PLEASANTON, Calif.,
March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) has been named one of the 2014 World's
Most Ethical Companies (WME) by the Ethisphere Institute. This is
the fourth time and third consecutive year that Safeway has been
recognized by Ethisphere for its commitment to maintaining superior
business practices.
"It is an honor to be included on the prestigious WME list and
to be among businesses whose principles and practices uphold the
highest standards of ethics and corporate social responsibility,"
said Larree Renda, Safeway Executive
Vice President and Chair of The Safeway Foundation. "By
establishing standards that go beyond basic norms and legal
requirements, Safeway and the other WME businesses foster ideals
and innovations that benefit their industries and communities."
The Ethisphere Institute is an independent center of research,
best practices and thought leadership that promotes best practices
in corporate ethics and compliance and enables organizations to
improve governance, mitigate risk, and enhance relationships with
employees, business partners, investors and the broad regulatory
community. For the past eight years, it annually selects companies
from throughout the world for its prestigious WME list.
"In today's complex global economy, it can be increasingly
challenging for companies to meet performance expectations, while
addressing the varying regulatory, compliance and sustainability
needs across geographies and cultures," said Tim Erblich, CEO of the Ethisphere Institute.
"Global economic and social challenges from anti-corruption to
security and privacy are accelerating the need for companies and
organizations to embrace ethics and governance as critical business
imperatives…These organizations have taken this challenge head on
and recognize that leading ethical business practices present an
unprecedented opportunity to deliver significant tangible and
intangible organizational benefits."
Safeway is an industry leader in principled business practices,
environmental sustainability and effective community
outreach. For the last three years, the company has been at
the top of the US Greenpeace Supermarket Seafood Sustainability
scorecard, a ranking of sustainability practices for grocers. In
2013, Safeway was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North
America for the fifth year in a row and to the Carbon Disclosure
Project for the fifth consecutive year.
In February of this year, President Obama chose Safeway's
Maryland distribution center as
the site of an announcement where he called for new fuel efficiency
and greenhouse gas standards for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks.
The President praised Safeway saying, "By improving the
aerodynamics of its trucks, investing in larger trailers, more
efficient tires, Safeway has improved its own fuel
efficiency. And the results are so solid that Safeway now
encourages all the companies it hires to ship its products to do
the same."
The company's significant community outreach and philanthropic
initiatives include raising and donating millions of dollars
annually to benefit a range of non-profits, including food banks,
schools, cancer research centers and numerous organizations
assisting people with disabilities. Collectively, those funds
average $200 million annually.
To be considered for the WME Companies list, Safeway and other
companies provide a considerable amount of information, which is
intensely analyzed based on the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics
Quotient™ framework. The Ethics Quotient framework and
methodology was determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice
and insights gleaned from Ethisphere's network of thought leaders
and from the World's Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory
Panel. Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics
and compliance program (25%), reputation, leadership and innovation
(20%), governance (10%), corporate citizenship and responsibility
(25%), and culture of ethics (20%).
To view the complete list of the 2014 World's Most Ethical
Companies, please visit http://www.ethisphere.com.
ABOUT SAFEWAY www.SAFEWAY.com
Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest
food and drug retailers in North
America based on sales. The company operates 1,335
stores in the United States which
had annual sales of $36.1 billion in
2013. The company's common stock is traded on the New York
Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.
Safeway Contact: Teena
Massingill 925-467-3810, Teena.Massingill@Safeway.com
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SOURCE Safeway Inc.