Wawa Refines Employee, Product, Community, Environmental Values

In 2022, Wawa, celebrated $1 million in hurricane relief donations, 30 years of shared ownership with associates, a new balanced menu and growth in EV charging stations, according to its social purpose report. The report pointed out both its quantitative and qualitative initiatives in helping its associates and the community.

“That can be as simple as providing a warm greeting to give someone a positive start to their day; as meaningful as lending a hand at a neighborhood event; or as significant as always being open and accessible for communities devastated by hurricanes or other weather events,” said Chris Gheysens, president and CEO of Wawa.

Click through to read more about Wawa’s environmental, social and economic efforts in 2022 …

Through its Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP), Wawa employees are offered ownership of a share in the company’s stock, and the chain celebrated 30 years of the program this year.

Wawa’s ESOP has more than 20,000 members, who together own 38% of Wawa. The company has one of the top ten ESOP’s nationally in terms of number of participants.

In 2022, Wawa expanded its program by eliminating the year of service requirement and reduced the vesting schedule from six to four years.

Wawa celebrated its commitment to employee ownership during October’s National Employee Ownership Month event with Gov. John Carney of Delaware, issuing a proclamation declaring it National Employee Ownership Day in the state.

The chain supported its associates in additional ways this year through:

• Learning and development: development day, talent assessment and succession planning and internal promotions.
• Diversity, equity and inclusion: training, innovation networks.
• Internal care department: helping associates address life experiences with empathy and expertise.
• Big 6 Values program: story submission program that celebrates employees’ initiatives.
• Associates in Need fund: associate-driven nonprofit supported through associate and company contributions for employees and their families.

Wawa launched Good to Choose this year, a system providing and identifying the right balance of options to help customers make food and beverage choices they feel good about. A series of icons are available in stores to help navigate the Good to Choose options.

Wawa and The Urban League of Philadelphia also teamed up for a Future Food Science one-hour Lunch and Learn Program, where high school students explored how food developers apply research, sensory, nutrition and culinary science concepts to the development of a food product.

Wawa’s Products for Good, another initiative from the chain, promoted and raised funds for charities and organizations through product deals and LTOs.

The chain also launched its Balanced Choices Menu, which is a menu curated by a team of culinary experts and nutritionists to provide choices that meet customers’ dietary needs. It features:

• 18 breakfast and 21 lunch items that are 500 calories or less
• 26 beverage options that are 250 calories or less
• 22 vegetarian options

The Wawa Foundation is a non-profit organization founded to support Wawa’s charitable giving and philanthropic activities. Together, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation have contributed more than $130 million since 2014. The foundation has three focus areas, including health, hunger and heroes.

Community giving highlights from 2022 included the annual $1 million donation in gift cards in honor of Wawa’s first store opening, distributed to the foundation’s national partners, providing immediate food and fuel relief.

In response to Hurricane Ian, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation provided free coffee, fountain beverages and bagged ice to first responders, utility workers and areas most impacted. The chain also donated $450,000 to the American Red Cross and $500,000 to the Florida Disaster Fund.

Selected in 2022 for launch in 2023, Wawa partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida to pilot a distribution model for families and schools. The program aims to enhance access to free food, change the typical distribution method and provide support throughout the year.

In June, the company hosted its first Climate Summit, which brought leaders together from across the company, along with select business partners, to begin thinking about the areas that can be most impactful with a climate strategy. The program’s goals include educating leadership on opportunities and risk, developing plans for change, performing carbon footprint analysis and maintaining momentum.

Wawa also worked to protect the environment through:

• Recycling: cardboard, single stream recycling at stores and pumps, coffee grounds recycling and food waste recycling.
• Solar panels: 106 stores with solar power, including two stores with full-ground arrays and 104 stores with solar panels on canopies.
• EV chargers: 118 stores with chargers and a total of 961 charging positions, providing more than a 70% reduction in emissions versus internal combustion engine vehicles.
• Water and renewable energy: saved around 80 million gallons of water in 2022 with HydroPoint irrigation technology, 79 Virginia stores with renewable energy.
• Skip the Bag for Good: initiative to eliminate 105 million single-use plastic bags.