These have been well documented, from securing future energy supply, land quality and availability, water quality and quantity, whilst improving biodiversity.

They require a whole range of solutions.

One part of the picture needs to be consumer-led demand for a more sustainable future.

However, as we know all too well, currently few consumers are actively engaged in being part of the solution. This is partly due to an understandably limited knowledge of the issues, as well as the challenge appearing so big, and the limited number of products and services that can definitively help them become part of the solution. Hopefully this will improve over time.

Governments are another potential source to create the change required. There have been some very successful initiatives that have come about from government or multi-government intervention. Examples from the UK are the UK Landfill Tax and Montreal Protocol.

However, with recent economic concerns, the majority of governments are prioritising reviving short-term GDP, rather than addressing the long-term challenges stated above.

So the onus remains on industry to do the heavy lifting, think creatively and come up with a stream of new ideas.

Over the last few years, there have been some superb solutions that companies have introduced within their supply chains, in their own operations and with consumers.

Here are a few that have caught my eye as potential ‘game changers’ that could lead us all on a path to a more sustainable future:

• Unilever, Project Sunshine: A movement consisting of a growing community of people who believe it is possible to build a world where everyone lives well and lives sustainably

• Coca-Cola, Happiness Arcade:  Making recycling Coca-Cola bottles fun

• Honest By, 100% Transparent: The company is unique in communicating all the details about the supply chain of its products and pricing.

But a lot of great work does not receive the limelight that it deserves. So if you work for a food and grocery company or have heard of interesting examples from other sectors that the industry can learn from, do share them with us by adding your comments below to this blog.

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This gives rise to the obvious question “Why focus on sustainability?”

The word sustainability connotes a pollution free world. This can be achieved when energy consumption is minimized, carbon foot print reduced and employees have a healthy work environment. To achieve this, retailers need to mend the supply chain system, revamp stores and distribution centres and minimize waste generation.

The background
The Switch Programme developed by European Union helps retailers adopt sustainable supply chain practices. Switch stands for switching to sustainable consumption and production practices.

The objective is to create and understand change through the comparisons of ‘pre’ and ‘post’ metrics. Change is required in the upstream value chain, where a number of suppliers and vendors collaborate, to downstream of the value chain – where the consumer is impacted.

To implement change on this magnitude, the Switch Asia Programme, a regional programme, is running the Green Retail Project of four year duration in India.  The Green Retail Project, funded by the European Union (EU), is spearheaded by CII along with the four partners, Retailers Association of India (RAI), Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), Austria Recycling (AREC) and Stenum ASIA.

Focus: Food & Beverages
Like other industries, retail has taken its share of the blame in impacting the environment. As the sector grows this impact becomes severe. For example:  the Food & Beverage (F&B) sector, which accounts for 60% of retail business, is the most energy intensive industry in India.

Ms Seema Arora, Director of Green Retail Project, says, “In the F&B sector, 40% of products go to waste either in supply chain operations, retail outlets or consumer use phases. This is a huge number, indicative of inefficiencies in the system and has direct financial implications – cost, production output and sales. Even if we are able to address these two big sustainability impacts of the chain, it is not complete until we work with consumers and society in getting them to use more sustainable products towards improving their lifestyle. To achieve this, retailers have to provide products that are more sustainable than the norm in their manufacture, use and disposal – this requires close collaboration with supply chain members – and also generate awareness, communicate and educate consumers in going for a more sustainable option. Creating a shift in consumers’ mindset is a hard but extremely important task that the retail industry has to undertake.”

Future focus:
India has adopted National action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2008 to implement integrated strategies for achieving key goals in the context of the climate change. The eighth National Mission is the core mission of NAPCC which is coordinated by the Mission on Solar Energy and Energy Efficiency.  As an extension of the national plan, state level action plans have been drafted and deployed at various level of governance aligned with the eight National Missions. “India has announced a domestic goal of reducing the emission intensity of its GDP by 20-25 per cent of the 2005 level by 2020. This will be achieved through a multi-sector low carbon development strategy,” says Ms Arora.

Woodland’s concern for the planet

• Use of recycled paper for the packaging and carry bags
• Electronic billing, publishing and communication to minimise use of paper and energy
• Associated with WWF Earth Hour campaign, UNICEF Wash Program
• Under Proplanet banner conducting youth oriented activities to spread awareness about environmental issues
• Rewarding customers who are using green products such as a solar heater.

