Sustainability strategy

With our core business, we strive to provide customers worldwide with high-quality products and services. Because at METRO, our purpose ‘Champion for Independent Business’ determines our actions – and we strive to do so in a responsible way with our sustainability approach METRO SUSTAINABLE. In this sense, sustainability is more than social and ecological responsibility in an economically sensible manner: it is also a question of attitude and way of working. It determines the actions of our employees and is an integral part of our corporate strategy. We want to drive change toward responsible and sustainable business practices – within our business operations, but especially in cooperation with our suppliers and customers.

By balancing our needs and goals with the needs of nature, people and future generations, we can achieve long-term success and overcome the conventional limits to growth for ourselves, our stakeholders and society as a whole. The leading principles are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations and the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact. They form the global framework for our sustainability activities.

Challenges of an economic, ecological, social and cultural nature, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, but also global challenges such as the growth in the world’s population, with their consequences for resource consumption, the climate and food security, are closely linked to our core business. These challenges are thus drivers of the issues that are of greatest importance to our business activities and define our work along our sustainability strategy.

For us, sustainable action means creating qualitative growth through sustainable added value. In this way, we generate added value for our customers and contribute to overcoming global challenges for society as a whole.

In line with the requirements of our sustainability management, we are working to overcome these challenges and to act in an operationally sustainable manner by focusing on what is material to us. We want to ensure that our sustainability strategy works on the aspects and concerns that have the greatest impact on our business and on which we can have a major influence through our operations – together with our customers. With our focus on the food sector, we are working on 8 strategic focus areas.

We can set the course for a sustainable future by working together to find solutions to food waste, find answers for balanced protein use for more conscious consumption, and offer more organic and other responsible products. Similarly, we are aware of our responsibilities and opportunities when we stand up for human rights, develop innovative solutions in packaging and plastics, make a positive contribution to climate protection, make raw material sourcing sustainable, and promote diversity and inclusion.

In this way, we strengthen local communities and encourage more conscious consumption. As an innovation driver of sustainable solutions, we contribute to a sustainability movement. By informing, inspiring, motivating and supporting our employees, customers and partners, our sustainability activities can potentially reach millions of people and have an impact for more sustainability.

Covid-19 has not resulted in any fundamentally new topics for us to consider in our strategy. However, challenges and opportunities related to our focus areas have become more prominent during the pandemic.

With METRO SUSTAINABLE and our work on the strategic focus areas we contribute to the sustainability of communities worldwide. This is achieved in particular through discourse with internal and external stakeholders such as employees, customers, suppliers and business partners, local communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), political representatives, investors, competitors and committees.

You can read more on our strategic focus areas in our proof point stories.