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.
Signe Frese, CSR Director, Coop Denmark
I don't think there has been a big change in our sustainability agenda as a result of COVID, if anything I see a stronger commitment from our consumers towards value-driven businesses, and value-driven shopping habits.
I think the pandemic has made us all stop and think about what's important in life. Is it important to drive to work every day, for example?
That, in turn has made us think a little more about our shipping habits. I believe that there will be an even stronger commitment towards the sustainability agenda in general going forward.
From that perspective, Denmark is a bit of a special market, because we are already the most organic country in the world, and we have a very strong climate commitment from government. So I sense a sort of value shift.
Reducing Carbon Emissions
Coop Denmark has plans to reduce our carbon emissions from Scope 1 and 2 by 2030 – actually we want to become carbon positive. It's quite an ambitious plan; we want to reduce our emissions by one million tonnes of CO2 by the end of the decade.
It's not going to be easy, but in terms of what we have achieved so far, we have invested in energy saving equipment in our stores, reducing our energy consumption by 20%.
We are changing the type of lighting that we use, the refrigerants that we use, and updating our company car policy towards electric and hybrid cars.
We are also looking into our supply chain and logistics capabilities; a lot of the fruit and vegetables that we source from Spain are now travelling by train instead of lorry, which has led to quite a big reduction in CO2, as much as 65%.
Read More: Organic Food Comprises Two-Fifths Of Coop Denmark's Online Food Sales
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
