Royal Ahold - Company Profile

Karin Bogaers Coordinator Social Compliance, Royal Ahold Royal Ahold is an international group of quality supermarkets based in the United States and Europe that provides an easy, convenient and appealing shopping experience through continuous customer focus. Ahold is committed to offering customers value, quality and healthy choices, while building value for shareholders. Aholds mission is to make it easy for customers to choose the best. Ahold does this through strong local brands and by putting the customer at the heart of every decision. Ahold strives to provide the best products in a relevant range, the best quality, the best prices, and the best choices for a healthy lifestyle. To fulfill this mission, Ahold sources corporate brand products from thousands of suppliers on almost all continents Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe through interconnected supply chains. Corporate responsibility Corporate responsibility is fully integrated into Aholds everyday business. In all operations, Ahold is committed to helping customers understand how the choices they make impact their health, the environment and communities, so that they make informed choices. In addition, Ahold actively engages with employees, suppliers, shareholders, NGOs and other stakeholders for a sustainable future. Ahold has adopted the Triple P model to ensure a good balance between the interests of people, planet and profit. Aholds corporate responsibility strategy focuses on the four areas where it can make the biggest positive impact: healthy living, sustainable trade, climate action and community engagement. These four areas have been at the core of the corporate responsibility strategy since 2007 because they are relevant to Aholds business and supply chain and important to all stakeholders. Environmental issues Ahold supports the global effort to tackle climate change and is determined to operate its businesses in an efficient way that limits environmental impact. The priorities are to minimize the environmental footprint by reducing energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste and supporting the conservation of biodiversity. As a global retailer, Ahold sources agricultural products worldwide and changing weather patterns and climatic conditions could impact future farming operations, crops, and food supplies. In terms of climate action, Ahold

Sustainable Spice Conference 12 October 2010 Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam 1 Royal Ahold Karin Bogaers

therefore has three primary focus areas: its own operations, the products it sells, and communication with customers about their footprint. The production of the goods sold in stores has an impact on the environment. As a preliminary step to increased environmental compliance, Ahold therefore encourages suppliers to be open and transparent about their production processes and continually explore ways to reduce their environmental impact. To help Ahold tackle the issue of environmental impact in the supply chain, the company recently joined the Sustainability Consortium, an international organization consisting of retailers, consumer goods producers, universities, research institutes, government bodies and NGOs, in life cycle analysis. The consortium is working to improve the science of analysis and developing strategies and tools to assess the sustainability impact of products. Ahold has joined this and other similar groups to collaborate on comprehensive solutions for environmental compliance and achieve results more quickly. One of the major challenges is to find solutions that can be applied to different types of suppliers and supply chains and cover not just the full range of environmental issues, but also the entire product range. Social issues Ahold is committed to ensuring responsible behavior at each step in the supply chain. This includes the environmental footprint, but also how workers are treated. The assortment includes products sourced from all over the world. Ahold insists that all suppliers respect the rights of their employees and comply with labor laws, regardless of their location. Ahold is also committed to helping suppliers grow their businesses in a responsible and sustainable way. An example is the Albert Hein Foundation, where Ahold partners with NGOs and suppliers to implement projects on health care and education. The Ahold Standards of Engagement outline requirements for social compliance, including compliance with national labour legislation and the Core Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The Standards also require all suppliers in high-risk countries to commit to the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or an equivalent programme. Ahold works with the BSCI to raise awareness among suppliers on compliance issues, and the BSCI organizes roundtables to engage local stakeholders on improving working conditions. Most of Aholds efforts in sustainable trade focus on the products sold in the stores, rather than the ingredients that make up these products. For certain critical commodities, however, Ahold is engaged in initiatives targeted at the part of the supply chain where social or environmental problems arise. These commodities include coffee, tea, cocoa, some types of seafood, palm oil and soy, and Ahold actively works with Utz Certified, the Round Table on Responsible