Corporate Social Responsibility Report - Ahold

Building communities far awayAlbert Heijn, development organizationICCO, and FairMatch Support createda partnership to improve livingconditions and prospects for Africanfruit and vegetable growers. Thenewly-established Albert HeijnFoundation is financing projects inKenya, Ghana and South Africa thatfocus on education, housing andhealth. Albert Heijn, ICCO andFairMatch Support are workingtogether to strengthen African fruitand vegetable purchasing. Projectsfocusing on education, housing andhealth are receiving financialsupport. These projects are aimed atlocal fruit and vegetable growers forAlbert Heijn, their employees, theirfamilies and the surroundingcommunities.Our goals for delivering sustainable seafood into our stores are: environmentally-responsible way; in jeopardy; to monitor and improve long-term viability.We have developed and are implementing a group-wideseafood sustainability policy, rules for the sourcing and sale ofsustainable seafood, and a supplier assessment tool to achievemeasurable, continuous improvement.Animal welfareWe respect local regulations on animal welfare and oftenimplement even stricter controls. We seek to improve livingconditions for animals while at the same time deliveringcustomers the safe, quality products they demand. Forexample, in Europe we require producers of meat and seafoodto demonstrate compliance with audit standards that includefood safety, animal health and welfare issues.Our goal is to balance the need for a controlled environment,which must be maintained to meet our regulatoryresponsibilities, with the desire to provide conditions that meetthe needs of the animals. To this end, we are involved in aEuropean research project aimed at accommodating societalconcerns and market demands and developing reliable on-farmmonitoring systems, product information systems and practicalstrategies to improve animal welfare based on scientificresearch. The forthcoming animal-based welfare indicators canbe used to assess compliance during routine food safetysupplier audits at relevant points in the supply chain.24“ The World Wide Fund for Natureis very pleased that Albert Heijn,being the largest seafood retailerin the Netherlands, is committedto supporting us in increasing thesustainability of fisheries.”Johan van de Gronden, General Manager of WWF,the NetherlandsAhold CSR Report 2007