In a ceremony at the FMI – The Food Industry Association’s Energy and Store Development Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Program recognized 12 food retail companies and one manufacturer of advanced refrigeration systems for their achievements.
“Participants in the GreenChill Partnership and Store Certification Programs have been leading the industry in environmentally friendly refrigeration practices, and EPA annually honors their achievements at both the corporate and individual store certification level,” said Paul Gunning, director of EPA’s Office of Atmospheric Protection.
“These companies’ efforts show that it is possible to keep food cool while protecting our Earth’s ozone layer and climate system by setting and achieving ambitious goals year after year.”
The following GreenChill Partner companies were recognized:
- Best Emissions Rate – Ashland Food Co-Op and Meijer.
- Most Improved Emissions Rate – Brookshire Grocery Co.
- Superior Goal Achievement – Ashland Food Co-Op; Brookshire Grocery Co.; Food Lion; The Giant Co.; Hannaford Supermarkets; King Kullen; and Weis Markets.
- Exceptional Goal Achievement – Ashland Food Co-Op and Food Lion.
“We’ve made significant progress toward our goal of reducing our absolute carbon emissions 50 percent by 2025, thanks in part to our teams’ continued focus on refrigeration management through our partnership with GreenChill,” said Vik Srinivasan, chief administrative officer for Meijer.
GreenChill’s Store Certification Program
The program recognized stores for meeting strict performance criteria, including refrigeration systems with minimal potential impacts on the ozone layer and climate system.
This year’s GreenChill Store Certification recognitions honor:
Store Leadership
- Kwik Trip in La Crosse, Wisconsin, honored as the first convenience store to receive a GreenChill Certification.
Store Certification Excellence
- Aldi had 628 GreenChill Certified Stores over the past year – more stores than any supermarket chain has previously achieved – and all of which were at the highest Platinum-Level Certification.
- Hillphoenix was recognized for the 11th consecutive year as the commercial systems manufacturer with the most systems installed in GreenChill Certified Stores in the past year.
Store Recertification Excellence
- Aldi – 109 locations across California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin achieved certification for five consecutive years.
- Hannaford – The Turner, Maine, store earned certification for 10 consecutive years.
- Meijer – The Marysville, Ohio, store achieved certification for five consecutive years.
- Publix Super Markets – Five locations in Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina reached five-year recertifications.
- Target – Two stores in Florida and Illinois received GreenChill Store Certification for five consecutive years.
- Weis Markets – The Danville, Pennsylvania, store attained certification for five consecutive years.
About the GreenChill Program
GreenChill’s Partnership is a voluntary program for food retailers committed to the transition of ozone-depleting refrigerants, reducing refrigerant emissions and adopting improved refrigeration management practices and technologies.
The partnership’s goals are to provide food retailers and other industry stakeholders with information and assistance to transition to environmentally friendlier refrigerants, lower refrigerant charge sizes, eliminate refrigerant leaks, implement best environmental practices and adopt green refrigeration technologies.
Since GreenChill launched in 2007, many food retailers have joined the Corporate Emissions Reduction Program. The number of stores has nearly tripled, from 4,500 to more than 13,000 stores in all 50 states.
Read more grocery store equipment news from The Shelby Report.
