Dear Valued Trade Partners,
Back in April, at Trade Day, we introduced you to LCBO's new social impact platform - Spirit of Sustainability (SoS). Under this brand, we'll deliver on our promise to support a sustainable future for our business, partners, and the communities in which we all live and work.
SoS focuses on three pillars: Good People, which covers off charitable campaigns, safe consumption of our products, and improving our work environment for employees; Good Planet, which covers off everything we do to reduce our overall environmental footprint; and Good Partnerships, which includes how we and implement sustainable standards and promote you, our valued partners', sustainable products and efforts.
Today, the new SoS section of LCBO.com went live, with robust information that will help you stay up to date on the impact we create, including the revamp of our Responsible Service Program (formerly Challenge and Refusal), better alignment of our fundraising campaigns, and how we are minimizing our impact on the environment. You will also start to see more campaigns in market related to informed consumption over the holiday season and that highlight our innovative product testing efforts.
You are key partners in this evolution, and as we continue to weave SoS into our existing pratices I would like to provide a brief update on some of the activity you can expect over the coming months more specifically related to how we do business and our work together.
Good People
We will continue to support charities by activating the power of our network to raise needed funds through prompted donation campaigns but will now run them one at a time and aligned to annual campaign themes of: Environmental Impact, Safe and Informed Consumption, Support Local, and Community Wellbeing. During these campaign periods, it will be essential that Trade partners select value adds that align accordingly. Corporate and Local Tag Days will also align with campaigns. To better match consumer behaviour, we'll also be introducing online giving options and removing donation boxes from our stores.
We will continue to feature in-store tastings that allow our Trade partners to highlight their exceptional products during certain times of the year. Charitable donations generated from the tasting fees will continue to be directed towards Camp Ooch and Friends of We Care.
Good Planet
We are beginning a long-term commitment to our Lightweight Glass Bottle initiative.
This initiative touches all three pillars of the SoS strategy. Over the last nine years, the change in packaging has reduced carbon emissions through more sustainable distribution and provides ergonomic benefits for our Retail and Supply Chain teams through reduced case weight handling. It has also garnered national and international environmental influence; wineries have adopted lighter bottles to supply to us and other liquor boards have followed our lead, introducing the policy into their practices. This change wouldn't have been possible without our partners. You have worked with us to evolve product packaging in order to make a difference for our people and the planet.
Given our success to ate, we see opportunities to evolve the program and do more in the future. Effective January 2021 increases to the retail price threshold for compliance for product packaged in 750mL glass bottles will be introduced. Additional details can be found on the Doing Business with the LCBO website and your Category Managers are also here to provide more information through the transition.
In early 2020, we are also creating the Good Pack, new four- and six-pack can and bottle carriers that allow us to sell undamaged product that would have otherwise gone to waste because it had shared a pallet with other product damaged in transit.
Good Partnerships
Through leadership and collaboration with our partners, we believe we can fundamentally improve the sustainability of our industry. To show our dedication to the Good Partnerships pillar, we are Introducing an updated Supplier Code of Business Conduct that will help us make choices that align with our values of integrity, honesty and transparency, and address violations that contradict our commitments or put the LCBO at risk.
Our updated Supplier Code of Business Conduct will outline expectations of every supplier who wishes to maintain a business relationship with us, such as adhering to employment standards, protecting against discrimination and harrasment, and environmental efforts. It will be shared with all suppliers in early 2020.
For over 90 years social responsibility has been at the core of LCBO's mandate, and supporting the evolution of our new social impact platform is a highlight of my role as President & CEO. I invite you to take part in shaping the platform and get excited about what the future will hold if we work together.
Thank you for your commitment and everything you do to make a positive difference.
Sincerely,
George Soleas, M.Sc., Ph.D.
President and CEO.