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METRO GROUP : ANNUAL REPORT 2010 : BUSINESS
→ GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT : 7. SUSTAINABILIT y MANAGEMENT
Michael wiedmann, head of Corporate Relations/International
Politics
Advisory members
Peter wübben, head of Corporate Communications of
METRO AG/METRO Group Asset Management
Albrecht von Truchsess, head of Corporate Communications
of Real
Sven Jacobsen, head of Corporate Communications of
Media-Saturn-Group
Stefanie Grüter, head of Corporate Communications of
Galeria Kaufhof
“Go sustainable 2012”, our sustainability strategy, is based
on four pillars:
→ Quality, health and the environment
→ Energy and resource management
→ Employees and social affairs
→ Social policies and stakeholder dialogue
A working group that develops the concepts and prepares
the decisions of the Sustainability Board is responsible for
each of these strategic topics. The representatives of the
sales divisions ensure that the measures have practical
relevance and are stringently incorporated into daily business
practices. They comment on the concepts developed by
the working groups and propose solutions. In addition, they
report project progress and provide the data needed to track
the Company’s sustainability performance.
quality, health and the environment
In addition to brand products, we offer our customers a large
number of high-quality own-brand products. we are directly
responsible for these products. This means, amongst other
things, that we assume responsibility for quality assurance.
In close consultation and dialogue with the manufacturers,
METRO GROUP determines the product features and package
design for its own-brand products. Because the supply
chains used in retailing and the products themselves are
becoming more and more complex, some of the biggest
challenges for an international retail and wholesale company
like METRO GROUP include tracing raw materials and
documenting the processing steps along the value chain.
The international quality standards of the Global Food Safety
Initiative (GFSI), such as GLOBALGAP and IFS, play a central
role in auditing the suppliers who process food for the own-
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brand products of METRO GROUP. The objective of the
standards is to strengthen consumer trust in the agricultural
production of foods. This is to be achieved by reducing
the environmentally damaging impacts of farming, decreasing
the use of medications and chemical plant protection
products and taking steps to ensure the safety and health of
humans and animals. 100 percent of the suppliers of fruit
and vegetable own-brand products in Germany fulfil the
GLOBALGAP standard.
Supplier training expanded further
Local producers and growers are important partners for us.
After all, we obtain up to 90 percent of the food products in
our stores and outlets from local producers. In numerous
countries, we help local suppliers to produce in accordance
with internationally accepted standards of the Global Food
Safety Initiative (GFSI). The fundamental goals of the supplier
qualification programme are to ensure the long-term
supply of high-quality goods to stores, promote the local
economy and create strong business relationships with producers
and growers. within the context of a strategic partnership
with the United Nations Industrial development
Organisation (UNIdO), we train local producers in food safety
and hygiene issues. we designed these measures to help
boost the volume of marketable goods and improve growers’
incomes. Following the launch of the first such project in
Egypt in 2009, we held talks with UNIdO in autumn 2010
about expanding the programme to Russia and vietnam. By
the end of 2010, we had trained more than 60 suppliers in
Egypt in the area of food safety.
Detailed information on fishing zones facilitates
the sustainable procurement of fish
As one of Europe’s largest retailers of fish, METRO GROUP
provides consumers and such commercial customers as
hotel and restaurant owners with a broad assortment of fish.
To ensure that we can continue to offer this service in the
future we are actively working to preserve marine diversity.
At the same time, this approach enables us to ensure future
sales. Since the beginning of 2010, we have supported the
project “Fish stocks online” to improve the availability of
data on the status of endangered fish stocks and to more
systematically procure fish that have been caught in a sustainable
way. For the first time, this comprehensive central
information system provides detailed data on the status of
commercial fish populations. The websites www.fischinfo.de