Sept. 29, 2008 - Supermarkets and other major retailers are pressing ahead with green business practices despite the threat of recession, according to a new study. Efficiency savings, consumer pressure for greener goods, and the rising cost of oil and other resources are all reasons why it makes good business sense to put sustainability at the heart of creating value, according to the Forum for the Future report Retail Leadership.

"The growing sophistication, awareness and demands of customers regarding the environment and health have made them a critical part of brand positioning as well as a driver for new product and service innovations," the report says. "The threat of recession has not fundamentally changed this."

The report cites specific examples of ways retailers are cutting costs via "eco-efficiencies" reducing energy use, packaging, and waste. For example: Tesco and Unilever are featured as models of green partnership, sharing trucks to make deliveries more efficiently. The companies have so far reduced empty-truck miles by more than half a million.

U.K. grocery chain Sainsbury's has seen a 60% rise in sales of ethically raised chicken since 2007, and continues to add new green products to meet growing demand. French home-improvement retailer Castorama, a subsidiary of the Kingfisher Group (which sponsored the report), has rolled out more than 2,000 eco-products.

"Maintaining an emphasis on sustainable development in core business will be an important element of retail success recession or not," the report concludes. "And staying focused on sustainability in a downturn will only help to reinforce claims and dispel accusations of greenwash."

To download the report, click here (PDF).