In the most recent edition of ESM, as part of our Sustainability 2022 feature, we spoke to a number of top executives working across the global retail and consumer goods landscape about how they are seeking to set a high bar when it comes to sustainability.
Ida Schillaci, Head of CSR, Esselunga
Climate change is having an increasingly more obvious impact on our planet, to the point where it has become almost irreversible. COVID-19 has further highlighted the vulnerability of our ecosystem to systemic risk and has brought home the importance of governments, enterprises and individuals cooperating to counter the climate crisis.
Today, environmental issues play a primary role because our planet is experiencing what might well be an irreversible climate change: for this reason, governments are developing several regulatory mechanisms aiming at containing increasingly higher carbon dioxide emissions, improving energy efficiency, rethinking the uses of packaging and reducing food waste. Accordingly, consumers are increasingly careful to make healthy, quality and sustainable food choices.
Respecting the environment is therefore crucial for Esselunga – all our activities, from store designing to sales, aim to avoid waste and minimise the environmental impact.
The Need To 'Act Sustainably'
In 2020, Esselunga continued to uphold its philosophy of growth and development according to ethical principles and social responsibility. Acting sustainably is a value that has formed part of the company since its foundation and which has become even more important at this time.
Conscious of its role, Esselunga has not wavered from its path that envisages the progressive supplementation of economic decisions with an assessment of the social and environmental impacts, fundamental elements for creating long-term value.
Where Esselunga is concerned, sustainability has been converted into concrete actions, offering customers high-quality products at affordable prices, supporting its people, reducing impact on the environment, and supporting suppliers and local communities.
Sustainability is an essential tool for us to create value and stand out in the market. Our most important stakeholders, our customers, are increasingly focused on company performance, since they have strong ideals and look for brands they identify with, which also reflect their ethical values, respect, freshness and authenticity.
Important And Responsible Choices
We are well aware that our company, in all its facets, plays an important role in our society. As a food company we must, therefore, make important and responsible choices that generate positive outcomes on the environment and on consumers’ lives. All our activities, from store design to sales, aim to avoid waste and minimise the environmental impact.
We accomplish this through our own production plants, processing centres and laboratories, which guarantee full control of every production phase, as well as through a careful selection of suppliers, who consequently become strategic partners for us to enact commercial strategies and propose sustainable, safe and quality products, capable of satisfying our customers’ needs.
Attention to the environment as well as support to communities are two pillars of Esselunga's sustainability strategy which, over the years, has led to the implementation of numerous initiatives aimed at developing the territory and protecting the environment.
Green plays a fundamental role in Esselunga's activities: from the design of its supermarkets to the care and maintenance of green spaces. The company has always paid great attention to care and maintenance of public parks, as well as to recovery of non-cultivated areas and their transformation into urban parks. So far, Esselunga has built a total of 64,000 square metres of 'green roofs', and managed 950,000 square metres of public and private green spaces, including over 40 sponsored public areas, under the 'Forestami' project.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more A-Brands stores, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
