Enablers
Culture and organisation
The goal is clear: sustainability must become part of Valora’s corporate DNA. As this is a long-term process, it remains important to continue providing information and promotion events at the 2 724 Valora sales outlets as well as the administration and production sites. The strategic direction of sustainability efforts is determined by the Governance Board Sustainability (details in the Corporate Governance Report). It consists of members of the Board of Directors, the Group Executive Board and sustainability management, and prepares decisions on sustainability topics for the Board of Directors. Steering committees are responsible for operational implementation in the individual business areas. They also continuously monitor the implementation of the sustainability measures. Selected Valora employees in question were involved in developing the Valora sustainability strategy. Today, they form a group of so-called sustainability champions who take on a professional role within the company and contribute to knowledge dissemination. The social Valora Connect intranet facilitates exchange with sustainability champions and is used to communicate the topic.
Innovation
In addition to continuously improving sustainability throughout the company, Valora also strives for products that go beyond incremental improvements. Valora also tests sustainable innovations with suppliers and other partners: in 2021, for example, a disposable wooden coffee cup and a digital reusable cup system. If such innovations meet the needs of customers, they are added to the product range.
A sustainable innovation gained momentum across the board in 2021: the umbrella- to-rent. After use, customers can return the sustainably produced umbrella to any point of sale. Valora intends to extend use of the sharing platform created for the umbrella to further products in the future.
Stakeholder engagement
Dialogue with stakeholder groups is an important part of sustainability management. The structured interviews conducted as part of the materiality analysis form the basis for this report. This, in turn, is being continuously expanded, supplemented with additional key figures and provided to the stakeholder groups.
Discussions with analysts on ESG topics (environmental social governance) took place in 2021, among other things. Requirements and expectations that are raised, for example, in the context of tenders are documented. They often concern topics relating to the Planet pillar. Additionally, sustainability issues are explicitly addressed in day-to-day discussions with suppliers.
In future, sustainability issues will also be part of customer and employee surveys. Topic-specific inquiries from customers are already being recorded today.