Supermarket chain Booths gains international status (From Ilkley Gazette)

Supermarket chain Booths gains international status

8:43am Thursday 14th February 2013 in Local news

Supermarket chain Booths, which has a store in Ilkley, has been awarded Ruban d’Honneur status in the European Business Awards and will head to Dusseldorf in Germany next week in a bid to be crowned Europe’s most environmental and sustainable business.

Booths was the only UK firm to achieve a Ruban d’Honneur award in The Millicom Award for environmental and corporate sustainability category.

Chairman Edwin Booth said: “We are exceptionally proud of the progress we’ve made in making our business more sustainable and are honoured to be recognised for our achievements.

“Our unique sourcing policy sees that more than 25 per cent of our produce is sourced locally from the regions we operate in, including 85 per cent of the meat we sell.

“Not only are we committed to reducing carbon emissions from air freight and transport, we also strive to ensure the sustainability of British agriculture by supporting local farmers and producers and ensuring they receive a fair price for their produce.”

Booths has stopped selling dredged scallops on its fresh fish counters and is sourcing only hand-dived British scallops from The Ethical Shellfish Company, an award-winning Hebridean company with a strict fishing and environmental policy.

Chris Dee, Booths chief operating officer, said: “Taking the decision to remove dredged scallops was easy; it’s the right thing to do if our customers are to continue to buy a range of high-quality fish and seafood from us.

“Sustainability and quality are at the heart of our purchasing decisions and we are proud to be taking an authoritative step towards the sustainable future of our seas and marine life.”