Our Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard found that despite important momentum in the sector, major grocery retailers have a long way to go to address the risks pesticides pose to biodiversity, climate, and human health.

To reverse devastating declines in biodiversity that threaten our food supply — including loss of pollinators and soil life — grocery retailers must support the expansion of organic farming in the U.S. and beyond. At the same time, they must support the non-organic farmers they source from to eliminate toxic pesticides by shifting to ecological farming methods, which reduce the need for pesticides in the first place. Retailers must also make agrochemical input reduction a central pillar of all “regenerative” and “climate-smart” agriculture initiatives.

Companies must immediately commit to ending the use of nitroguanidine neonicotinoids in their supply chains. These pesticides — already banned in the EU — can be a thousand times more toxic to bees than the infamous DDT and are the key chemical drivers of an “insect apocalypse” that threatens agriculture and our ecosystems. 

Retailers must also step up to support public policies that would rapidly shift our food system away from toxic pesticides and toward healthy, just and sustainable practices, including support for the expansion of organic agriculture.

We found that:

The U.S. food retail industry reached a tipping point in 2024 — more than half of the largest U.S. food retailers now have policies addressing pesticides to protect bees and biodiversity.
Thirteen of the 25 companies ranked on the Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard now have policies that encourage food and beverage suppliers to reduce use of pesticides of concern — including neonicotinoids, organophosphates and glyphosate — and to shift to least-toxic approaches: Albertsons, Aldi, Costco, CVS, Dollar Tree, Giant Eagle, Kroger, Meijer, Rite Aid, Southeastern Grocers, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods. The policies also recognize organic agriculture as protective of pollinator health, and several state the companies’ commitments to expand organic offerings.

Five companies now have meaningful, timebound commitments to address pesticides in their fresh produce supply chains.
In the past year, three companies released new or updated policies with timebound, measurable commitments to take action on pesticides — Whole Foods, Kroger, and Meijer. They joined Walmart and Giant Eagle. These five companies require all fresh produce suppliers to adopt ecological farming methods known as integrated pest management (IPM), as verified by a vetted list of third-party certifications, within stated timelines. IPM reduces the need for pesticides by implementing non-chemical approaches to pest management. As a result, Whole Foods moved from a “B-” to an “A”, Kroger from a “D-” to a “C”, and Meijer from a “D” to a “B-”.

U.S. grocery retailers face billions in financial, climate, and biodiversity risks from pesticides. Industry efforts fall far short of what is needed to address these risks.
A new report commissioned by Friends of the Earth finds that U.S. food retailers face $219 billion in financial risks if they continue allowing toxic pesticides in their supply chains through 2050. Along with operational, financing, and reputation risks the companies face, the analysis details $4.5 billion in climate damage costs and $34 billion in biodiversity risks associated with pesticide use in domestic production of just four key crops — apples, almonds, corn, and soy. Given the vulnerability of food production to environmental disruption, these risks are significant not only for the companies themselves but for the US food supply. Companies must make measurable commitments to phase out toxic pesticides immediately.

Major grocery retailers don’t know which pesticides are being used in their supply chains or how much is being used. 
Just six companies have taken first steps on pesticide tracking. Walmart encourages fresh produce suppliers to annually report use of nitroguanidine neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos. Costco and Whole Foods have pilot-level pesticide tracking programs through their participation in the Equitable Food Initiative. Aldi requires suppliers of key commodities to disclose whether they use chlorpyrifos and neonicotinoids. CVS conducted a pilot pesticide analysis in key own brand commodity chains. Ahold Delhaize reports a pilot-level effort to track suppliers’ pesticide use. These types of initiatives must be scaled industry-wide.

Major grocery retailers must support conventional growers to shift to least-toxic pest management practices. 
Just six companies are taking steps to support conventional growers to shift to least-toxic approaches. Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Meijer, and Giant Eagle are requiring all fresh produce suppliers to adopt ecological farming methods called integrated pest management (IPM) verified by a third-party certification. Meijer is also partnering with academic researchers to provide educational opportunities for suppliers to learn about least-toxic pest management strategies. Costco and Whole Foods report having pilot-level programs in place to provide training and other meaningful support to non-organic growers to shift to least-toxic approaches through the Equitable Food Initiative. 

