Safeway CSR StrategyMargot SmirniotopoulosJuly 6th 2015
Background• Celebrating its centennial• Founded in Idaho, now
headquartered in California• Fortune 67 in 2014 (formerly #62)• $42.9M Revenue (2014)• Merged with Albertsons in January
*2013 Safeway Sustainability Report Highlights
Heart of Safeway• Branded campaign• Ranked #84 of the 2013 Reputation
Institute’s Top 150 Most Reputable Companies
• Founded on four pillars:• People• Products• Community• Planet
*2015 Safeway CSR Website
CSR Competitor Landscape
*2013 Most Reputable U.S. Companies, Reputation Institute
2013 Highlights
*2013 Safeway Sustainability Report Highlights
Insights on the 2013 Report
*2013 Safeway Sustainability Report Highlights
External
•Website [csrsite.safeway.com]
•Social media
•Safeway Foundation
Communications Components
Internal
•Training programs
•Wellness programs
•Stakeholder engagement
Both
•Volunteerism
•Product recalls
•Community engagement
•Pledge programs
Closer Look: Web
• Repurposes 2013 CSR Report – creative and formal• Links to social media• Includes product recalls and position statements
*2015 Safeway CSR Website
Closer Look: Social Media• Consistent campaign
across all platforms• Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram• Opportunity for
additional engagement and responsiveness
*2015 Safeway Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts
Closer Look: Seafood Sustainability
• Industry-leading goal• 100% of seafood to be
responsibly caught/farmed by the end of 2015
• Partnership with FishWise• Recognized by
Greenpeace USA
*2015 Safeway CSR Website
Closer Look: Video
• One Heart of Safeway branded video
• Opportunity to leverage other content
*2015 Safeway Inc. YouTube Account
Closer Look: Programs
Health and Wellness
•Healthy Measures
•JumpStart
•One Simple Change
•Safety Committees
•Programs•Right to Know•Noise Control•Exposure Control•Protective Equipment
Diversity
•Employee Resource Groups
•Diversity is embedded into performance appraisals for leader accountability
•Incentive programs
•Partnership with Wounded Warrior Foundation
Leadership
•Partnership with Lean In
•Training at all levels
•Industry education programs
Misc.
•Safeway Foundation
•Safeway Health
•Stakeholder engagement
*2015 Safeway CSR Website
A Note About External Assurance
Why Assure?•Increase trust and credibility•Reduce risk•Strengthen internal reporting•Improve stakeholder communication with ongoing dialogue
*2013 The external assurance of sustainability reporting, Global Reporting Initiative
Competitor: Whole Foods• 35 years old• 410 stores with over 88k employees• Fortune 218• Multiple Foundations
• Whole Kids• Whole Cities• Whole Planet
• Possibly greenwashing (lovely descriptions, lack of serious meat)
• No consistent branding
*2015 Whole Foods Website* 2012 Whole Food’s Green Mission Report
Recommendations for Safeway
1. Have some humility
2. Provide context [percentages, year over year]
3. Create internal hub for employees
4. Upgrade “What You Can Do”
5. Stay engaged
6. Stay current
7. KEEP BRANDING
Sourceshttp://www.buzzbinpadillacrt.com/10-ways-whole-foods-is-raising-the-bar-in-csr/http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/09/14/corporate-responsibility-spotlight-whole-foods-ma.aspxhttp://soyanmacychan.com/94927/770722/work/heart-of-safeway:http://www.rankingthebrands.com/PDF/Global%20Reputation%20Pulse%20-%20U.S.%20Top%20100%202013.pdfhttp://investor.safeway.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=64607&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1946008https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy4x_Y-xlvwhttp://www.safewayfoundation.org/our-foundation/index.html