Sustainability That Pays: Financial Analysis and Expansion Strategy for a Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Program

1. Laurene worked with a sustainable online grocery store startup to understand the financial impact of their sustainability program and present findings and recommendations to the company’s CFO. Laurene provided a quantitative basis for the continuation of the program, showing that it was beneficial for the company financially, and built a roadmap to expand the program.

2. What excites me about business is the innovative companies that are reshaping supply chain systems to become more sustainable while still providing people with what they need. This project was my dream project in the intersection of food and agriculture, retail, and sustainability.

3. From the project, I identified which programs across the various centers in the US were generating profits for the company, and which were incurring losses. Through interviews with stakeholders, I identified what the company could change operationally or contractually to help eliminate inefficiencies and losses. By identifying areas of improvement, my project enabled customers across the country who wish to reduce their packaging waste with their food deliveries to continue doing so through the company’s program.

4. The client is a sustainable grocery online retailer who’s customers wanted to reduce their environmental footprint from their grocery deliveries. Through this project, I set up calls with stakeholders including warehouse and delivery employees, external partners, and internal business strategy employees to understand opportunities and pain points for all parties involved.

5. Through this project, I provided quantitative evidence that the sustainability program was a beneficial program for the company- not just because of optics, but because customers were willing to pay for a more sustainable service. I not only provided the basis for retaining this program, but even went a step beyond to build out a roadmap for expansion to further eliminate more waste from the delivery system.

6. While I will not personally be continuing on this project post graduation, I know that the company will be leveraging my roadmap to continue expanding its sustainability program and reduce its environmental footprint.