Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/110595
says. "We're getting to be more like Europeans." The initial ban took place about five years ago, but recently the Board of Supervisors extended restrictions from checkout bags at supermarkets and pharmacies to include citywide retail and food establishments, meaning everything from mom-and-pop shops to Chinese takeout spots. Additionally, paper bags come with a mandatory charge of 10 cents, part of San Francisco's goal of zero waste by 2020. Weaver recalls being told by her local grocer that people were irate at first at being charged 10 cents for a paper bag. "They would do anything to not pay that ten cents," she says, "loading things in their arms and letting them fall and break. I heard it was horrible the first few days." Peter Flannery, a partner at Bryan's, a high-end grocer in San Francisco, says the store is selling a lot of reusable $1.99 cloth bags printed with the store logo, creating a small revenue stream. Meanwhile, single-use-bag order costs have been cut in half. "There are still a few people who will carry out two or three items in their arms instead of paying for a bag, but a lot of people have gotten into the program," he says. Flannery doesn't enjoy charging an extra dime to someone who's just spent $100 on groceries, but, "they get it—they know it's not our deal," he says. If one of his cashiers let slide the cost to anyone at the register and that person turned out to be a city official, Bryan's would be facing a fine: Any store in San Francisco caught not complying with the ban will be subject to the $100 fine for the first offense. For the second offense it's $200, and $500 for each violation thereafter. New from J&m foods Not your average Cookie straws Simple, All Natural Ingredients Contain Real Butter No Preservatives Four Great Tasting Flavors UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES W hile many shoppers have heard that plastic bag use is considered taboo, they don't always realize the scope of issues behind the movement, such as wind-borne litter and harm to waterways, landfills, fish and wildlife. According to Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C., organization that studies global environmental concerns, Americans throw away approximately 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags every year. Less than one percent of plastic bags are recycled. Scientists estimate it could take 500 to 1,000 years for a plastic bag to decompose; supermarkets began using them in 1977. Paper bags don't seem to offer as many issues as plastic bags, but environmentalists see them as no less problematic. Between the loss of trees and the gas-fed machinery that produces and ships the final product, many argue that they are produced at an environmental cost even worse than their plastic counterpart. MARCH 2013 39