Nugget Markets Partners with CCS to Help CA Farmers

Woodland, CA - Nugget Market, Inc., a Woodland-based, family-owned and operated grocery chain since 1926, and California Safe Soil, LLC (CSS), a West Sacramento based sustainable business, announced an agreement whereby Nugget will supply food residuals from its West Sacramento store to the CSS Pilot Plant currently under construction in West Sacramento. The CSS Pilot Plant, which will open the 1st of June, is designed to use enzymes to convert the food residuals from Nugget into food hydrolysate, a valuable soil amendment for California agricultural use.

Dr. Edwin Lewis at the University of California at Davis (UC Davis) is managing a research program to test the food hydrolysate produced by CSS, both at UC Davis facilities and in field tests with farm cooperators. CSS expects the tests to show that food hydrolysate can be used by California farms to reduce their use of chemical fertilizers, maintain crop yield and quality, and save money, while reducing nitrate runoff into California’s water supplies and GHG emissions into California’s air.

“This has great potential to be a ‘win-win’ for Nugget Market and the environment, as part of our ongoing commitment to sustainable business practices” said Kate Stille of Nugget. “We have been looking for the right organics recycling program, and are happy to support the research being conducted by CSS and UC Davis. We encourage California farmers to join with us in testing this product on their cropland, to help create a truly sustainable program, returning unsold food to the soil to produce the next crop of locally grown fresh produce for Nugget to offer to its customers.”

“We are thrilled to add Nugget as a supplier to our Pilot Plant,” said Dan and Dave Morash, Co-Founders of CSS. “Together with our existing supply agreement with Safeway, Inc., it demonstrates that our food residual recycling technology appeals broadly to supermarket companies. Thanks to our agreements with Nugget and Safeway, we expect to have food hydrolysate available for California farmers, working with UC Davis, to commence scientific field testing shortly after our Pilot Plant opens this June.”

For more information, visit www.nuggetmarket.com.  Further information on CSS can be found at www.calsafesoil.com and  www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/print-edition/2012/03/16/startup-turn-grocers-waste-fertilizer.html.