Sustainability

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Sustainability

Sustainability Initiatives

Promotion of Sustainability in Four Activity Areas

Our sustainability initiatives are focused on activities in four areas, namely “economy through food,” “active participation by our people,” “social contributions,” and “environmental preservation.
We have entered an era in which it is imperative that companies engage in business operations that are considerate of the environment and social contribution.
Halows has long upheld its management philosophy of “contributing to improvements in life and culture in local communities,” and in areas other than its main business of food sales, it has also had a policy of working to contribute to the environment and culture.
Working together with our stakeholders to address global environmental, social, and economic challenges proactively and continuously, we will contribute to the creation of happiness for people all over the world and further promote activities that are conscious of sustainability in our day-to-day operations.

To contribute to the improvement of the food culture of customers in the regions, we will work to supply safe and reliable products at low prices and in a stable manner.
To do this, we strive to introduce the concept of safety and reliability into our day-to-day operations and into the equipment and fittings that are used by customers and employees, strengthen our quality management systems, and enhance product development and customer-friendly store facilities.

Internal quality control department

At our internal testing facility, we check if there are any microbial or physicochemical issues with our products, company facilities and equipment, tools and utensils, fittings, etc.

Free-of-charge purified water, wheelchairs, considerate parking areas, and accessible toilet

With the aim of making our stores comfortable and enjoyable for everyone to shop in, we are enhancing our various facilities and equipment to ensure customer safety, security, and convenience.

Quality control management competition

To offer products with quality and freshness that will satisfy customers, we conduct freshness checks on a regular basis.
We also conduct quality control management competition in-house to evaluate hygiene, labeling, and other matters in a comprehensive way.

Support for food bank activities

We have developed and proposed a new style of food bank, called the “Halows Model,” in which organizations accepting food products and assistance from food banks can collect the products directly from their nearest store.
This has made it possible to provide dairy products and daily-delivery foods, whose short use-by periods make them difficult to be provided to food banks. We are also widely calling on other companies and manufacturers in the same industry to provide their products under this model, and it is attracting many supporters.

The growth of each and every one of our directors and employees is of utmost importance for the continuation of sustainability initiatives. We are working to develop systems that will enable our people to actively participate in the workplace.

Promotion of employment through the practice of diversity

Because our stores are open 24 hours, we are able to employ people in a variety of timeframes. We are also striving to promote diverse employment patterns, such as recruiting foreign trainees, international students, and people with disabilities, and extending the continued employment age to 75 years.
We are also enhancing our various employee assistance programs, such as actively promoting women to management positions and encouraging the effective use of the scheme that allows employees with small children to work shorter hours.

Human resources development with over 1,900 hours of training a year

We send our employees to training sessions and seminars, totaling over 1,900 hours a year, which leads to the growth of each individual employee.

Skills development with a “professional qualifications grade system”

Under our professional qualifications grade system, our employee grade system is based on skills, and wages are determined in line with those grades.
Promotions, upgrade, and wage rises are also backed up by skills development and grade-based education and training programs under a merit-rating system.

In response to issues related to society and human rights, we are committed to making contributions in various areas in local communities such as education, sports and dietary education.
We also believe that food has an important role to play in local communities.

Halows Foundation

Through our foundation, we grant scholarships to senior high school, university, and other students in the region and engage in subsidy grant programs to assist organizations working in dietary education.

Promotion of employment of people with disabilities

The organization contracted to operate the business of our HALOWS ECO Center is required to obtain certification as a Type A Business for Continued Employment Support. The certified business premises are operated based on measures that aim to assist people with disabilities to live independently.

Conclusion of disaster assistance agreements

We have concluded the “Agreements for Assistance at Times of Disaster” and other agreements with local organizations in the areas where our stores are located.
These agreements ensure the provision of food and other daily necessities to people in the area in the event of a disaster, etc. As well as contributing to the stability of daily life after the disaster, we hope that we can help to alleviate the feelings of anxiety at such times.

To resolve the issues surrounding the global environment（CO₂ emissions reduction, energy problems, effective use of resources, countermeasures against the destruction of nature, etc.), we are engaged in the collection of resources at stores and the effective re-use of resources.

Promotion of energy saving in stores and logistics operations

We are achieving energy saving in our stores and logistics operations through the promotion of initiatives such as returnable containers, heat-storing brine systems (distribution centers), LED lighting, adoption of energy-saving furniture and fixtures, condensation-prevention heater controls in refrigerator and freezer cases, temperature and humidity-control air conditioning in sales floors (desiccant air conditioning), and solar power generation.

Example of in-store energy-saving devices: Freezer cases with doors

Hayashima Logistics Center

Promotion of CO₂ reduction, reduction of waste

We are making efforts to preserve the environment and reduce CO₂ emissions by curbing the generation of container and packaging waste and adopting environmentally-friendly trays.
We also share success stories of food waste improvement measures being undertaken at individual stores with all stores, which is leading to the reduction of waste disposal rates.

Effective re-use of resources

We collect resources such as milk cartons, cans (steel and aluminum), PET bottles, and food trays at stations in the front of our stores. We recycle vegetable scraps, waste oil, beef fat, fish bones and other scraps generated in our stores to turn them into fertilizers, stock feed, and oil and fat products.
Paper, aluminum, and other resources generated at our stores and logistics centers are sent to our HALOWS ECO Center for compression and volume reduction treatment to turn them into raw materials, as part of our resources recycling efforts.

Recycling box installed in front of stores