Happy Lawson, Happy Planet
Lawson aims to save Earth
Happy Lawson
What would the conbini be without campaigns? Nothing sets off my animal instincts like a limited edition cheese-stuffed karaage-kun. We must have it. Now!
Lawson’s been running a meta campaign called “Happy Ro” – undoubtedly short for “Happy Lawson” for quite some time. Fifteen sub-campaigns run under it and that number is growing.
The largest sub-campaign has nothing to do with fried chicken or onigiri and everything to do with the environment. It’s called Lawson Blue Challenge 2050. It has three objectives:
Reduce food waste by 50% (against 2018 levels) by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
Lower carbon emissions by 50% (against 2013 levels) by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
Reduce plastic by 50% (against 2017 levels) and use environmentally-friendly packaging for 50% of products by 2030. By 2050 use 100% environmentally-friendly packaging.
Let’s take a look at how they plan to accomplish these ambitious goals.
Reduce Food Waste
According to this nifty chart, a typical Lawson throws out 39.2 kilograms of garbage each day. It breaks down as follows:
Food Waste
Unsold food — 5.5kg — currently, 2,700 stores recycle the food
Oil — 2.4kg — currently, 13,000 stories recycle the oil
Other Waste
Cardboard — 10.5kg
Plastic bottles — 1.1kg
Cans — 1.5kg
Glass bottles — 0.6kg
Plastic — 2.4kg
Burnable garbage — 15.9kg
So, what’s Lawson’s plan?
Back at the factory, they’ve got a few ideas:
Start measuring ingredients by the gram. I’m surprised they don’t already do this. Will onigiri get stingier with the stuffing? I guess we’ll find out.
Product that missed the delivery time to stores will get shipped to people in need.
Produce that’s left in whacky shapes following processing (think scraps) will get used in pet food, pickles, and salads.
The graphic suggests artificial intelligence will also do something because of course it will!
Inside the stores, they’ve got more ideas:
Increase the duration product is safe to eat
Push product with discounts until it’s sold out
Position grab-n-go products (e.g. onigiri) in a first-in-first-out queue so customers always grab the product at the front of the shelf
Send leftovers to a facility for processing into animal feed and compost
Eliminate CO2 Emissions
Lawson’s got big and small plans to cut its carbon footprint.
Replace its refrigerant systems from energy intensive units to low-energy units
Install solar panels on roofs
Implement a 10-point energy savings plan — here are some examples:
Clean the filters of equipment requiring cooling and air conditioning equipment once a week
Set in-store temperatures to 27℃ in summer, 18℃ in winter, turn off AC/heat in intermediate seasons
Reduce opening and closing time of walk-in and commercial refrigerator/freezer doors when carrying products in and out
Avoid overstuffing products in a commercial refrigerator/freezer
Turn off lights and air conditioners in backrooms and warehouses when no one is there
And on the distribution front they plan to:
Trial hydrogen fuel-cell trucks
Enable trucks to carry both hot and cold items
Improve efficiency of the delivery routes
I love that this is a mix of big and small ideas. Trialing hydrogen fuel-cell trucks is in the same plan as not overstuffing product in the freezers. Many small improvements add up to big gains. And they’re actionable much faster than big initiatives.
Dump Plastic
Every conbini customer knows plastic is a huge problem. It may be the only bad first impression a conbini leaves. Unfortunately, it’s last think you experience at the register. Have cold and hot products? Here’s two plastic bags. Need a spoon? Here are utensils wrapped in plastic. Need chopsticks? Here ya go! Wrapped in plastic….
It’s gross.
Like Elizabeth Warren, Lawson’s got a plan!
Charge for plastic bags at checkout and use plastic bags made from 30% from corn. They’ve already started this, cutting their plastic volume by 12.4% in between 2017 and 2020.
Make all utensils paper — cups, bowls, spoons — it’s all paper. They’ve also begun to use plastic spoons with large holes in the handle to cut down the amount of plastic as an interim step.
Recycle and reuse all plastic bottles
Sell only what the customer needs. Based on the graphic, this may mean they’ll dispense things like sauces and soaps may versus sell whole bottles.
Provide plastic utensils, bags, etc only for customers who request it
Item of the Week
Lawson is launching three excellent beverages this week. The highlight is this mango pudding and mango jelly bomb. Give me a spoon, a straw, and take all my clothes off — I need to enjoy this properly.
What's Your Sign
Share in the comments. I’m Famichiki. And yes, I rigged that outcome.
From the Dumpster
Lawson’s offering a BBQ salad chicken stick. It looks more like a shrink-wrapped dog turd lying in a field. Instead of grass it hides in bed of mixed greens and cherry tomatoes just waiting for a sneaker to step into it.
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