Our ethical grocer of the week is Kesko!!!
Kesko Corporation is a Finnish retailing conglomerate with its head office in Ruskeasuo, Helsinki. With more than 1,800 stores in eight countries, Kesko is the most sustainable grocery trade company in the world. In fact, Kesko has been included on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list for 16 consecutive years!
There are several factors that have earned Kesko a well-deserved spot on this list. Some include:
- Operational transparency: openly disclosing the origin of the products they purchase and how sustainable the production of those products is.
- Onsite climate actions: all electricity purchased by Kesko for K-stores and other Kesko properties in Finland is produced with renewable energy making them the biggest producer and user of solar power in Finland.
- Operating model for carbon neutral grocery stores: a new energy recycling model is currently at three K-food stores. It can reduce heat consumption by as much as 95% and turn the store property almost carbon neutral in terms of energy.
- Cotton policy: all cotton sourced for K Group’s own brands will be more sustainably produced by 2024.
- Change in packaging: has cut their plastic consumption by over 100 tons per year.
- Consumer education: recently introduced a new calculator that shows customers the carbon footprint of their food purchases.
Kesko certainly does an exceptional job at assuring consumers that their products are verified, safe and responsibly produced. Kesko has undoubtedly made a declaration of their commitment to sustainability. They are a lead example that we hope many others will follow as sustainability becomes more mainstream.
For all of those reasons Kesko is our ethical grocer of the week. Are you a Kesko fan?
