Safeway inks deal with Hara to further reduce energy use and carbon footprint
The supermarket giant has a long history of reducing waste and increasing efficiency.
By Helen JupiterWed, Feb 17 2010 at 11:05 PM EST
Photo: Martin Deutsch/Flickr Environmental and energy management software firm Hara has added Safeway to its fast-growing list of clients, which includes Coca-Cola, News Corp. and Intuit. The supermarket giant — one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America with 1,730 stores in the U.S. and western Canada — contracted Hara for help with reducing its energy usage and carbon footprint.
With its unique, holistic approach, Hara is already an industry leader, signing up a new customer every week according to CEO Amit Chatterjee. The flourishing startup, which launched its environmental and energy management software in June 2009, helps its clients identify millions of dollars in savings from energy, water and waste abatement strategies while reducing their carbon emissions.
It will assist Safeway in consolidating its energy and environmental data onto a single, centralized platform that will collect, monitor and manage information on energy costs, greenhouse gas emissions, and market data from the grocer’s facilities.
Signing a deal with Hara is one of the many steps Safeway has taken toward reducing its energy costs and increasing the future sustainability of its business. It was the first retailer to join the Chicago Climate Exchange, and since 2007 it has successfully reduced its carbon footprint by 11 percent. Remarkably, each of Safeway’s California stores diverts, on average, over 85 percent of its materials from landfill disposal.
"Hara gives companies and organizations the opportunity to turn carbon liability into a competitive advantage by providing a holistic look at their entire organizational metabolism and helping them commit to sustainability in a way that is meaningful to their business and the environment,” said Amit Chatterjee, CEO and cofounder of Hara. “A leading retailer with operations the scale of Safeway’s is poised to make a real impact across its broad footprint and we are thrilled to offer a solution that will enable them to define and reach their goals.”
Through working with Hara, Safeway hopes to gain clearer insight into the size and makeup of its energy usage and carbon footprint, and develop a solid roadmap for achieving further cost reductions and better carbon management across its facilities nationwide.
