METRO SUSTAINABLE
The framework for our actions and at the same time the driver for all our activities aimed at increasing sustainability for our customers is our sustainability approach METRO SUSTAINABLE, METRO’s core objective is to drive the transformation towards responsible and sustainable business practices – within our own business operations, but above all in our collaboration with our suppliers and customers. By reconciling our business imperative and goals with the needs of nature, people and future generations, we can remain successful in the long term and overcome the conventional limits of growth for us, our stakeholders and society as a whole.
We verified our sustainability approach in financial year 2019/20 in accordance with the requirements of the German Commercial Code (HGB) by conducting a materiality analysis. The assessment was carried out by the members of the Sustainability Committee based on the legally required materiality definition. The aspects and issues identified in the analysis are the content of this NFS and comply with the requirements of the HGB for the reporting of non-financial content.
We are pursuing our operational sustainability strategy through the interaction of METRO SUSTAINABLE and our Wholesale 360 strategic approach. The goal is to address the issues that are most material to us to ensure that our sustainability activities cover the aspects and concerns that have the greatest impact on our business and that we can leverage through our business activities – together with our partners and customers. With our focus on the food sector, it covers a total of 8 focus areas. To benefit our customers, we have transferred this strategy to our concept ‘My sustainable restaurant’ in order to promote sustainable gastronomy as a partner of independent companies and make it tangible and realisable for our customers.
Within the 8 focus areas, we concentrate on the following 3 key topics:
- We want to make our range of products and services more sustainable by positively influencing the availability, quality and health as well as the social and environmental safety of food. We also want to offer more organic and sustainable products.
- We promote more conscious consumption by finding solutions for a balanced ratio of proteins.
- By pooling our partnership strengths, we are fighting against food waste.
At the same time, we are aware of our responsibility and opportunities when we stand up for human rights, seek innovative solutions in the field of packaging and plastics, make a positive contribution to climate protection, make the sourcing of raw materials more sustainable and promote diversity and inclusion. We achieve it particularly through the discourse with internal and external stakeholders such as employees, customers, suppliers and business partners, local communities, NGOs, political representatives, investors, competitors and committees. Covid-19 has not resulted in any fundamentally new issues for us. However, challenges and opportunities related to the aforementioned topics have arisen and have become more prominent. In particular, aspects such as protecting the health of customers, employees and suppliers have become more important (cf. Employee interests – Occupational safety in times of Covid-19; Social matters – Global labour and social standards in the supply chain and supplier development; Customers – Customer satisfaction and innovation management).
METRO SUSTAINABLE – Our contribution to sustainable development
