Acting today for tomorrow
09 March 2017Sustainability in corporate strategy
Keynote address by Olaf Koch at the International Travel Trade Show in Berlin, 2017
In this day and age, the value of a company is not only measured in terms of size and profits anymore. In a globalised world that offers new opportunities every day, other parameters have become important.
For a long time now, METRO GROUP has been putting emphasis on the understanding that a successful corporate strategy can only be a sustainable one: As an international retail group with more than 220,000 employees, whose core business is food products and whose core clientele consists of independent businesses, METRO GROUP does not only have a particular responsibility, but also the opportunity to contribute to a sustainable economy.
In a keynote address at the International Travel Trade Show ITB on 10 March 2017, Olaf Koch, Chairman of the Management Board of METRO GROUP, described the characteristics of a sustainable corporate strategy. He explained how sustainability is integrated in METRO GROUP’s corporate strategy in his presentation entitled “Acting today for tomorrow – sustainability in corporate strategy”.
For example in terms of energy: Every year, METRO GROUP invests more than 30 million euros in energy-saving programmes and measures and was able to reduce the energy consumption by 20 percent in the past six years.
The trade company works together with non-profit organisations on the issue of food waste, and, for example, has introduced the “Best Leftovers Container”, a kind of “doggy bag” for restaurateurs. It also has a well-established cooperation with the “Tafeln” food banks and hosts an annual charity meal.
The presentation of Olaf Koch gives hope for the world.
Professor Stefan Gössling
METRO GROUP also focuses on transparency, not only in the political dialogue: The origin of more than 700 fish products can be traced with the F-trace app. This is an important signal by one of the largest sellers of fish in Europe with 200,000 tonnes of fish sold per year.
The annual METRO GROUP sustainability report provides insight into the other advances that the retail group has made. Since 1998 already, METRO GROUP has been reporting on its objectives, progress and achievements in the area of sustainability; in the financial year 2015/2016 even with external auditing. These reports on non-financial performance indicators were voluntary for companies until now. As of 2017, all companies with more than 500 employees are required by law to submit such a report.
METRO GROUP is not only committed to sustainable management because it is in the long-term economic interest of the company – but also because we want to leave a planet to future generations that still has sufficient resources for these generations. This is how METRO GROUP is acting today for tomorrow.