Turning old cards into new trees at fresh&easy

In the spirit of holiday giving, we’re asking our customers to help us give back to the environment. All of our stores will be collecting your used greeting cards through January 15th and recycling them.

All the proceeds will be donated to American Forests, a nonprofit organization we’ve partnered with that will use the money to plant trees in neighborhoods that need them, including those that have been affected by wildfires.

So remember to save those cards and bring them to your local fresh&easy to help turn them into new trees for a greener new year!

Happy Holidays!
-Gary

Celebrating the Holidays Latino Style

We joined bloggers and journalists for a holiday fiesta at Sur La Table in Los Angeles last week. We indulged in Latin-inspired dishes created by our Chef Cynthia Perez and delectable desserts, all paired with our exclusive wines to toast the upcoming holidays and new year.



Everyone helped Chef Cynthia cook and eat the great tasting food including Maple Ham & Brie Crostini, Sweet Corn Tamales with Roasted Garlic & Rosemary, Homemade Roasted Poblano Guacamole with Grilled Shrimp, and Mini Black Bean & Goat Cheese Quesadillas.


(For full recipes click here)

Chef Cynthia also shared simple tips on how to take the stress out of the kitchen and turning staple Latin items, like chorizo, into unique concepts – Mini Chorizo Salad, yum!



Getting to know our neighbors was the best part of the night. We’re grateful for our new friends and had a great time celebrating this holiday season with them!


A special thanks to our friends who joined us:

Soy Fashionista
Thought of a Mommy
8 Years old and Babies
Day Tripping Mom
Spanglish Baby
My Fat Big Cuban Family
Rockin Mama
Greenery in Mommyhood
Nuestra Vida Con Adrian

Bringing authentic Italian bread to the neighborhood

Ever wonder how Fresh & Easy gets fresh baked bread to your neighborhood store daily? This is made possible thanks to our partnership with Il Fornaio, who are locally based in La Mirada, CA.

Il Fornaio got their start by opening a baking school in Barlassina (Lombardia), Italy and they make their bread the same way they have for centuries. Luckily for us, they made it to our side of the Atlantic and now bake their baguettes, kalamata olive loaves, sourdough boules, and ciabattas (to name a few) for us to make available right in your neighborhood.

In this video Jan Schat, Vice President of Bakeries for Il Fornaio, spoke to us about the love and care that goes into baking these breads.



We're proud to work with the great team at Il Fornaio and are happy to offer their artisan breads that have all been made, in the words of Jan, with no mysterious ingredients for you to enjoy.

Buon appetito!

~SallieB

Keeping the green in fresh&easy (and your wallets)

We received some exciting news this week from our partner Verisae, who helps us lower our environmental impact – our energy consumption is 32 percent lower than the industry average for energy usage per square foot.

This is good news not just for the environment... Through the energy saving innovations in our stores, like LED lighting, skylights and energy efficient refrigeration units, we have achieved recurring energy-related cost savings of millions of dollars per year. Savings like this allow us to keep our prices low, everyday for our customers.

See what Environmental Leader had to say here.

Take a look at the Green Building page on our website for more info and check out the amount of energy our 500,000 sq ft solar panel on our Riverside distribution center is producing.

Cheers,
Gary