Companies must disclose organic sales data and include organic sales in formal sustainability goals.
Most companies are not disclosing their organic sales data, which makes it difficult to assess their growth and competitive advantage in this marketplace. Only Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Walmart, CVS, and Meijer provided organic sales data. Trader Joe’s publicly reports that over 20% of overall grocery products sold are organic. The following companies reported organic sales data to Friends of the Earth: Whole Foods reports that over 30% of overall sales are organic, Walmart reported organic sales for all grocery, Meijer and Costco reported organic sales for produce and CVS reported organic sales for own brand food and beverages. None of the companies we evaluated include organic sales or pesticide reduction in formal sustainability criteria.

Companies must report organic and “natural” sales separately. 
Organic is a robust, federally regulated standard that prohibits over 900 pesticides otherwise allowed in agriculture whereas “natural” is not a regulated label claim, has no clear definition, and has no meaning in relation to use of pesticides or other synthetic inputs in farming. We recommend that companies track and report organic and “natural” sales separately to provide more transparency around organic sales data.

Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s lead major grocery retailers on organic sales. 
It is difficult to compare organic sales between retailers. While some of the largest retailers can claim the highest total organic sales, we attempt to evaluate the extent to which companies have made organic products central to their business model by assessing organic as a percent of overall products or sales. 

Independent grocery stores far surpass the largest U.S. food retailers on organic sales.
In 2020, we conducted a survey of 36 independent food retailers across the country to provide insight on companies that have made organic central to their values and business. Ninety-four percent of these retailers (34 of 36) report exceeding the benchmark that Friends of the Earth has challenged top grocery retailers to meet: increasing certified organic offerings to 15% of total sales or products. Sixty-four percent (23 of 36) report that over 50% of their total sales are organic. These retailers are leading the way on offering consumers bee-friendly food and are helping to reduce the use of toxic pesticides on farms in the U.S. and beyond.

Companies must support the expansion of organic agriculture in the U.S.
This is critical, as U.S. farmers are currently being left behind as demand for organic food far outstrips supply. Only Whole Foods, Costco, Wegmans, and Giant Co., a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize, report taking measures to expand U.S. production of organic food. Whole Foods reports the most extensive set of practices supporting U.S. organic growers, including committing to price floors for farmers in transition to organic, providing financial support for organic and family-scale farmers via loans and investing resources in educating suppliers about organic practices and how to transition. Whole Foods was also the only company to report that they advocate for federal policies that support strong organic standards and increased funding for organic research. Costco reports working with U.S. farmers and ranchers to transition land to organic production. Wegmans operates its own research-oriented organic farm to educate farmers about best practices. Giant Co., a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize, established a partnership with organic pioneer Rodale Institute to support farmers seeking to transition to organic farming and research connecting human health with soil health.

Twelve companies have pesticide commitments in their home and garden supply chains.
Agriculture accounts for the vast majority of pesticide use, however, companies are also taking important steps to protect the health of pollinators and people in their home and garden supply chains. Five companies have committed to end sales of Roundup and other glyphosate-based pesticides, Ahold Delhaize, Costco, CVS, Dollar Tree, and Giant Eagle. Five are taking action on neonicotinoid products, Costco, CVS, Dollar Tree, and Giant Eagle no longer sell neonic products and Walmart has eliminated almost all garden products containing neonics. Whole Foods and Walgreens report that they never sold garden products containing glyphosate or neonics. In addition, five stores have committed to eliminate the sourcing of plants and/or flowers that have been treated with neonicotinoids, Meijer, Dollar Tree, Kroger, Giant Eagle, and BJ’s Wholesale Club, and four have issued statements encouraging live plant and/or flower suppliers to phase out neonicotinoids, Aldi, Costco, Southeastern Grocers, and Target.

GO BACK TO SCORECARD

*Although Amazon acquired Whole Foods in 2017, we graded these companies separately given that Whole Foods still maintains distinct policies and a substantially different business model. As of September, 2021, 502 of Amazons’ 538 brick-and-mortar grocery locations are Whole Foods stores. The remainder are Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores.