Raley’s shares company impact report

Raley’s has released its first annual impact report, highlighting the organization’s actions in 2020 that were aimed at nourishing its people, communities, the planet and its purpose.

“Our first impact report exemplifies our team’s dedication to prioritizing purpose over profit and our commitment to serving multiple bottom lines,” said Keith Knopf, president and CEO of West Sacramento, Calif.-based Raley’s. “We are committed to being more than a grocery store, so it is both rewarding and humbling to see the progress we were able to make this past year to change the way the world eats and positively impact the communities we serve.”

Highlights of Raley’s inaugural impact report include:

Responding to COVID-19:

• Invested more than $60 million in enhanced safety protections.
• Hired and trained 9,000-plus new team members.
• Provided more than $15 million to team members through appreciation pay and bonuses.
• Donated $200,000 to purchase devices and internet access to allow students in low-income districts to complete schoolwork at home.

Community Investment:

• Raised $9 million-plus, the equivalent of 6,482,118 meals, for 12 Feeding America-aligned food banks through Raley’s Food For Families program.
• Donated more than $1 million in funds to causes and organizations to empower current and future generations to live healthier and happier lives.
• Issued $700,000 in Extra Credit grants to 48 schools and districts for programs that promote nutrition education, teach food literacy, address food insecurity, provide physical safety, and directly impact students’ mental, emotional and physical well-being.

Sustainable and Responsible Operations:

• Diverted more than 70% of all waste company-wide from landfills.
• Donated 4.8 million pounds of food via Raley’s food rescue program.
• Continued commitment to and focus on ethical supply chain practices.

Changing the Way Consumers Eat:

• Continued outpacing the competition in sales of better-for-you items in categories such as clean label, grain-free, non-GMO, keto, plant-based, organic and nutrient-dense.
• In June 2020, opened the first Raley’s O-N-E Market, in Truckee, California, a unique shopping destination focused on wellness education and offering a highly curated assortment of products that meet high standards of health, nutrition and sustainability.

Raley’s O-N-E Market is set apart from a conventional grocery store, with items carefully selected to exclude ingredients from the retailer's banned-ingredient list, such as high-fructose corn syrup, artificial preservatives, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats and oils. Interested customers can take advantage of the Something Extra Health program, which provides education and personalized counseling to help participants on their personal wellness journeys.

The Truckee location also boasts several sustainable elements, including high-efficiency LED lighting, motion sensors in all refrigerated and frozen cases, a highly reflective “cool roof,” a low water-consumption adiabatic refrigeration condensing system, 210 photovoltaic solar panels, and an anaerobic digester process that converts organic waste into bio-natural gas to power homes and fuel school buses. The Jeffrey pine trees cleared for the site were also harvested and repurposed into the store’s design, including décor elements and approximately 10,000 square feet of paneling on the A-frame ceiling. 

The Raley’s O-N-E Market concept is an important part of the retailer's long-range strategy. The company will be transforming two existing Raley’s stores into Raley’s O-N-E Markets. One of them is the El Dorado Hills Raley’s location, scheduled to reopen on April 17. The store, located at 3935 Park Drive, will be temporarily closed April 12-16 while it undergoes transformation.

“We are wholly committed to our purpose of changing the way the world eats, one plate at a time. It inspires and guides every decision we make, including this one to convert our El Dorado Hills store,” said Knopf. “We care deeply about the health and well-being of the people and communities we serve and take our stewardship as a neighborhood food company seriously.”

In addition to detailing the impact made throughout the past year, Raley’s impact report sets goals for 2021 and beyond. Moving forward, the retailer intends to publish an impact report annually to transparently report progress toward these goals.

Privately owned and family-operated Raley’s operates more than 120 stores under six banners: Raley’s, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods, Food Source, Market 5-ONE-5 and Raley’s O-N-E Market.