Religare Healthworld slashes the use of paper

• Switch to CFL and LED lighting systems
• Carton reusing policy – to ensure that packing is recycled for material dispatches
• Replacing plastic loyalty cards with a robust IT/mobile phone based system, thus saving on energy used for printing loyalty cards
• SMS/Web based feedback system which has resulted in lesser consumption of physical paper

Eco-friendly approach by Yum! Brands

• Have been strategically developing suppliers in India to grow local expertise and experience, and improving industry standards by transferring know-how from Yum!’s international supply base.
• With one year of operations of the Besant Nagar store, Yum! has been successful in saving 42% of potable water, using fixtures designed for lower water use and combined with the reuse of rejected water from RO in toilet flushing. These savings are based on LEED baselines and have been accepted by Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI)
• Besant Nagar store also saves 22% electrical energy through initiatives like high efficiency air-conditioning, ventilation; use of reflective paints and double glazing, lighting with low-power LED bulbs, harvesting sunlight to reduce artificial lighting and using solar energy for heating, amongst others. This store was built with locally sourced, environmentally friendly construction and paint material.

The Body Shop way to sustainable causes

• Primary suppliers for products and shop fittings must comply with the Ethical Trade initiative – including fair rights for workers in supply Chain.
• The new ‘Pulse’ store shop fit is sustainably sourced and made from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).
• 46% of the products have PCR (Post Consumer Recyclate) packaging
• Sourcing 100% of wooden accessories through FSC sources
• “Wood Positive” – an initiative that calculates paper and card usage in the international supply chain, and replants the equivalent amount plus an extra 10%.
• Has own foundation which has supported over 2500 initiatives around the world in human rights, animal welfare and protecting the environment
• Products are 100% vegetarian, and the company recently won the “International Sustainability Brand of the Year” with the Business In The Community
• Cruelty-free campaign in partnership with Cruelty Free International to help promote the ban of animal testing around the world

Sustainability gifts every 11th store “free” – to Mahindra Retail

• Overall energy spends down by 15% by using LEDs lights
• Reducing emissions by changing air conditioning filters regularly;
• Reducing carry bag usage
• Reducing travel by using video conferencing
• Reducing resources by reusing and resizing building fixtures, thereby saving 18% of maintenance costs.

Energy Efficiency helps save Rs 6.8cr per annum for Shoppers Stop

• Saving 60 lakh units of power using energy efficient lighting and by working with the mall developers to maximise natural light. This equals to Rs 6.8 crore per annum, which is a cost of a one store.
• Rainwater harvesting / storm water drainage based reuse of water resources for air conditioners.
• Focusing on recycling paper saving 84 mio pages to date through initiatives

Panel discussion on Sustainability in Retail

From L to R: Surender Gnanaolivu, Executive Vice President and Head – Marketing,
Brand Experience and Store Development, Mahindra Retail Pvt Ltd; Siddharth Bindra, MD, BiBa; Sudhir Soundalgekar, CCA & Head Lifestyle & Specialty Projects, Shoppers Stop Ltd

Opening Remarks

Moderator: Ravi Singh, CEO & Secretary General WWF

• The world is today consuming 1.5 planets worth of resources annually.

• Demand for certain commodities such as palm oil, milk and beef (buffalo meat) is threatening India’s biodiversity.

• Owing to its direct contact with consumers, the retail industry is in a position to drive change towards sustainability.

• Experience with mature markets shows that the ‘tipping point’ towards structural sustainability is when consumers adopt and are willing to pay for sustainable products.

What are your initiatives towards sustainability?

• Our sustainability initiatives are driven by decisions that make business sense.

• Three objectives for sustainability initiatives:

1. Reduce Energy: overall energy spends down by 15% by using LEDs lights

2. Reduce Emissions: changing air conditioning filters regularly; reducing carry bag usage; reduce travel by using video conferencing.

3. Reduce Resources: reusing and resizing building fixtures, saved 18% maintenance costs.

• This disciplined approach to sustainability has ensured cost savings  every 11th store free.

