Outstanding Value Chain Award Recipient

National Co+op Grocer and Climate Collaborative presents the Outstanding Value Chain Award 

Hummingbird Wholesale has been honored by receiving the National Co+op Grocers (NCG) and Climate Collaborative Award for Outstanding Value Chain for our innovative container deposit, return and reuse program. Our program, developed and facilitated by Hummingbird Wholesale, is unique in the food industry. In collaboration with our customers, we have successfully surmounted many of the barriers to reusing packaging for our bulk products, rather than relying on disposable containers for much of our bulk product line.

We are known for a wide array of delicious and wholesome organic foods, delivered in reusable containers, since 2003. Our innovative returnable packaging program has resulted in over 125,000 pounds of plastic containers and 93,000 pounds of glass containers reused (a 76% return rate overall)—making a hit in the industry. Because of our program's demonstrated success over time, Hummingbird’s packaging reuse program proves itself as a model other companies can replicate—representing the very best of what these awards are all about. Discover more of our sustainability initiatives, including a video story about the container reuse program, to find out more about Hummingbird's commitment to continuous improvements toward being a more sustainable business.

The 2020 NCG and Climate Collaborative Awards, which were scheduled to be presented at the annual Natural Products Expo West—cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, were announced on April 3rd in a webinar presented by Climate Collaborative. Awards were presented to six companies, in three categories: Outstanding Company, Outstanding Value Chain and Outstanding Influencer. Hummingbird is humbled and proud to receive this award alongside other industry leaders: Outpost Natural Foods, Stonyfield Organics, General Mills, Imlak’esh Organics and Ahmed Rahim and Reem Hassani of Numi Organic Tea. The awards recipients are a reminder that, even amid crisis, every journey toward solutions begins with a single step—a goal to reduce plastic, a commitment to foods that restore rainforests, a willingness to test climate-friendly farming methods and share what is learned. Natural product companies are taking the climate crisis seriously and demonstrating that the new definition of success lies beyond “business as usual.”

Food—how it is grown, produced, transported, used and thrown away—has a huge impact on our climate. Food co-ops are working together on a national level to organize and influence the natural products industry to prioritize climate action. National Co+op Grocers (NCG), a national co-op owned by food co-ops, is a pioneering supporter and participant in the Climate Collaborative, a coalition of companies with a shared goal of climate action.

In partnership with the Collaborative, NCG underwrites annual awards to identify and highlight inspiring stories of people taking bold, meaningful action within our food system to slow climate change. Check out this year’s National Co+op Grocers Climate Collaborative Award winners, selected from a pool of companies, co-ops and individuals nominated for innovation and excellence in climate leadership.

You can view the original post on the National Co+op Grocers site here.