Global Compact SuperValu Supermarket

SuperValu is part of the Musgrave Group. The Musgrave group is one of six companies in Ireland which have signed up to follow the terms of the Global Compact.

Local Produce We found there was a lot of local produce in the supermarket, especially in the meat area. The shop manager was very passionate about selling local produce and each item was traceable back to its origin.

Fair-trade SuperValu sold both Fair-trade and normal tea and coffees. They were both similarly priced and packaged. This shop also sold Fair-trade chocolate which was more expensive. But the quantity was less than that of non-fair-trade chocolate.

Food Miles Even though this shop provides a wide range of locally produced foods it still imports some products such as blueberries from Canada and wines from Australia.

Waste and Recycling The shop had very strict policies on waste management and recycling. Each type of waste has their own specified bin. The green bins were for fruit and vegetables, the red bin for dairy produce and meat, the blue bins were for recyclable materials such as cardboard and the black bins were for general waste.

The Benefits of Recycling Recycling can be hugely helpful in our fight against global warming. After recyclable materials are crushed down and brought away to factories so they can be remade into new products such as the black bin bags shown below which were made from 100% recycled material.

Eco-Friendly Produce The shop stocks a wide range of Environmentally Friendly products. This includes products such as ‘Ecover’ washing up liquid and energy saving light bulbs. The shop also promoted these products to customers with deals like 3 for 2 prices on the light bulbs and labels on the washing up liquid promoting Irish products.

Conclusion Overall, we felt that SuperValu supermarket upheld the terms of the Global Compact very well, in all aspects of their business.