Surender Gnanaolivu, EVP, Mahindra Retail

M&M sustainability ethos at a group level runs deep. The challenge was to adapt to Retail.

What are your initiatives towards sustainability?

• Typically manufacturing processes such as printing release a lot of effluents. So we try to maintain a control on that.

• Textile plant use chemicals which are environmentally friendly because they also cater to the European market.  Have had these extended to India.

• Progressive standards in manufacturing, are being applied by default, to the Indian market.

Siddharth Bindra, Owner, BIBA

We are launching a range of organic cotton to gauge customer willingness to adopt and pay a premium.

What are your initiatives towards sustainability?

• Sustainability was driven top-down, by business requirements.

• Reduce: Lighting / Air conditioning. As power tariffs increased, there was pressure to reduce usage.

• Reuse: Rainwater harvesting / Storm water drainage based reuse of water resources for air conditioners.

• Recycle: Focus on recycling paper

• Results:  60 lakhs units of power saved by Shoppers Stop Ltd. = to Rs 6.8 crores per annum. Equal to one store “free” given to management per annum.

• Saved 84 mio pages to date through initiatives to recycle paper.

• Carbon footprint – saved 10 metric tons of carbon footprint.

• Carbon footprint benchmarks:

• Comparable with international retailers such as M&S and Walmart.

Sudhir Soundalgekar, Projects Head, Shoppers Stop

If there is a policy – driven top down – then sustainability is easy to implement within a company

How can the entire retail supply chain be made sustainable?

“There are no government

regulations in this regard as yet.

So the industry must take the lead in educating customers to make environment-friendly choices.”

– Surender Gnanaolivu, Executive Vice President and Head Marketing, Brand Experience and Store Development, Mahindra Retail Pvt Ltd

“We need to partners with vendors. The industry needs to explain the cause of sustainability to the people we source from and encourage them to observe our policies.”

– Siddharth Bindra, MD, BiBa

“Firstly, consumers need to be motivated to believe in the cause of sustainability. Secondly, the retail industry needs to incentivise and evangelise intelligent methods of resource consumption.”

– Sudhir Soundalgekar, CCA & Head Lifestyle & Specialty Projects,
Shoppers Stop Ltd

In India, the Retailers Association of India has partnered with the EU to further this cause.

During RAI’s Supply Chain Summit in Mumbai, on December 5 2013, STOrai spoke to Dr. Arno Schaefer, Minister Counselor, Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to India about the program. We discussed sustainability in retail and how Switch Asia applies to India. Excerpts from the conversation:

RAI: What was the intent behind developing the Switch Asia Project?
Dr. A.S: The European Union has undertaken a number of initiatives in order to tackle the issue of climate change, general environmental protection and sustainable development. We at European Union look at Sustainability from an economic, social and environmental point of view. It is under this theme of Sustainability that we developed the Switch Asia Project.

The Switch Asia Project is a demand driven program; it is not negotiated with the government or internally. We have fixed the objectives of the program as Sustainable Consumption & Production. We then called for proposals which are in line with these objectives, considered the one which fits best and implement it.

The retail sector including the supply chain, i.e. from production to consumption has a crucial role to play. It is important from the point of view of economic value add, and from the employment point of view. There are issues related to transport, emission, energy use & efficiency which are linked to Sustainable Production & Consumption. These issues need to be tackled in context of a country’s retail environment.

Since the Indian retail environment is extremely heterogeneous with millions of participants it is an enormous challenge to improve the area, to implement technologies, create awareness, to educate and to carry out advocacy. Thus when we have the befitting application for this project, we feel it will prove to be a great initiative for umbrella organizations, for partners to address retail sector, to promote the idea of sustainability in the sector.

Thus Switch Asia Project for us is an entry point to promote these ideas generally.

RAI:  What are your expectations and final outcome from the Switch Asia Project?
Dr. A.S: The final outcome and expectation from the project you will find lies in the general objectives of European Union regarding environmental protection, sustainable production, and climate change. We intend to achieve this through the project by increasing awareness amongst the millions of stakeholders of the retail sector- first about the problems and then the possible solutions, which partly is about energy efficiency technology, and partly about better management.

The focus is to get people to realize that one can reduce use of energy, reduce waste and create cost benefits. And at the same time you are also doing something good for environment, for us and for the next generations.

