We founded Ocado on green principles to provide a more sustainable alternative to supermarket shopping. From headline-grabbers like ‘closed-loop’ recycling (we collect, recycle and reuse our grocery bags) to popular initiatives like our famous ‘green van slots’, we’ve managed to lower our carbon emissions to the point where shopping with Ocado is now greener than walking to your local supermarket.†
Our business model
We deliver straight from our state-of-the-art warehouse to your kitchen; this helps us eliminate the carbon emissions generated by traditional bricks and mortar supermarkets, with their huge stores to light and heat, not to mention all those energy-guzzling banks of open fridges and freezers. With such a lean, efficient operation, we’ve been able to lower our carbon emissions to the point where each Ocado delivery now has a lower carbon footprint (CO2 per £ of sales) than walking to a supermarket. That differential will continue to grow as Ocado grows in scale and size. As founder members of 10:10, we’ve pledged to cut them by a further 10% in the next 12 months.
Our low-emission vans
By saving you a trip to the supermarket, we reduce the number of cars on the road, with each Ocado delivery van replacing up to 40 car journeys every single day. We’ll also tell you when a van is already booked in your area when you book your delivery slot, so you can help minimise the carbon impact of your particular delivery.
More about the vans
We introduced biodiesel three years ago, when studies proved that it was one of the most efficient fuels available. Following recent negative reports, we are now investigating the benefits of biodiesel and other fuels in relation to their overall environmental impact. However, in the meantime, we’ll keep using biodiesel and working hard to source it in a sustainable way. We go to great lengths to ensure that we do not use biodiesel fuel from land that would be otherwise used to raise food crops; we’re also vigilant in avoiding palm oil derivatives and committed to buying biodiesel from vegetable fats produced by growers in the UK.
Reducing energy use
We use cutting-edge energy sources like CHP to make sure our environmental impact is as low as possible. CHP stands for ‘Combined Heat and Power’ - this is a very energy efficient process because it utilises the excess heat that’s typically generated in the production of electricity. What’s more, with CHP, we don’t lose as much energy during distribution as with other sources of energy. Because of all of this, our CO2 emissions are roughly half that of conventional power - helping us to lower the carbon footprint of your weekly shopping still further.
Closed-loop recycling
We were the first UK grocery retailer to invest in closed-loop grocery bag recycling. This means that when you return your bags to our delivery drivers, they take them home to our warehouse and make shiny new bags for your next delivery. What’s more, our bags are also 100% biodegradable, so if you do ever need to throw one in the bin, you can be confident that it won’t have a lasting impact on the environment.
We have one of the largest online organic ranges in the UK, with almost all of our fresh produce, including meat, eggs and milk, supplied by organic champions Waitrose. This means it is sourced from farms that meet the best standards in quality, safety, environment and animal welfare. Waitrose also puts traceability and provenance at the top of its buying requirements, which means we can trace every lamb chop or pint of milk back to its source. Supporting organic farming helps maintain a healthy soil, supports farmland wildlife and limits the use of artificial chemicals, fertilisers and pesticides.
Investing in our future
We’re proud to announce that the independent investment partnership Generation recently become an Ocado investor. Co-founded by environmental champion Al Gore, Generation only invests in companies which demonstrate a responsible and sustainable business model – like Ocado. It believes that sustainability factors – economic, environmental, social and governance criteria – will drive a company’s returns over the long term: a vote of confidence that the Ocado way is better for the planet by far.
How we reduce food waste
We take the issue of food waste incredibly seriously, and have the lowest wastage levels of any food retailer in the world (less than 0.3% of sales). We’re also crusading hard to help our customers to reduce food waste, after learning that up to 30% of food bought in this country ends up in the bin! Our unique business model means that we’ve also become the first online food retailer anywhere in the world to show guaranteed product life on our website. Unlike other online stores, we can tell you at the checkout exactly how long your groceries will stay fresh. We also print ‘use-by’ dates on each order receipt to help customers to plan meals and make sure that nothing goes to waste. And because we print our receipts on 100% recycled paper, every part of the delivery is as green as possible.
Our awards
Of course, we don't need gongs and awards to spur us on to be greener. All the same, we were thrilled and proud to be voted Green Retailer of the Year 2009 in The Grocer Gold Awards and Large Retailer of the Year 2008 in the Online Green Awards. It’s nice that so many people out there support our way of doing things.
† Source: Greenstone Carbon Management, Ocado Carbon Footprint Audit, June 2009.
