We believe in making a difference in the communities in which we live and work, every single day. This begins with supplying jobs and supporting local economies. With approximately 136,000 colleagues working in more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores, we are a major contributor to local employment and economies in Canada.

We also give generously in the areas of President’s Choice Children’s Charity, healthy active kids, feeding our neighbours, greening our communities, our Colleague Volunteer Grant Program, education and research.

We’ve made health and wellness a priority, and we’re devoting more resources than ever to developing healthier foods, promoting healthy food choices and lifestyles, and working with industry partners and regulators to shape national food strategies.

In our stores, we offer a variety of healthier foods to address many different health, lifestyle and diet regimens. These include fresh, wholesome vegetables, fruits, meat, whole grains and dairy products, as well as our Blue Menu product line, which is one of Canada’s largest healthier brands. Each Blue Menu product is designed to be healthier than the PC alternative, and at the same great price.

We pride ourselves on offering a variety of great-tasting, better-for-you options through our Blue Menu products. However, we are equally committed to providing choice to our customers and ensuring that their favourite foods, from all around the world, can be brought to their tables. Some of those products may not be considered “healthy/healthier”, but with the option of Blue Menu products, we believe that we are helping customers make healthier choices as much as possible – without sacrificing taste or quality.

We will begin to see a focus on the sugar content in foods. Everyone knows that sugar is found in sweets, like candy, cookies, cakes and ice cream, but sugar content is also often hidden in grocery store aisles. Reading the labels on products can help determine if sugar is one of the ingredients, but it has many aliases. While sucrose is a well-known sugar, other types include dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose and maltose.

We’ve made a commitment to source from sustainable sources all seafood sold at our retail locations by the end of 2013. The commitment covers all canned, frozen, fresh, wild and farmed seafood products in all categories. We’re working with partners, including WWF-Canada, the Marine Stewardship Council, marine scientists, conservation experts and fisheries, to achieve this goal.

Loblaw is proud to partner with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) – an independent, international non-profit organization that has set a global standard for the certification of fisheries that practice environmentally responsible, sustainable fishing methods. Many of our Blue Menu fish and seafood products, such as our Blue Menu Wild Albacore Tuna Mini Loin Portions, Blue Menu Encrusted Wild Keta Salmon Fillets and Blue Menu Wild Keta Salmon Cakes, bear the MSC certification symbol, which means that these products have been sourced from certified sustainable fisheries.

We are strongly committed to supporting local businesses and the Canadian economy. Supplying Canadian products remains a major priority, and we work diligently to uphold this commitment to our customers and Canadian producers.

Approximately 27% of our year-round produce purchases are home grown. Many of our food categories are exclusively sourced from Canadian producers, including fresh eggs, pork and poultry. At times, when local vendors can’t meet quantity or quality standards, we have to look elsewhere. Cost is a priority, as our focus is to provide customers with low prices every day.

Our commitment is to source with integrity and give our customers the type of quality products they deserve and have come to expect from Loblaw. We also strive to bring Canadians products from around the world that will allow them to have new taste experiences, and we work diligently across the supply chain to ensure that’s exactly what they get. We believe that our customers should be provided with the information they need to make decisions about their purchases, and at many of our Loblaw banner stores, we also provide clear labelling around country of origin to help shoppers make those decisions.

PC Organics products are made with ingredients grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers, from farms using sustainable methods.

Our PC Free Run Eggs are from hens that live in an open, weather-sheltered barn environment, where they are free to roam, feed and nest.

We comply with government regulations on animal welfare, and, as per our supplier Code of Conduct, we only work with vendors who ensure that animals are treated in accordance with government and industry guidelines for humane treatment.

We insist that all vendors supplying Loblaw comply with our ethical standards. We also use a third-party firm to audit direct offshore vendors (factories, mills, packing houses and growing locations) to ensure good working conditions, including no child harassment, abuse or forced labour; fair pay and benefits; and adherence to health and safety regulations.

Since 2007, we’ve been working towards diverting at least 70% of in-store and distribution centre waste. Today, corrugated cardboard, plastic film wrap, and metal and wood pallets are routinely recycled. In many stores, organic waste (such as spoiled fruits and vegetables) is diverted to compost or biogas facilities, and grease from in-store cooking is collected and converted to biodiesel. Even old truck tires are recapped and reused instead of going to landfill.

Over the past few years, we’ve audited our product packaging in terms of its functionality and environmental impact. As a result of this work, we’ve set a target of reducing non-recyclable packaging on private label products by 50% by 2013. Actions include removing wax from most of our frozen product cartons so that they can be recycled, replacing plastic egg cartons with fibreboard cartons and multi-walled paper packages, and replacing tin ties for cookies with boxboard cartons.

We’re also working towards a reduction in the total amount of packaging used for our control brand products.