Dive Brief:

• United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) has completed its eighth and largest solar array installation at a distribution center in Howell, New Jersey, according to a Wednesday press release.
• In addition to the solar array, UNFI plans to finish LED lighting upgrades at 33 distribution centers by the end of the current fiscal year.
• These efforts support UNFI’s Better For All agenda and come at a time when sustainability is moving to the forefront of grocers’ and distributors’ initiatives.

Dive Insight:

The new solar array is nearly three times larger than UNFI’s previous installations, the company said. The 3.2-megawatt roof-mounted solar panel array is made up of 7,171 panels, which generate renewable electricity approximately equivalent to the Howell distribution center’s annualized energy demand, according to the announcement. 

The company projects the system will produce around 3.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, which will prevent approximately 2,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent released into the atmosphere each year.

UNFI cites the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator in determining that the solar installation’s environmental benefits are equivalent to the emissions of 524 U.S. homes’ electricity use for one year. 

UNFI worked with PowerFlex, which provides solar, storage and electric vehicle charging solutions, on the Howell center’s solar array. 

“This newest solar array, coupled with our current LED lighting projects at a majority of our distribution centers are expected to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions year-over-year and represent a milestone on our path to building a food system that is better for our people, communities, and the planet,” UNFI CEO Sandy Douglas said in a statement. “These efforts are also expected to reduce our operational costs and help us become more efficient, and that’s a positive for our business.”

UNFI aims to retrofit more than 30 of its distribution centers built prior to 2002 with the latest LED lighting by the end of the company’s fiscal year. UNFI said these lighting updates are cost- and energy-efficient, providing a longer lifespan and operating at a lower temperature compared to traditional lighting. 

When the project is finished, all 56 of UNFI’s distribution centers will have LED lighting, which the company predicts will save it nearly 2 million kilowatt hours of electricity usage per year. 

Already, UNFI’s installed LED lighting has reduced Scope 2 emissions and is helping the company reach its goal of reducing energy intensity in its distribution centers by 30% by 2030, Alisha Real, the company’s vice president of ESG and social impact, said in the announcement.  

More grocery players are turning to solar panels, as well as other green-energy measures, in an effort to find sustainable solutions. Meijer, for example, signed a renewable energy power purchase agreement in March 2022 with Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions that the grocer claims will remove over 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from its operations.