Save Mart’s unsold produce goes to new use

Since 1997, Save Mart has composted produce that was no longer fresh. Customers of the Modesto-based grocery chain could buy bags of it to enhance their garden soil.

That’s starting to change. Save Mart is one of the suppliers to a Sacramento-area company that turns food waste into liquid fertilizers for farmers. It will phase out the composting as the 205 stores switch to the new plant between now and early 2018.

The plant, built by California Safe Soil, also will take bone and fat from the stores’ meat departments.

“We love this full circle,” Save Mart spokeswoman Nannette Miranda said by email. “We buy produce from farmers. What we can’t sell or donate is turned into fertilizer, and the fertilizer is sold to the farmer!”

The plant had its grand opening Wednesday at the former McClellan Air Force Base. It uses heat, mechanical action and enzymes to turn food scraps into fertilizer in just three hours. The product is more concentrated than compost, which improves soil texture but might not have certain nutrients.

The plant markets fertilizers under the Harvest-to-Harvest brand to conventional and organic farmers. They can be applied through irrigation systems. The company website, www.calsafesoil.com, features a video testimonial from Ratto Bros., a produce grower west of Modesto.

Save Mart took part in a test by California Safe Soil in West Sacramento before negotiating the 10-year deal. It includes stores in California and Nevada under the Save Mart, Food Maxx and Lucky banners.

The 26 stores involved in the launch do not include any in the Northern San Joaquin Valley or Tuolumne County. They will switch during 2017.

Composting – a weeks-long process in which microbes break down organic matter – has been a key part of the effort to reduce landfill waste. Many cities do this with their landscape trimmings, and they encourage households to do the same.

“Save Mart was one of the early adopters of composting in the grocery industry,” Miranda said. “It’s fitting that we jump onto this exciting next step of sustainable practices.”

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Save Mart’s unsold produce goes to new use."