Grocery giant becomes coalition partner to help drive Beyond the Bag Initiative
Albertsons Cos., the nation’s second-largest supermarket operator, has joined the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag as a supporting partner to help reduce plastic waste through the Beyond the Bag Initiative.
The Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag was launched last summer by the Center for the Circular Economy at green investment firm Closed Loop Partners to test options to the single-use plastic shopping bag now used by mass retailers nationwide. The coalition’s three-year Beyond the Bag Initiative calls on retailers to “think outside the box” to address the global waste issue of plastic shopping bags while upholding consumer convenience.
A preview of a Griin Coffee roasting system. All images courtesy of Griin Coffee.
As the role of the office break room as a coffee hub will surely be changing in the years to come, an Israeli startup called Griin Coffee is hoping to soon greet office-goers with a groundbreaking solution for freshly roasted single-serve coffee.
The Griin Coffee system involves a subscription of directly sourced green specialty-grade coffee beans and an innovative countertop roasting appliance that incorporates “volumetric heating” technology for near-instant roasts that can then be sent straight into any super-automatic brewing machine.
Unlike traditional drum or fluid-bed roasting that heats coffee from the outside in via conduction and/or convection, the Griin system heats the beans “from the inside out,” while producing no particulate matter or CO2, and maximizing energy efficiency, according to the startup company.
The summit will take place February 24–26, 2021. In December 2020 the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “…for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.” Beasley will paint a picture of the industry’s ability to make positive changes that will impact the future of sustainable food systems. The summit’s theme depicts the goal of optimizing the food value chain to protect food and the environment through safe, secure and sustainable solutions. FRESH is pleased to provide a content-rich program that reflects its unique approach to evaluating the entire food value chain.
December 30, 2020
Almost exactly 12 long, long months ago, I pontificated about the roaring decade to come for artificial intelligence. While 2020 was completely bonkers for so many reasons, all five areas where I predicted AI would have the most demonstrable impact energy management ($8 billion in spending from 2020 to 2024), improving soil conditions ($360 million more for Indigo Ag), modeling climate risks (Microsoft’s Planetary Computer, anyone?), protecting biodiversity and boosting supply chain traceability continued to progress.
Against the odds of a pandemic-distracted economy, 2020 turned out to be a breakthrough year not just for practical applications of AI, but also for climate tech solutions ranging from agtech to zero-emissions transportation to industrial decarbonization approaches.
Supercenter retailer joins Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag
Teaming up with other food and drug retailers, Meijer has joined the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag as a supporting partner to help cut down on plastic waste.
Launched over the summer, the coalition was founded to test options to the single-use plastic shopping bag now used by mass retailers nationwide. The consortium’s three-year Beyond the Bag Initiative calls on retailers to “think outside the box” to address the global waste issue of plastic shopping bags.
“Meijer operates under the philosophy that to be a good company, we must be a good neighbor,” Vik Srinivasan, senior vice president of properties and real estate at Meijer, said in a statement. “We are committed to lessening our impact on the environment and believe our participation in this initiative is an important step in keeping our communities clean for generations to come.”