Festival Foods, a family-and-employee owned and operated Grocer founded 77 years ago in Onalaska, Wisconsin. Festival Foods has 40 locations throughout Wisconsin and has long believed that running a Green Business is a fundamental pillar to operating a Good Business. For Festival Foods, Going Green is a Given, and they are committed to reducing their environmental footprint and helping their local communities thrive.

By focusing on initiatives that streamline their operations and engage their community, Festival Foods is steadily building a culture of ownership and responsibility. Since the creation of their Energy & Material Recovery program in 2016, their achievements include:

• Food Donations: Festival Foods donates more than $10M of excess or close to expiration products to local food pantries each year. This helps feed local families in need, fighting hunger locally while preventing edible food from ending up in landfills.
• Recycling: more than 2/3 of the waste produced in Festival Food’s stores is recycled. This includes cardboard, plastic, metals, and plastic film materials. Festival Foods even provides areas for customers to drop off their excess and bulky cardboard boxes in recycling bins at the front of their stores. This cardboard is then recycled at local paper mills.
• Composting: Products that cannot be consumed or donated are composted.
• Heat Reclaim: Festival Foods utilizes heat generated by the refrigeration equipment to heat their stores and provide hot water.
• Lighting: 100% of the lights in Festival Foods stores are LED and have been since 2018.
• Refrigeration and HVAC: State of the art refrigeration and HVAC controls allow Festival Foods to keep their equipment running efficiently, identify and resolve issues quickly, maintain product integrity, and save energy.
• EV Charging: Level 2 EV charging at most locations gives EV drivers an opportunity to charge up for free while doing their grocery shopping.
• Coming Soon: Festival Foods is switching to natural refrigerants. Starting in 2024, new Festival stores will use CO2 refrigerant which will save energy and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Festival Foods operates based on what they call the ‘Boomerang Principle’— every business decision is based on the question: ‘Will it bring the guest back?’

Indeed, the multitude of Green Initiatives that have been implemented across Festival Food’s portfolio over the past 8 years confirm that providing your customers and your community with accessible green solutions will not only bring the guests back once, but it will keep them coming back for years to come.

To learn more about the Festival Food’s Green Initiatives, please visit:
https://www.festfoods.com/