And while attempting to achieve these expectations in case we come across gaps in the system then with the support of organizations like RAI, we would carry out advocacy initiatives. Actions can be taken up with policy makers & legislators to tackle gaps that exist in the legislations & regulatory environment.

RAI: What are some of the immediate issues that come to mind with reference to India, which can be impacted through the project?
Dr. A.S: At the European Union we have programs which are built to improve the livelihood of people. We have large programs developed in the education space, some for disadvantaged areas and regions, where we run health programs.

In an Indian context, when we looked a little deeper we noticed serious issues plaguing the food & beverage areas. I have noticed that in disadvantaged areas there are major issues like malnutrition in children; hospitals have special wards to treat them. While government measures like school feeding programs, and also the new Food Security Bill are present, there is a lot the retail industry can also do in this space.

We want to help the retail industry to build an efficient system, which is capable of providing products that are essential for the health of growing children at affordable prices. And these foods should not just be staples like rice, but also other produce like vegetables. It this system is built then no longer are the children dependent on state intervention, food security bills or school feeding program. They will have a more accessible option i.e. the market itself.

The ideal is, if I, as a consumer in India, can shop for the basic necessities in outlets throughout the country at affordable prices. This will solve many problems without requiring any intervention of government.

That’s our vision or goal for this program – from an Indian perspective.

RAI: Why does the Switch-ASIA project focus on SMEs?
Dr. A.S: The reason behind our focus on SMEs is that they play an important role in the Indian retail sector. While we are asking retailers to adopt the SCP concept it is also  essential that the backend that is the companies from where the products come from adopt this idea. It is essential that what sells at the store is a result of sustainable production.

Right now, consumer awareness on sustainability of product sold by retailers is low.  It is a matter of time before this awareness takes root and plays its part.  Consumers will begin to demand sustainable products. And once this demand flows in – the retail system should know how to tackle it.   For them to know, their own vendors and suppliers who are SME’s, need to understand the inter-dependency.

So we are targeting SME’s to reduce the lack of awareness regarding sustainability in that sector.

RAI: Do you see sustainable supply chains as becoming a ‘business-as-usual’ feature?
Dr. A.S: Sustainable supply chain soon will be a business-as-usual practice. This partly will be due to regulation because then it becomes an obligation. But, partly the change will happen due to public pressure and the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. If companies are bringing products in the market which are unsafe, unhealthy or are produced in an unhealthy environment then bad reputation is sure to follow. Thus the pressure from both regulations and consumer side will ensure that sustainable production patterns become part of business-as-usual.

RAI: Your experience at Supply Chain Summit 2013 & your message to the Retail Industry
Dr. A.S: Personally I must say I was very excited and surprised about the context, the large range of discussions that transpired at Supply Chain Summit 2013. I was impressed by the knowledge of the people regarding the varied facets of sustainability and I hope these discussions materialized into effective actions.

Retailers are an intrinsic part of their local communities – and a natural aggregator of community opinion. In this role they are capable of both setting and driving/ amplifying local themes and concerns around sustainability.  Globally retailers such as Carrefour S.A., M&S, IKEA, Starbucks, Timberland, M&S, Puma and Consumer Product companies have adopted a “triple bottom line” approach – People, Planet & Profit.   STORAI profiles 2 malls in India – Inorbit malls and the Great India Place – and their endeavors in this regard:

Transforming the marsh
Inorbit Malls is the pioneers of the mall culture in India. The company has six operational malls – the first mall was set up in Malad, in 2004, followed by other five others in Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Whitefield and Vadodara.

Inorbit’s first mall came up in the suburb of Malad. In the late 1990’s – Malad was synonymous with marshland. Inorbit was developed on a plot known simply as “504” – and was created by using the garbage from a defunct dumping ground to stabilize land reclaimed from the marsh. The mall, at 500,000 square feet was large – for its time – and went on to become a run-away success when it opened.  With two anchor stores – Group Company Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle, the Diwali season of 2004 clocked revenues for both companies much higher than projected targets. The mall offered a large parking facility, easy access to the main road and the nearest railway station served as a hub to transform the sleepy residential suburb of Malad into a destination shopping area for people living as far as away as Colaba – which is the southern-most tip of Mumbai, Inorbit became the focal point of “Mindspace” – a commercial cum residential complex. Mindspace became one of the ‘business districts’ in Mumbai (in addition to Bandra Kurla, Powai, and the traditional south Mumbai commercial destination of Nariman Point) – which helped to reframe traffic patterns in the city from the traditional North-South direction (where people lived in the north and worked in the South of the  island city) to a a “east west” direction.

