An interesting article caught my eye in the September issue of Progressive Grocer. The article titled, EXCLUSIVE: Ring Bros. In-store Experiment to Turn Waste Into Power, struck a familiar chord with me as a marketer.


Many ask how community-based independents can carve a place out for themselves–or even survive--in today's super-charged, highly competitive marketplace, so this might give small business owners something to chew on.
In a nutshell: Ring Bros. is an independent grocery store in South Dennis,Massachusetts–on beautiful Cape Cod. The owner decided to test a new bioenergy technology in its store for two very good reasons:
*
To save money and turn its organic waste into energy
*
To increase revenues by selling surplus power to other businesses in the same shopping plaza; and to sell nutrient-rich compost, a natural by-product, to farmers.
The gist: the retailer received a $195,000 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust, an organization that develops and promotes clean energy. A system will be installed next spring using "anaerobic digestive technology" which breaks down organic waste and emits methane gas in the process. The gas can then be utilized to power a turbine, generating electricity.
Not only will Ring Bros. store recycle all of its own organic waste, save on costly locally-generated electricity and make money on the by-products; the retailer will no longer have to pay to have its garbage trucked away–consuming less fuel in the process.
While this new system will not rid the retailer of non-organic waste, it is estimated that Ring Bros. will save substantially on its waste management spend. In the grocery business, where margins are razor-thin, and profits measured in pennies on product offerings in many instances, these savings will go to the retailer's bottom line.
Now it seems to me there's a real marketing opportunity here. As some Daily Fix readers may recall, I posted a blog entry in August titled Marketing a Green Business. When businesses take measures to become more environmentally friendly, it's not a bad idea to let the consumer know about it.
For independent, small businesses, marketing the higher level of service they offer the customer (hopefully they do!) along with a legitimately greener position, ought to strike a very positive chord in their communities.
What kinds of initiatives do you think small businesses can take to stake out their unique positions in today's competitive marketplace?