Wegmans Changes Jars for "Food You Feel Good About" Pasta Sauces and Debuts Organic Sandwich Breads

Wegmans Food Markets is giving customers a new reason to feel good about its popular “Food You Feel Good About” line of pasta sauces—they’re bottled in a jar made from lighter weight PET plastic, the type used for water and soda bottle containers. The new jars are reaching store shelves in the early fall.

The PET plastic jars are shatter resistant and don’t break easily if accidentally dropped, lighter in weight than glass, and can therefore be shipped to stores with less fuel, and are more widely recycled than glass, therefore reducing the need for landfill space. 

Sustainability is a priority at Wegmans and the company continually seeks ways to shrink the carbon footprint involved in bringing food to customers. One important way to do that is to lower carbon emissions by using less fossil-based fuels to transport foods along the chain from farms to processing plants to the store. The weight of an item plays a role in how much fuel trucks use to complete a journey, so Wegmans saw an opportunity to reduce reliance on fossil fuels if the packaging of a high-volume item like pasta sauce could be made lighter without sacrificing any quality or safety. 

Wegmans and LiDestri Foods Inc., the supplier that makes Wegmans’ “Food You Feel Good About” line of pasta sauces, began exploring improved environmental options some months ago, from the material used to the shape of the jar. (If you can put more jars on each shipping pallet, you can cut down the number of trips needed to bring the pasta sauce to the store).

“By switching from glass to PET jars, the same amount of pasta sauce can be shipped each year using 55 fewer trucks," Wegmans sustainability manager Jason Wadsworth. "That change can save 974 gallons of diesel fuel, cutting carbon dioxide emissions   the equivalent of driving around the Earth once in an average passenger vehicle.”

Wegmans has also introduced five fresh organic sandwich breads, all made with care by bakers in Wegmans’ own bakeshop in Rochester, N.Y.

The sliced breads include: White Made with Oatmeal, 100% Whole Wheat, Honey Cracked Wheat, 27 Grains and Seeds, and Sprouted Multigrain. Each are priced at $5 for a full loaf and $3 for a half loaf. Half-loaf sizes are convenient for smaller families and make mixing and matching easy.

Earlier this year, Wegmans invited select customers in Pittsford, N.Y. and Leesburg, Va., to try the new breads and share their feedback with the company. While parents relished the freshness and simple ingredients, school-age critics approved of another key attribute: taste, say company officials.

Each loaf is packed with good nutrition, according to Wegmans nutritionist Kirby Branciforte, RD. “These breads are made with heart-healthy whole grains and they have two to three grams of fiber and four or five grams of protein in each slice, depending on the variety. The protein and fiber help stave off hunger between meals, which helps us remain focused at school or work,” says Branciforte. “Many people don’t realize that grains can offer protein, and that getting some protein at each meal is better than eating a day’s worth at dinner.”

“For years we’ve offered organic sandwich ingredients like deli meats, cheeses, condiments and spreads in Wegmans brand. Our customers asked for organic sandwich bread to accompany those items and it was a natural next step,” says Wegmans bakery category merchant Jerritt Branagan. “We invested in new equipment and training, sourced organic ingredients, developed new recipes and created a dedicated organic space in our bakeshop, certified by Natural Food Certifiers (NFC). We’re proud to finally add these breads to our growing lineup of more than 3,000 organic products.”

In addition to the new organic loaves, Wegmans will continue to carry its conventionally-produced sandwich breads, sold under the Food You Feel Good About banner, meaning they contain no artificial colors, sweeteners or preservatives.