Spinneys’ sustainability mandate continues

As part of its ongoing drive toward sustainability, Spinneys has launched the Farm to Table programme. What was the idea behind it?

Spinneys has just celebrated its 60th anniversary and as a food retailer that wants to be around for another 60 years, it has a responsibility to support the development of the UAE. A core part of the journey toward a sustainable UAE revolves around educating future generations on the importance of healthy and sustainable food consumption. We have a responsibility as a company, particularly one that stands for ‘Eat well, live well’, to help that transition toward a more sustainable society.

Farm to Table kicked off a couple of months ago. What does the programme include?

Fifty schools in Dubai have signed up for the programme so far and we hope to include many more from the other Emirates soon. As part of the programme, teachers are trained to deliver five modules of educational content based on five topics – where our food comes from; how it’s produced – locally and internationally; how it reaches the UAE; and what healthy eating means. People may not realise this but health and well-being are a core part of sustainable development goals.

How do you engage children in such a programme? And make them understand its importance?

The whole programme was designed for children. We’re trying to make a change by reaching out to younger children because learning about these concepts at an early age will influence their choices and behaviours. All the material has been designed for a seven to an 11-year-old audience under the guidance of experts from organisations such as the British Nutrition Foundation, which has a wealth of experience in creating engaging content for kids. It’s all designed to be fun and hands-on. For example, they will be shown maps of the world to understand where the fruit and vegetables in stores come from; they’ll get to visit local farms; cook with fresh produce and much more.

Russell Impiazzi, the executive chef at the Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk, is involved in this programme. Why did you choose to work with him?

Russell has had a long-standing interest in educating children about the importance of including vegetables and fruit in their daily diets. And, thus, we felt he’d be the perfect partner to kick off our first set of activities, which was a series of live cooking classes at seven schools. The kids got to try a variety of produce from Spinneys and he taught them how to make their own delicious, plant-based meals. We got excellent feedback from students and teachers and there will be many more such activities in collaboration with other chefs from the region in the future.

Tell us about some of the other projects you’ve been busy working on.

We’ve been working hard to create a formal sustainability plan for 2030 that is aligned with the UN sustainable development agenda. We’ve joined a food waste coalition known as the 10x20x30 Coalition, which is about responsible production and consumption. In terms of reducing our waste, we’ve given our customers the option of returning their Christmas trees to us for composting; and our Veganuary campaign now runs for two months during which time we promote plant-based food products to create an awareness about more sustainable food options. There’s still a lot to do but we’re really excited with the progress we’ve made.

Spinneys Layan opened in December 2021. What sets it apart from other Spinneys stores?

As soon as we knew that we were going to open a store next to Sustainable City, we saw it as an opportunity to build a store that is tailored toward sustainability. It also gave us a chance to work out how we could evolve a retail experience toward one that is focused on reducing waste, educating shoppers and encouraging them to make more informed choices. In terms of reducing waste, we’ve got refill options for groceries, water, botanical soft drinks and household brands such as Ecover. We’re also offering customers 20% discounts for returning to store with their old Ecover detergent bottles and bringing their own containers to the deli counter. There’s no plastic bags at the checkout counters – a move that our customers have really appreciated. We’ve also installed solar panels on the roof of the store as well as the car park shades, which allow the store to run on a renewable energy source.