Ethisphere Institute Names Safeway Inc. to World's Most Ethical Companies List for Fourth Time

PLEASANTON, Calif., March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) has been named one of the 2014 World's Most Ethical Companies (WME) by the Ethisphere Institute. This is the fourth time and third consecutive year that Safeway has been recognized by Ethisphere for its commitment to maintaining superior business practices.

"It is an honor to be included on the prestigious WME list and to be among businesses whose principles and practices uphold the highest standards of ethics and corporate social responsibility," said Larree Renda, Safeway Executive Vice President and Chair of The Safeway Foundation. "By establishing standards that go beyond basic norms and legal requirements, Safeway and the other WME businesses foster ideals and innovations that benefit their industries and communities."

The Ethisphere Institute is an independent center of research, best practices and thought leadership that promotes best practices in corporate ethics and compliance and enables organizations to improve governance, mitigate risk, and enhance relationships with employees, business partners, investors and the broad regulatory community. For the past eight years, it annually selects companies from throughout the world for its prestigious WME list.

"In today's complex global economy, it can be increasingly challenging for companies to meet performance expectations, while addressing the varying regulatory, compliance and sustainability needs across geographies and cultures," said Tim Erblich, CEO of the Ethisphere Institute. "Global economic and social challenges from anti-corruption to security and privacy are accelerating the need for companies and organizations to embrace ethics and governance as critical business imperatives…These organizations have taken this challenge head on and recognize that leading ethical business practices present an unprecedented opportunity to deliver significant tangible and intangible organizational benefits."

Safeway is an industry leader in principled business practices, environmental sustainability and effective community outreach.  For the last three years, the company has been at the top of the US Greenpeace Supermarket Seafood Sustainability scorecard, a ranking of sustainability practices for grocers. In 2013, Safeway was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America for the fifth year in a row and to the Carbon Disclosure Project for the fifth consecutive year.   

In February of this year, President Obama chose Safeway's Maryland distribution center as the site of an announcement where he called for new fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks. The President praised Safeway saying, "By improving the aerodynamics of its trucks, investing in larger trailers, more efficient tires, Safeway has improved its own fuel efficiency.  And the results are so solid that Safeway now encourages all the companies it hires to ship its products to do the same."

The company's significant community outreach and philanthropic initiatives include raising and donating millions of dollars annually to benefit a range of non-profits, including food banks, schools, cancer research centers and numerous organizations assisting people with disabilities.  Collectively, those funds average $200 million annually.

To be considered for the WME Companies list, Safeway and other companies provide a considerable amount of information, which is intensely analyzed based on the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient™ framework. The Ethics Quotient framework and methodology was determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere's network of thought leaders and from the World's Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel.  Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (25%), reputation, leadership and innovation (20%), governance (10%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (25%), and culture of ethics (20%).

To view the complete list of the 2014 World's Most Ethical Companies, please visit http://www.ethisphere.com.

ABOUT SAFEWAY www.SAFEWAY.com

Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America based on sales.  The company operates 1,335 stores in the United States which had annual sales of $36.1 billion in 2013. The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.

Safeway Contact: Teena Massingill 925-467-3810, [email protected]

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SOURCE Safeway Inc.