฀energy฀consumption฀while฀expanding฀square฀
footage and sales. We have reduced energy consumption by 35% since 2000.฀Kroger฀was฀recently฀honored฀
as฀a฀2015฀ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year฀for฀our฀work฀in฀energy฀management.฀
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฀many฀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 37 manufacturing plants are
designated as “zero waste” facilities.
Another important area is sustainable seafood.฀ Our฀goal฀ is฀to฀source฀100%฀of฀our฀fresh฀and฀frozen฀
seafood฀from฀sustainable฀sources.฀We฀continue฀to฀make฀strong฀progress฀toward฀this฀goal,฀reaching฀86%฀in฀
2014฀and฀placing฀Kroger฀among฀market-leaders.฀
You฀ can฀ learn฀ more฀ about฀ our฀ sustainability฀ initiatives฀ by฀ reading฀ our฀ annual฀ sustainability฀ report,฀
available฀on฀our฀website฀sustainability.kroger.com.
* * *