Green Retail in India
Towards a Sustainable Indian Food & Beverage Retail sector
Like no other industry, retailers have the potential to drive sustainable development and change towards a more sustainable society. Retailers are the interface between suppliers and consumers with potential to determine the goods and services that are offered and, in this capacity, exert significant influence on consumer choices. This thinking is the background behind a new three and a half year SWITCH-Asia project entitled Green Retail India.
The project focuses on the Food & Beverage (F&B) sector, which constitutes about 60% of retail turnover in India. The regional project scope comprises the mega cities of Mumbai, Chennai, National Capital Region (Delhi) and Bangalore. These regions have shown the fastest growth of organized retail in India.
The project focuses on large, organized Indian retail chains with the aim of instilling sustainable thinking and the adoption of sustainable approaches in their strategy, operations, communication and marketing. Five Indian retailers will participate as pilot companies within the project: Future Value Retail, Spencers Retail Ltd, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd, Smart Retail Pvt. Ltd. and Foodworld. Particular focus will be placed on driving sustainable practices across retail supply chains, with special technical support programs being provided for small and medium sized suppliers. Another key element of the project is to create consumer awareness on sustainable consumption and green products, and thereby support more sustainable choices and lifestyles.
The project kicked off with a partner meeting on 4 and 5 February 2013. Partners include:
- Confederation of Indian Industry’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development
- Retailers Association of India
- Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production
- Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST)
- Austria Recycling (AREC)
- Sustainable Development Society (STENUM) Asia
The outcomes of the meeting are a detailed activity roadmap and implementation objectives for the first year of the project. Key upcoming milestones for this year include a green retail framework with guidelines and self-assessment tools as well as a multi-stakeholder awareness forum in India.
Further information
Project website
For more information please contact
Christina Raab
| Team Leader, Sustainable Infrastructure, Products and Services +49 (202) 459 58 48 |