Since then, Inorbit malls have gone through a thorough location selection process. “Location selection process starts with intense market research and catchment analysis in various cities. Consumer insights focusing on buying behavior, purchasing power, changing trends, and access to national and international brands, availability and price of the land in the area form crucial stage of evaluation,” says Kishore Bhatija, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Inorbit Malls.

In 2006 the Malad area faced challenging feedback from environmentalists who contended that the fumes from the reclaimed land were causing an environmental hazard.  In response the K Raheja Group (which owns Inorbit malls) worked with the Clinton Climate Initiative to ‘retrofit’ the mall, reduce its carbon foot print and ensure that the mall achieved LEED certification (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environment Design). The group also built a public park and created a protected green zone atop the specific site of the erstwhile city dump to rebalance environmental concerns.

Inorbit mall has transformed the face of Malad. In addition to Mindspace, the 3 km stretch around Inorbit and Mindspace has seen the development of several commercial complexes, residential buildings, parks and has become a BPO hub. Currently, the 5 km stretch of leading upto Mindspace has 3 big malls and departmental stores like Hypercity, Inorbit, Infiniti 2, Dmart, and Croma. It has become a weekend destination for suburban Mumbai.

Apart from being a catalyst to development, Inorbit has also undertaken community development initiatives.

“We believe our strength lies in understanding the pulse of the local catchment and giving them exactly what they would like to see in a mall. We have a series of community initiatives where we engage with the patrons from the catchment and work towards creating a value add to their experience. Inorbit strives to increase ‘dwell time’.  The response has been great and most people in Malad look at Inorbit as a community mall than just as a shopping destination,” says Kishore.

Mall Walk – A unique initiative
Inorbit Mall, Malad introduced the concept of ‘Mall Walk”. Inorbit lets senior citizens and fitness enthusiasts use the area inside the mall for their morning walk. It’s safe, clean and free of any hazard of pollution or traffic. “The mall walk is a savior from the humid climate and torrential rains of Mumbai. It’s a community-building exercise that helps to create a personal connection with the customer. It was not started with the goal to generate more footfalls but it has fostered greater brand loyalty. We also conduct Art of Living programs across our various properties.”

“This is the first time ever that any company across the world has taken this initiative and undertaken such a tie-up. These energy-efficient practices would not only help Inorbit save energy, but also achieve a significant reduction in the carbon footprint of the mall,” says Kishore.

Great India Place,  Noida
Inaugurated in 2007, The Great India Place is one of the first malls of Noida; and at 1.5 mio square feet, is one of the largest operational malls in India. Developed by the International Recreation Parks Pvt Ltd (IRPPL), a JV between Unitech Ltd and International Amusement Ltd, it is located adjacent to a NOIDA Metro station. The mall is itself a part of the larger entertainment city amusement park (called Worlds of Wonder).
The mall structure is giant stone building. Sanjay Chandra, MD, Unitech Ltd, says, “The building’s design has practical advantages – not only is a stone wall cheap to construct, it is conducive to efficient air-conditioning and allows more room for retailing; when compared to a glass facade. A glass window would not only take up room for window dressings but would also require elementary paneling before the shelf area can start, which means wasted space.”

The mall was designed by Callison, one of the largest architectural design firms in the United States. As part of the “Worlds of Wonder” – the mall has become a destination for retailment in Noida.

“We have registered all our commercial developments in NCR in LEED Core and Shell rating LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design). As far as social forestry is concerned, we take pride in the fact that the Unitech brand is associated with ‘Green’. We plant trees on a continuous basis in and around all our locations,” says Sanjay. Some of the other efforts include Rainwater Harvesting, Energy Efficient Buildings, and Social Forestry. In addition, the company runs “Sankalp” a program where employees can volunteer their time in areas such as healthcare, labour welfare, child education and skill building.