Store Brands with a Conscience

Canning, Kathie. "Store Brands with a Conscience." Progressive Grocer 1, no. 4 (October 2, 2010): 14-24.

The concept of sustainability is based on three basic areas – social, environmental and economic. But even though there are three areas that go into the development of a marketing campaign, the environmental aspect is the one which garners most of the attention. This concept is changing, though, as companies realize the importance of something called corporate social responsibility – or CSR. CSR is defined by the World Council for Sustainable Development as “the continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families, as well as of the community and society at large.” Companies are using this and its intersection with its own environmental initiatives to help its own economic aspect. In fact, CSR has become so prevalent in the operations of the corporate environment that companies like Walgreen’s, for example, have launched social responsibility websites to make it easier for socially conscious customers to find information about the organization’s efforts in this area. Women, in particular, are paying more attention to these initiatives and factoring them into their purchasing decisions. Other aspects of CSR include extending sustainability-minded certifications to store brands and verifying that the supply chain of the store brand only includes products made using sustainable practices.