ESM chats to Bertrand Swiderski, Carrefour’s sustainability director, about how the group is seeking to ramp up its ‘food transition’ strategy. This article first appeared in ESM Issue 6, 2019.
Close to two years ago, the newly appointed chief executive of French retail giant Carrefour, Alexandre Bompard, announced the ambitious ‘Carrefour 2022’ transformation plan.
As part of this strategy, Bompard pledged that Carrefour would become a leader in what the former Fnac Darty chief called “food transition” – improved traceability, more efficient production, healthier food composition, better wages for producers, improved quality, and increased sustainability across all aspects of its food supply chain.
ESM met Bertrand Swiderski, Carrefour’s sustainability director, to discuss how the retailer is putting its food transition aims into practice.
Core Strategy
“Food transition is a core pillar in our strategy,” Swiderski says, pointing to the recent development of Carrefour’s ‘Act For Food’ programme, a set of commitments in line with consumer expectations about food safety, waste, product origin, and relationships with the agricultural community.
“There are a number of different programmes that we’re working on. With regard to food wastage, for example, we already removed best-before dates from salt, vinegar and sugar, and now we’re looking at removing them from pasta, rice, and types of oil.”
Does Swiderski see Carrefour as leading the way in this regard?
“Yes,” is his response. “I think, if you want to be a leader, you need to do concrete, legitimate things, and you need to share what you are doing. I’m pretty sure that, in time, all our competitors in France are going to be doing the same thing. This is something that goes beyond competition.
“We’re proud to have taken the lead first and created a positive transition, and once you’ve done that, and your competitors have followed what you are doing, it’s like a virtuous circle.”
Shopper Engagement
Ensuring the food transition process is customer-centric is another key aspect of Carrefour’s approach. While, in the past, the retailer was the one driving change, today the shopper is more attuned to trends than ever before – something of which Swiderski and his team need to take stock.
“Before, the customer was a little bit behind. He was following the idea after it appeared in the supermarket,” he says. “Today, he’s a little bit in front of us, so we have to accelerate. He knows the power he has, so we have to think differently.”
Ensuring that the message gets across, therefore, is the responsibility of all members of the Carrefour collective, particularly the employees on the shop floor.
“Execution is key,” says Swiderski. “We have to communicate to our employees in the same way that we are communicating to the customer.
“So, we created a programme called ‘Superheroes of Food Transition’, and we are encouraging our team to be entrepreneurs when it comes to getting the message across.”
Ultimately, Swiderski argues, if everybody is on board with the group’s food transition strategy, it will drive customer loyalty, attract more customers, and generate more revenue for the business – something that is often overlooked in the wider discussion about sustainability and ethical trading.
“Let’s not be shy about it,” he says. “We’re in business to make money. Why can’t we earn money and also save the planet?”
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
