At the natural and organic foods retailer Sprouts Farmers Market, sustainability is not only seen through a risk-management lens, but also as a driver of competitiveness, resilience, and long-term growth. In the food retail sector, where customer expectations, agricultural supply chains, and climate-related disruptions intersect, the connection between sustainability and business performance is especially visible.   

On this episode of Sustainability Leaders, Melissa Fifield, Head of the BMO Climate Institute, speaks with Brandon Lombardi, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer at Sprouts Farmers Market. Their discussion explores how sustainability became embedded in the company’s DNA, the role of customer demand in shaping strategy, and how resilience is influencing decisions across sourcing, operations, and growth.

Below are highlights from the podcast:  

I joined Sprouts about 15 years ago when we had roughly 50 stores or so. We were very much an entrepreneurial growth company at the time. The business was growing really fast, organically and through acquisition. There was only a handful of senior leaders, so people wore a lot of hats, and that gave me a really good opportunity to extend the areas of the business that were new, like sustainability.  

What stood out to me early was that our customers cared about more than just price and convenience. They cared about where their food came from, what was in it, how it was produced, and what kind of company was getting their dollars. Sustainability has never felt separate from the business at Sprouts. It's always been connected to the customer, the  

brand, how we operate, and bringing together all functions of the business in a way that strengthens what makes us different.   

Business is about pursuing opportunities and managing risks. Climate change clearly creates risks, and we have to deal with those, but it also creates opportunities to build a stronger, more profitable, more resilient business.  

At Sprouts, sustainability is rooted in our purpose, which is helping people live and eat better. Sustainability sits right in the middle of our customer proposition. It's part of how we differentiate ourselves. Getting the mix right improves freshness on shelf, creates a better eating experience for the customer, reduces transportation miles, and reduces shrink and food waste. Sustainability can absolutely be the right thing to do, but the best sustainability strategies, they're also good business strategies.   

One of the advantages we have at Sprouts is that our sustainability priorities and our customer priorities have been aligned for a long time. We've always operated at the intersection of health and wellness and stakeholder responsibility.  

It's more about leaning further into the areas that already resonate with our customers: more organic products, more regenerative agriculture, continued progress in animal welfare, stronger partnerships with local growers, and expanded offerings like grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken, and responsibly sourced seafood. As more customers choose more of these products, producers get a stronger signal to invest, supply can grow, costs can come down, and there's a virtuous cycle that develops.   

I sometimes hear resilience talked about like it's a future thing, a future issue, but for retailers it's already here. There's drought, flooding, extreme heat, hurricanes, wildfire. Those factors are already influencing where products come from and how they move through the supply chain.  

One of the most important investments we made is controlling more of our own supply chain. By self-distributing produce and meat, we've got greater visibility and flexibility across our supply chain.