Giant Eagle Relaunches Nature’s Basket Private Brand
Giant Eagle has relaunched its Nature’s Basket private label brand as part of the grocer’s on-going commitment to the issue of sustainability.
All items in the line will now feature responsibly sourced, high-quality ingredients. To increase transparency, Giant Eagle has partnered with an independent sustainability intelligence company — HowGood — to evaluate the environmental and social impact of each item in the Nature’s Basket line and provide a comprehensive sustainability rating.
Products that achieve HowGood ratings of good, great, and best have an overall environmental and social sustainability impact that is better than more than 70%, 85%, and 95% of food products assessed by HowGood, respectively. Approximately 70% of Nature’s Basket items have received a HowGood rating of good, great, or best.
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HowGood calculates product sustainability ratings using eight core impact metrics: greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, processing, water usage, labor risk, land use, soil health, and animal welfare.
“We’re committed to helping our customers to realize meaningful value through our Own Brands program, and I am particularly excited to reintroduce our Nature’s Basket line to our customers,” said Kasey Sheffer, vice president of Own Brands at Giant Eagle. “When a customer purchases any Nature’s Basket item, we want them to feel good about the price, quality of the ingredients, and the environmental and social impact of the product.”
When building an online order, Giant Eagle customers can review the HowGood ratings of Nature’s Basket items listed under “Product Details” on each product’s page. HowGood Ratings will also be featured on in-store signage to help customers find products that align with their preferences.
“Through our Nature's Basket brand, we’re excited to offer customers a reimagined product line with an enhanced focus on sustainability,” said Cara Mercil, director of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility at Giant Eagle. “We’ve taken an innovative approach to strengthening the Nature’s Basket brand, both through our partnership with HowGood and our continued work to reduce waste through the development of product packaging that is more reusable, recyclable, and biodegradable.”
Additionally, all Nature’s Basket-branded meat products have received third-party animal welfare certifications, and Nature’s Basket products containing plant-based ingredients are made exclusively with non-GMO ingredients. Organic products meet the standards set by the United States Department of Agriculture for organic labeling, while natural foods adhere to or surpass the definition of natural food as defined by the USDA.
The growth of products that make environmental, social, and governance (ESG) claims has significantly outpaced that of traditional products. Over a five-year period, products that claim ESG attributes have grown 28% vs. 20% traditional, according to the 2023 joint study from McKinsey and NielsenIQ: Consumers care about sustainability – and back it up with their wallets.