Delhaize Group Bows 5th Sustainability Report

International food retailer Delhaize Group has released its fifth Sustainability Progress Report. The online-only report charts the Brussels-based company’s sustainability performance over the period from 2009 to 2011. Delhaize’s long-term commitment to sustainability is reinforced by its membership of the Sustainability Consortium, an independent group of organizations working to develop tools to improve the sustainability of consumer goods.

“Over the period 2009-2011, we worked as a truly global business to build strong group-wide sustainability programs, in line with our group strategy, the 'New Game Plan,’” explained Delhaize Group president and CEO Pierre-Olivier Beckers. “Through this work, we have been putting the foundations in place to strengthen our performance not only on sustainability, but also on growth and on efficiency, the other two pillars of our group strategy. We have also developed close relationships with stakeholders to help accelerate our progress. The next steps in our journey will be defined by our 2020 sustainability strategy, which we will announce in more detail later this year.”

Delhaize Group’s 2011 sustainability report provides a brief overview of the company’s activities and key learnings over the three-year period of 2009 to 2011, with a special focus on last year’s performance for each of the group’s strategic sustainability areas of products, people and planet. Achievements and challenges are both presented, along with quotes from internal and external stakeholders.

This is the second report in which Delhaize moved to limited assurance for a select number of indicators. In 2010 and 2011, the company’s internal audit and global business services firm  Ernst & Young provided assurance on those indicators. Delhaize plans a gradual move toward external assurance on all sustainable indicators.

The company also has a sustainability blog, “Feed Tomorrow.”