Ahold Delhaize Issues 2023 Annual Report, With Emphasis on Local

Ahold Delhaize has published its 2023 Annual Report, which provides an overview of the company’s financial  and non-financial performance over the past year. During this period, Ahold Delhaize’s local brands strove to create value for customers, supported local communities, and collectively took crucial steps to streamline the business, advance the transition to a healthy and sustainable food system, and make progress toward its sustainability targets.

“The theme of this report is ‘local matters’ – and, in 2023, we proved that once again,” noted Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller. “Our brands remain intensely focused on our aim to ensure that customers and communities have access to affordable, sustainable and healthy products. And at the same time, we are committed to playing our part as an industry leader to ensure we can build a more sustainable value chain that is healthier for the planet.” 

[RELATED: Ahold Delhaize USA Names Chief Sustainability Officer]

The company’s Annual Report comprises a strategic report and governance and performance sections, and also includes key stories illustrating the impact of its local brands. In the report, Ahold Delhaize recounts key developments in its Leading Together strategy, spotlighting its growth drivers of e-commerce and digitalization, operational excellence, health and sustainability, and talent development. 

Major highlights from the report include:

• Ahold Delhaize met all of its key financial goals for the year while investing in such areas as store remodels and Home Shop Centers, including innovations and improvements to support its environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, and it continued to update its infrastructure. 
• In 2023, it considerably exceeded its original Save for Our Customers goal, generating much more in cost savings than originally planned, which enabled its brands to keep prices as low as possible for customers. 
• Its brands expanded their high-quality own-brand assortments, optimized loyalty programs and offered a seamless shopping experience both in-store and online. All of its U.S. brands have continued to invest in e-commerce, now operating 1,558 click-and-collect points.
• In 2023, it made significant progress in the area of health and sustainability, achieving almost 55% of own-brand healthy food sales, further reducing GHG emissions in its own operations by 35% compared with its 2018 baseline, lowering food waste per food sales by 37% compared with its 2016 baseline and reducing virgin plastic in own-brand primary packaging by 10% compared with its 2021 baseline. 
• The report includes data on such topics as in-kind and cash donations to food banks across Ahold Delhaize’s store network, information about pay equity at its brands, and how it’s boosted female representation among its leadership from 27% end of year 2021 to 33% end of year 2022 and to 37% end of 2023. 
• It expanded the report’s ESG section with additional details, among them a new overview of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how it’s working to help fulfill them, and it also added details about its efforts to comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). 
• Its aim to have climate targets in line with the 1.5ºC scenario hasn’t changed, and it updated its scope 3 targets in alignment with the latest communication of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). 
• Thanks to its ESG efforts, Ahold Delhaize received an AAA rating from MSCI, indicating the retail conglomerate’s status as an industry leader in managing financially relevant ESG risks and opportunities. 

Ahold Delhaize’s 2023 annual report will be on the agenda of its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, which will take place April 10.

Although it expects a difficult economic environment this year, Ahold Delhaize said that its brands have considerable opportunities to create fresh momentum. The company added that it would provide more details on its strategic initiatives at its Strategy Day event in May.

Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, operates more than 2,000 stores across 23 states and is No. 10 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. companies consist of its local brands, Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Co., Hannaford, and Stop & Shop; Retail Business Services, a U.S. support services company providing services to the brands; Peapod Digital Labs, its digital and e-commerce engine; and ADUSA Distribution & Transportation. PG also named Ahold Delhaize USA one of its Retailers of the Century and among its 10 Most Sustainable Grocers.