Business & Tech

King Kullen Rates Poorly on Green Group's Study

Local grocer receives 'F' for efforts promoting reusable bags in stores.

Paper or Plastic? That age old question may be what caused local grocer King Kullen to receive one of the lowest grades from an environmental advocacy group.

According to a new report from Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a consumer advocacy group based in Farmingdale, "America's First Supermarket," King Kullen, was one of the lowest scoring of the 14 supermarket chains they surveyed for policies related to reusable shopping bags or totes being displayed and promoted in their stores. Along with Uncle Giuseppes and Trader Joe's, King Kullen received a failing 'F' grade.

The report assessed supermarkets on nine criteria, including availability and cost of reusable shopping bags, signage in stores, windows and parking lots, discounts for reusing bags, cashier training, willingness to participate in the consumer study and in-store follow up. Each of the questions had a specific point value ranging from zero to five points based on response.

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King Kullen's brand of reusable totes sell for $.99 apiece and consumers are not credited for using them on subsequent visits. The Bethpage-based grocer also provides plastic bag recycling bins at each of its stores. Walmart has the cheapest reusable totes at $.50 each while Whole Foods reimburses the most, giving consumers $.10 for each bag they use when they checkout.

Waldbaums and Pathmark received 'B-plus' grades on the report, while Target and Wild by Nature received B grades while Walmart scored a 'C-plus.' Whole Foods and Stop & Shop scored the highest on the report at 100 and 96, respectively earning an 'A-plus' from the environmental group. The grading was not indicative of any one store, rather it was grouped together by supermarket chain as an overall score for all locations.

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In a statement released Thursday, King Kullen Vice President Thomas Cullen said that the supermarket "encourages all customers to recycle their plastic bags by bringing them right back to the store and depositing them in the recycling bins. We also hope King Kullen shoppers will purchase the reusable bags we've made available at every store - but that is the customer's decision. We believe in offering a choice."

"Grocery stores have helped create the problem of disposable bags and now we need them to help solve this problem," said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "We hope all stores use this report as an opportunity to implement policies that encourage consumers to make the switch to reusable bags."


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