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By the end of November, Metro Inc. will become the first Canadian food retailer to offer reusable produce bags in its stores across the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
This will get the chain one step closer to eliminating plastic bags for good.
Consumers will need to shell out $4.99 for a set of four reusable bags, which Metro will offer as an alternative to the rolls of plastic bags that are typically found in most grocery stores’ produce sections.
“This measure is yet another initiative by Metro Inc. to respond to the needs of [its] customers,” explained Christian Bourbonnière, senior VP of the company’s Quebec division.
“In a recent internal survey, 50 percent of our customers expressed concern about the over-packaging of fruits and vegetables.”
According to Metro, that same survey also revealed that 77 percent of customers were making efforts to limit their use of plastic bags when buying fruits and vegetables, while 76 percent said they would be interested in buying reusable produce bags. And 87 percent of customers indicated that they preferred to buy individual fruits and vegetables instead of prepackaged ones.
“The reduction in the usage of plastic bags is one of our main priorities and we’re happy to see that a major retailer like Metro Inc. is doing [its] part to help us reach our goal,” said Claude Hill, finances VP and general director of the Quebec Environment Foundation, which has been promoting reusable bags for over five years.
Metro first introduced its reusable shopping bags in 2006 and, last June, it began charging customers who were asking for plastic or paper bags. According to Marie-Claude Bacon, corporate affairs director, the company currently has no plans to charge customers who use regular produce plastic bags, nor does it intend to remove them from its stores.
Nov.
2009
2009
Posted in Bitz
