Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard Key Findings

The Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard by Friends of the Earth evaluates major grocery retailers on their efforts to protect pollinators and reduce toxic pesticide use in their supply chains, highlighting a divide between a few top performers and many laggards.

• There is growing momentum in pollinator protection among some retailers, with Sprouts Farmers Market and Whole Foods scoring in the 'A' range. Other notable improvements include Costco, which rose from a 'C' to a 'B+', and Amazon, which moved from an 'F' to a 'D-'. Currently, 13 of the 25 ranked companies have policies to expand organic agriculture or reduce harmful pesticides in conventional supply chains.
• Many retailers are failing to make progress, with six companies—Albertsons, Aldi, CVS, Kroger, Southeastern Grocers, and Target—losing points for lack of communication on pollinator health commitments. Target's grade dropped from 'D-' to 'F', joining a group of other low-scoring retailers including Wegmans, BJ’s Wholesale Club, H-E-B, Walgreens, Hy-Vee, Dollar General, Publix, and Wakefern.
• Organic sales serve as a primary differentiator for sustainability, though most retailers do not disclose this data. Leading examples of transparency include Whole Foods Market (33% of grocery assortment is organic), Sprouts (30% of grocery sales), and Trader Joe’s (over 20% of grocery products sold are organic). Only Sprouts includes organic sales as a key performance indicator in its annual impact reporting.
• Retailers generally lack visibility into pesticide use in their supply chains, though some have started pilot programs. Walmart encourages annual reporting on chlorpyrifos and nitroguanidine neonicotinoids, Aldi requires disclosure on these chemicals for key commodities, CVS conducted a pilot pesticide analysis for own-brand commodity chains, and Ahold Delhaize is piloting a tracking effort for pollinator health and pesticide use.
• U.S. food retailers face significant financial risks totaling $219 billion related to pesticides, which includes $34 billion in biodiversity risks and $4.5 billion in climate damage costs specifically for the domestic production of soy, corn, almonds, and apples.

APA

Friends of the Earth (2025). Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard Key Findings. https://foe.org/retailer-report-card-key-findings/

Chicago

Friends of the Earth. Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard Key Findings. 2025. https://foe.org/retailer-report-card-key-findings/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth |title=Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard Key Findings |date=15 December 2025 |url=https://foe.org/retailer-report-card-key-findings/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearth2025beefriendly, author = {{Friends of the Earth}}, title = {{Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard Key Findings}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://foe.org/retailer-report-card-key-findings/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }