By Quoc Hung in HCMC
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| Big C introduces environmentally friendly LOHAS bags to customers at Big C Thang Long in Hanoi - Photo: Quoc Hung |
When deciding to outpour a huge sum of up to VND13 billion, or some US$700,000, to invest in an energy-saving program, the operator of the stores chain Big C must have foreseen the benefits. The well-known retailer says that this investment project in the long term will enable itself to cut costs, reduce prices and thus sharpen its own competitiveness. Furthermore, energy saving is also one of the several activities being taken by the stores chain to contribute to environment protection in Vietnam.
Remedy for the huge energy cost
Big C, with up to ten big supermarkets in the country, consumes up to 5.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity a month, and its electricity bill therefore amounts to some VND10 billion. The company says energy costs alone make up some 30% of the total overheads, prompting the store chain operator to think long and hard of how to minimize its energy consumption. So, after spending nearly one year to look into the issue, Big C in June decided to make the bold move by signing contracts with two companies on reducing the energy cost.
Under the agreements, Thang Long Lighting Services Co. and Schneider Electric Vietnam Co., Ltd are now supplying fluorescent lamps and the energy management and supervising systems for the store chain.
Thang Long Light Joint Stock Co., winning the VND9-billion contract, will supply T5 ones fluorescent lamps to replace T8 ones at all Big C supermarkets. The new fluorescent lamps are said to be 35% more power-economical than T8 while still ensuring the same lighting intensity. Thang Long has been fitting up T5 fluorescent lamps at ten Big C Stores and will finish the work late this month.
Meanwhile, Schneider Electric Vietnam, which is awarded a VND3 billion contract, is responsible for installing energy management systems at the stores, helping maintain the energy-consuming equipment as well as measuring the energy consumption and savings in the Big C chain. The solutions also help promoting energy conservation awareness and behavior among operation engineers and staff of Big C as well as improving power quality.
The new Energy Management System will help Big C access and tackle energy data from every of their 10 supermarkets to head-office real time and continuously. At the head-office of Big C, the energy manager will be able to benchmark the efficiency level between those stores in the most accurate way, since the system will also provide the breakdown of energy costs for each store and will generate automatically power reports. This will help manage Big C’s real-time energy savings throughout the organization.
Before coming to the decision to cut deals with Thang Long Lighting Services Co. and Schneider Electric Vietnam Co., Ltd., Big C spent VND1 billion last year to have the energy auditing company Enterteam Co. look into energy consumption at the stores and propose solutions of energy saving and energy losses prevention.
An advocate of environment protection
Big C has been known as a strong advocate of environment protection in Vietnam, and has been an early supporter of the No-Plastic-Bag campaign.
The supermarket operator in March last year launched the program to replace plastic bags by reusable ones, having been aware that plastic bags are a major culprit of environment pollution that is becoming a big headache for the country.
All Big C Vietnam supermarkets have limited their plastic bag use since March last year. If customers want a bag for their groceries, they can buy a reusable one called LOHAS at a discounted price of VND6,200. This change caused some nuisance among shoppers initially when most market-goers still kept the habit of asking for plastic bags while suppliers saw such bags because they could be an effective advertising tool.
However, the public behavior has changed for the better, with the use of plastic bags minimized at most supermarkets now.
Duong Thi Quynh Trang, head of Big C’s public relations department, says to the Daily that shoppers are becoming familiar with the ‘green’ bags. The amount of reusable bags is really big and may have helped reduce the use of millions of plastic bags. A billboard that encourages customers to ‘Reduce the Use of Plastic Bags to Protect the Environment’ is also displayed at Big C supermarkets to draw shoppers’ attention.
There are other green activities at Big C too.
The chain provides free bus fares to all shoppers to encourage the use of public transport, thereby reducing exhaust fumes. Big C also collects used batteries as well. Employees and shoppers can place used batteries in collection boxes at any Big C supermarket, which will then be transferred to Viet Uc Environment Joint Stock Co. for recycling. In addition, Big C says it will only buy from suppliers who do not violate Vietnam’s environment laws.
All such activities at Big C are meant to protect the environment, but at length such changes will also bring about greater benefits, to Big C as well as to the community.
As regards to the energy-saving program at Big C, Stuart Thorogood, South East Asia vice president of Schneider Electric, remarks that “this is considered one of the biggest Energy Management projects in Vietnam so far.
Although the cost is high, at a total VND13 billion, Big C Vietnam is confident the investment will pay off. The stores chain says it will achieve a 40% reduction in energy consumption, bringing long-term benefits in cutting operation cost, and thus guaranteeing a low price policy for consumers.
The Saigon Times Daily