Corporate conscience

There was a time, not too long ago, when the objectives of environmentalists and the agendas of the business community would mix about as well as oil and water. While extreme views persist in both camps, the days of eco-advocacy in direct opposition to corporate culture are over.

What the facts, analyses, strategies, and opinions assembled in this, our first Green Issue, show is the convergence of doing good and doing well. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility will characterize the rest of this decade. Major trends that have emerged, to date, include energy-efficient stores, organic and locally grown foods, sustainable agriculture, Fair Trade practices, eco-friendly nonfood products, sustainable agriculture, and humane treatment of animals, as well as biodegradable, recyclable, reusable, and minimal packaging. Many of these are addressed in these pages.

This movement has turned a corner, from niche to imperative, and from PR gambit to P&L strategy.

"Ultimately, this has to be about how to turn sustainability into a source of business value," notes Joel Makower, founder of GreenBiz.com and a consultant to huge corporate entities, including General Electric, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, and Nike.

Makower spoke at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif. last month—an event that in itself serves as a window on the crucial natural and organic markets. This show is mushrooming, with attendance topping 47,000 and the show floor swelling with well over 3,000 exhibitors.

Indeed, many of the speakers and attendees at the show, which our Senior Editor, Jenny McTaggart, covered, openly pondered the question of whether getting bigger is better for the event, as well as for the movement as a whole. With Wal-Mart carrying organics and Whole Foods acquiring its biggest competitor, the industry faces unprecedented and disruptive change.

Another speaker at Expo West, Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, challenged the industry to maintain its integrity as it grows more popular. "That's where this industry is—on the cusp of real power. Now you have to ask yourselves, how are you going to use it? Companies must keep to their core values," he warned. "Otherwise they may become everything they originally opposed."

Schlosser's cautionary message is intended for a core group of merchants for which social responsibility was a founding principle, more primary than pursuing profits. The irony is many of their mainstream counterparts are now awakening to the possible payoffs of professing such core values—but they'll also need to live by them, and be able to prove it.

"The key is how the company behaves," said Schlosser. "Big companies will face bigger scrutiny in the years to come."

The keenest lesson of all is that we're in this for the long haul. Perhaps Al Gore's Oscar-winning turn with An Inconvenient Truth won't sweep him into the White House—but whoever does get behind that big desk is likely to have environmental responsibility as a key element in the game plan. So should you.

Editors' Picks

New products will be a driver in this movement—indeed they are in every aspect of this business. That's why Progressive Grocer will once again run its popular Editors' Picks feature for the fifth year in a row, in our Sept. 15 issue.

Vendors, send us the stories on your best new products among those you've introduced since July 2006, and we'll judge them for their originality, packaging, merchandising, and market trend relevance. The deadline for entries is June 1; please go to www.progressivegrocer.com/editorspick on the Web for details.

Readers, please stay tuned—when we publish the results in September there will doubtless be some leads to great new products you'll want to pick as well.

New publisher

If I were to pick someone to run the business side of a magazine, I couldn't do better than Olivia Wilson, who has just been named publisher at Progressive Grocer. Olivia is a 33-year vet in the publishing game, and has been with our brand since 2003 as associate publisher. She'll play a leading role in our growth as we continue to improve the print product, and also expand our Web site offerings, on-trend Webcasts, and compelling roundtables and other face-to-face events.