Richard Walker - The Green Grocer: One Mans Manifesto for Corporate Activism

To Rebecca

Dear Reader,

Thank you for buying this book, all the proceeds from which will go to the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation. You are clearly interested in making the world a better place, and every one of us can make a difference. To echo the words recently sent to my wife and me by Sir David Attenborough:

Congratulations on all you have done to save the planet and wishing you future success.

Richard Walker

Iceland has made ethics affordable and shown that responsible shopping isnt just for the middle classes. Richards passion for the environment has seen the grocers campaigns on palm oil and plastic bags often upstage its upmarket rivals.

Ashley Armstrong, Retail Editor, The Times

Richard Walker has long stood out from the crowd of mainstream business leaders as someone who completely gets the scale and urgency of the climate and ecological emergencies, and how we need something different from business as usual if were going to overcome them. From banning GM foods, to phasing out palm oil and plastics, and making the case for natures recovery, Richard has consistently demonstrated real leadership and activism on corporate environmental and ethical issues in his own business, but also been a lead advocate for action from government and elsewhere.

Craig Bennett, CEO of The Wildlife Trusts, and former CEO of Friends of the Earth

Richard is a rare species an MD of a successful retail chain, that genuinely cares, not just for his customers (although he certainly does), but for the greater good. In this book he outlines how businesses can and must play a pioneering role in how we treat the planet and each other. Decisions that dont cost the earth.

Julia Bradbury, broadcaster

Right up there with Chouinards seminal work Let My People Go Surfing as a sustainable business insight. A leader of modern sustainable business, Walker inspires through his own actions. His environmental vision and consciousness shows that its no longer all about the profit and that purpose and sustainability is core to success.

Kenton Cool, world-leading mountaineer and 14-time Everest summiteer

With honesty, clarity and insight, Richard Walker shares the inspiring story of Icelands corporate transformation from quarterly profits to quarter-century impact. A must read for all business leaders.

Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 201016, architect of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and co-founder of Global Optimism

Richard Walker is one of a new generation of business leaders, who is not only focused on quality and delivery, but actively looks to disrupt, drive positive change and enhance the planet along the way. Icelands success as a brand activist and community champion is a lesson for businesses big and small. Richards personal thought leadership on the environment is already shaping the future of retail.

Liv Garfield, CEO of Severn Trent

The actions Richard has taken at Iceland show how corporations can lead and thrive in a world beset by natural decline and climate shocks. Were in the early years of what must be a decade of climate action Richards refreshingly honest and highly topical book is essential reading for business leaders, investors, policy makers and environmentalists who want to get stuff done.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency

Not so long ago most company chief executives believed that the business of business was business. But in a world facing climate and Nature emergencies exacerbated by crippling social inequalities, this is not credible or viable. Solving these challenges must now be a core business purpose. Richard Walker has made it his, and this is his story. I hope many follow his lead.

Tony Juniper, environmentalist

Richard Walker has shown true leadership within his own company and of the industry in his willingness to pursue an environmental agenda, even at the expense of profit.

Adam Leyland, Editor, The Grocer

Richard has been at the vanguard of tackling environmental and social issues for many years, enabling him to write from first hand and with practical knowledge of what can be achieved through a clear vision and commitment to driving solutions to some of the worlds biggest problems.

Deborah Meaden, businesswoman and star of Dragons Den

Richard Walker is one of the most impressive business leaders in the UK, combining strong leadership skills and common sense with a real desire to effect change. Hes always prepared to face tough questioning about his decisions, and as a result of his firm bold direction, Iceland has become known as a company that genuinely cares about the welfare of its customers and the environment.

Piers Morgan, broadcaster, journalist and writer

Please buy this book [] it is a brilliant appraisal of humanities predicament. A remarkable insight: honest, pragmatic, hopeful and realistic this is the challenge that capitalism needs to make sure we survive. It isnt about business, its about the business of survival on planet Earth. If you read one book in 2021 and want a better 2022 then this should be it.

Chris Packham, broadcaster and environmental campaigner

The reason The Green Grocer is such an important book in the campaign for a more sustainable world is that the writer Richard Walker and his business, Iceland, put what they say into practice. Leading the charge on reducing plastics, food waste and deforestation are all tangible examples of a passion to do the right thing. Often more is said than done but not in this case.

Lord Price, former cabinet minister, former MD of Waitrose and Chairman of Fair Trade UK

Richard is one of the UKs most progressive business leaders. It takes real courage to put corporate activism above corporate reputation, but thats exactly what hes done at Iceland. Unafraid to tackle the social and environmental issues that matter, or engage with critics and competitors to accelerate progress, his commitment to a cause bigger than his own company is truly inspirational.

Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever and founder of IMAGINE

A book full of passion and pragmatism. A vital illustration of how you can make a difference.

Mark Rose, CEO of Fauna & Flora International

Its easy to be green if you can afford to shop at Waitrose. Richard Walker sells to those that cant. But as a passionate environmentalist he doesnt want them left behind. Should be read by all those living in their green bubble.

John Sauven, Executive Director, Greenpeace UK

I loved reading this book. In The Green Grocer, Richard Walker has achieved that rare thing a totally accessible response to the nature and climate crisis that is unfussy, and yet filled with passion and respect for the natural world. You wont find convoluted theory and bloviated descriptions written in shepherds huts (thankfully). But you will find lively insight from the shop floor, the nations chiller cabinet and very windy beaches. The effect is a bright green manifesto for change that makes you turn why? into why not?

Lucy Siegle, journalist and writer