Zaandam, the Netherlands, February 24, 2020 – Ahold Delhaize today announces new long-term targets for its Healthy and Sustainable growth driver. Entering the last year of fulfilling its 2020 sustainability targets, the company has established a new set of ambitions to inspire customers to make healthier and more informed choices, to increase product transparency, and to eliminate waste.
“Food-related diseases and the impact of climate change are affecting billions of people, including those in our communities and our business. That is why we need to accelerate in the areas where we can create the most value,” President and CEO Frans Muller said. “As an international food retailer, we are in a great position to help tackle these global issues together, with our customers and with our partners in the industry and across the supply chain, to create a healthier and more resilient food system. I am convinced that this will make our business stronger and more robust for the future.”
The ambition focuses on:
• Healthier choices. After baselining all own-brand products against science-based nutritional navigation systems, the local brands of Ahold Delhaize aim to further increase sales of healthy own-brand products to more than half of total own-brand food sales, with a target of 51% by 2022. To achieve this, the brands will continue their commitment to reformulate products (e.g. less sugar, salt, fats) and to make it easier for customers to meet their own, personal health needs. By 2025, all Ahold Delhaize brands will provide science-based nutritional navigation systems for customers, such as Nutri-Score and Guiding Stars, in stores and online.
• Product transparency. Ahold Delhaize and its local brands can help customers make choices that fit their needs, their tastes, and their values. To facilitate these choices, the company will provide even more information about where own-brand products are sourced, which production methods are used and under which conditions they are produced. Building on the company’s nearly 100% visibility and sustainability in its own-brand seafood supply chains, it will move quickly to apply lessons learned to its fresh fruit, vegetable, and meat supply chains.
• Eliminating waste:
Food waste: The brands of Ahold Delhaize will continue reducing food waste1 from operations, cutting it in half by 20302, in line with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. This work requires balancing the reduction of food waste with our goal to increase sales of fresh and healthy products. To achieve this target, the brands will use more effective replenishment systems, leverage innovative methods, such as dynamic pricing based on sell-by date, and further expand partnerships to repurpose unsold but safe food to relieve food insecurity. Additionally, as a founding member of the 10x20x30 food waste initiative, Ahold Delhaize is also partnering with 20 key suppliers to reduce food waste throughout our supply chains.
Plastic waste: The Ahold Delhaize brands are working toward zero plastic waste from own-brand packaging by 2025, through packaging reduction and moving to fully recyclable, reusable, or compostable plastics. Furthermore, 25% of own-brand plastic packaging will be from recycled materials by 2025.
Ahold Delhaize has also committed to setting long-term, science-based targets as of February 2021 to reduce its impact on climate change. On human rights, the company is already conducting due diligence, following the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to ensure our brands, businesses, and supply chains are protecting the rights of customers, associates and community members. Our brands are increasing standards for the sustainability of products they sell, while maintaining best-in-class standards for food safety and quality. Finally, as part of our Healthy and Sustainable ambition, the company continues to focus on improving workplace safety.
Ahold Delhaize will continue to report on the progress of its Healthy and Sustainable ambition in its annual report and on aholddelhaize.com.
Cautionary notice
This communication includes forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Words and expressions such as targets, ambitions, will, will continue, will further reduce, will further expand, working towards, moving to, achieve, reduce, committed, ensure, increasing or maintaining standards, or other similar words or expressions are typically used to identify forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and that may cause actual results of Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (the “Company”) to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the Company’s public filings and other disclosures. Forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Company’s management and assumptions based on information currently available to the Company’s management. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such statements, except as required by law.
