Garant Såklart puts climate first
Garant Såklart is the first brand in Sweden to climate-certify all of its products. The products bear the Nordic Swan ecolabel, the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association's symbol, and are climate-compensated. Shampoo, balsam and skin cream are the first products slated for launch.
Nine out of ten people in Sweden want companies to take greater responsibility for the environment, according to a survey conducted by the market research company Cint.* Axfood has developed a line of products to meet this demand.
"There are far too few ecolabelled hygiene and beauty products on the market," says Åsa Domeij, Head of Environment and Social Responsibility at Axfood. "What's more, we want to raise the bar and go further than the requirements for ecolabelling according to the Swan or Good Environmental Choice marks. Adding an allergy certification seems only natural. Plus, we climate-compensate all Garant Såklart products."
Climate compensation is only one part of climate certification. Most important is to take the product's content and packaging, etc. into consideration. Products are therefore made as concentrated as possible, to minimize emissions from transports.
"The idea behind Garant Såklart is to reduce our environmental impact as much as we can and then to compensate for the environmental impact that remains," says Åsa Domeij. "We handle our climate compensation together with Tricorona Climate Partner. They make sure that the money from climate compensation goes to projects approved by the UN.
* Survey performed on behalf of Axfood in December 2010. The result is based on responses from a random, quota sampling of 1,062 Swedes aged 18–74.
For further information, please contact:
Åsa Domeij, Head of Environment and Social Responsibility, Axfood AB, tel. +46-730-77 43 07
Ingmar Kroon, Director Press Relations, Axfood AB, tel. +46-702-89 89 83
Helena Nyqvist, Project Leader, Axfood Sverige AB, tel. +46-702-001031
Axfood AB conducts food retail and wholesale business in Sweden. Retail business is conducted through the wholly owned store chains Willys, Hemköp and PrisXtra, comprising 230 stores in all. In addition, Axfood collaborates with a number of proprietor-run stores that are tied to Axfood through agreements. These include stores within the Hemköp and Willys chains as well as stores run under the Handlar’n and Tempo profiles. In all, Axfood collaborates with approximately 840 proprietor-run stores. Wholesaling is conducted through Dagab and Axfood Närlivs. Axfood is listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm AB's Large Cap list. Axel Johnson AB is the principal owner, with approximately 46% of the shares.
