Sprouts Farmers Market has published its 2020 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report, highlighting the healthy grocer’s commitment to growing its coast-to-coast business sustainably and responsibly.
“This report demonstrates the ‘doing well by doing good’ philosophy in which our long-term strategy is rooted and highlights some of the ways we’re improving our business while caring for our customers, team members, local communities and the planet,” said Jack Sinclair, CEO. “I’m happy to share the progress we’ve made in building a business that is committed to improving the world we live in. I want to thank not only our dedicated team members, but also our supply chain partners, vendors and growers who worked collectively to make healthy food accessible to our customers in what was truly an extraordinary year.”
Sprouts’ ESG initiatives overlap with and complement the company’s long-term growth strategies, including creating an advantaged fresh supply chain. To accomplish this, Sprouts is working to position all stores within 250 miles of a distribution center, which will reduce food waste, lower its transportation-related carbon footprint, increase access to local farmers and provide fresher produce to customers, strengthening the fresh, local and organic produce assortment Sprouts is known for.
Sprouts will continue to engage with stakeholders to refine the ESG issues that are most material to Sprouts and determine appropriate goals, metrics and strategies to implement in response.
Highlights from the 2020 ESG report include:
Environment
Climate
- Reduced per store refrigeration-related emissions by 35 percent over a 2016 baseline; and
- Reduced carbon emissions per square foot by nearly 10 percent from 2019.
Waste
- Achieved an overall landfill diversion rate of 58 percent by repurposing and recycling nearly 78,000 tons of food and other recyclables; and
- Recovered 68 percent of food waste generated and donated the equivalent of 23 million meals to help those struggling with hunger.
Sourcing
- Committed to ensuring all Sprouts brand products containing palm oil will be sourced with a sustainable certification by the end of 2022; and
- Transitioned 100 percent of pork supply to be sourced from suppliers that utilize open-pen or group-housed facilities.
Social
COVID Response
- Covered 100 percent of the costs for team member COVID testing and paid up to four hours of paid sick time off to receive the vaccine; and
- Paid more than $100 million in team member bonuses.
Team Member Development and Inclusion
- Created 2,500 new jobs and promoted 7,200 team members of which 55 percent are female and 49 percent are ethnically diverse; and
- Delivered 475,000 hours of in-store training.
Community
- The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation awarded $1.6 million in grants and donations to programs supporting youth nutrition education and academic support, and food system equity; and
- Supported an estimated 350,000 students with nutrition programs, taught virtually, during school closures.
Governance
Corporate Governance
- 87 percent of Sprouts’ board members are independent; and
- 25 percent of Sprouts’ board members are female and 13 percent are ethnically diverse.
Risk Management
- Formed a board-level risk committee to monitor enterprise risk management program and provide oversight of risks related to cybersecurity, critical systems and environmental and social matters among others.
Sprouts also has published a table summary that aligns with the Food Retailers & Distributors industry standards of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) on the Investor Relations page of about.sprouts.com.
