Erja Mähönen has been training K-food stores’ personnel in environmental matters for ten years. The co-operation between Mähönen and the K-Group began when the K-environmental store concept was still being developed.
Erja Mähönen is a motivated trainer for K-environmental stores and also therefore, a frequent visitor in K-food stores. In April, Erja held training sessions for the staffs of the new K-supermarket Kangasala near Tampere.
“When doing my shopping, it often happens that I’ll be about to walk through the swinging doors to the rear areas of the shop to ask about something when I’ll remember that I’m not a work, and must stay on the shop side,” Erja says with a chuckle.
Tight grip on development
Mähönen, who is unreserved and enthusiastic, describes her field of work as inspiring, as it is constantly offering something new. Technology brings new possibilities, as do more environmentally friendly attitudes. While the increase in the amount of information can cause pain, it also opens up new possibilities for operating in more environmentally friendly ways.
“More and more Finns are buying organic. Although according to the Mitä Suomi syö (“What Finns eat”) study carried out last autumn only 41 per cent of Finns buy organic products at least once a month, the figure is already twice as high as the corresponding figure a few years ago.
Mähönen also has good news about the product range of K-stores. When Pirkka’s inexpensive price image is combined with organic, this overcomes the organic products’ expensive image:
“When Pirkka organic products are displayed clearly, they are more often purchased even by those people who rarely buy organic.”
Modest communications a challenge for environmental stores
Over 10 years, the environmental store concept has become an objective which all retailers of the K-Group are encouraged to pursue. Although 460 stores participated in the concept at the beginning of the year, not all consumers are yet familiar with it.
“We have done a lot of good, but didn’t think about informing people about it in a sufficiently visible and audible way. Finnish shyness kicks in, and nobody dares to open their mouth until everything is surely perfect."
"Say something when you are planning measures and say something the moment you get results,” is Mähönen’s recommendation for environmental store staff.
For the common good
Mähönen reminds us that responsibility brings friends: doing something for the common good makes for good corporate citizenship.
“Retailers are familiar with their locality and know best what motivates people and what kinds of campaigns appeal to their customers. If environmental issues are currently visible in a store mostly during theme weeks, these could be brought to the fore on a more day-to-day basis, too,” Mähönen says.
In addition to communications, Mähönen includes the sufficiency of personnel as one of the challenges for environmental stores..It is important that the retailer is supported in environmental work by a sufficient number of environmental representatives and everyone is aware of the correct procedures.
“Many environmental stores have outlined the store’s arrangement methods on a single sheet of paper so that visiting product demonstrators or part-time shelf stackers can easily arrange shelves according to the instructions.”
K-environmental store in a nutshell
K-retailers’ environmental management is based on the K-environmental store concept. K-environmental stores pay extra attention to the store’s environmental impacts and their reduction. The concept is the only one of its kind in Finland.
The K-environment store concept is in use in the K-citymarket, K-supermarket, K-market, Rautia, K-rauta and K-maatalous stores. Of the K-food stores 460 are K-environmental stores and the number is constantly rising.
The aim is to train K-environmental stores’ entire personnel to become environmental experts.
K-environmental stores focus on five issues. The environmentally sound product ranges and shelf edge markings play a key role. The reduction and recycling of the store’s own waste are also important, as are energy management and cleaning practices. The fifth pillar consists of environmental advice and recycling services offered to consumers.
At environmental stores, consumers are offered the possibility to consume responsibly. Selections include environmentally sound and ethically produced products, such as organic, eco-labelled and Fairtrade products. Customers are given information on products’ environmental impacts and ethical matters.
Responsible consumers will choose K-environmental stores, as these take active steps to reduce the environmental impacts caused by them and offer their customers a good selection of responsible products.
Text: Mariaana Nelimarkka, K-ruokakauppa-lehti 5/2010