Sustainability targets
Description: It is ICA Gruppen’s conviction that all commercial activity must take place under humane conditions. ICA Gruppen’s supplier agreements contain special provisions regarding respect for human rights. Social audits of suppliers in high-risk countries that produce ICA Gruppen’s corporate brand products are conducted on site. The audits are to be performed according to a model approved by the Group or using ICA Gruppen’s own social audit tool. At least 90% of the suppliers of ICA Gruppen’s corporate brand products in high-risk countries are to have an approved social re-audit by year-end 2020.
Outcome: At the end of 2020 a total of 92% of suppliers of ICA Gruppen’s corporate brand products in high-risk countries had undergone a social audit, and 86% had an approved re-audit. The target for social audits of suppliers was thus not reached, which was partly due to the severe impact of the pandemic on ICA Gruppen’s suppliers. Opportunities to conduct audits were limited, and the highest priority was to make it easier for suppliers to keep their businesses going. After 2020, ICA Gruppen will continue to monitor and report the percentage of suppliers of corporate brand products in high-risk countries that have undergone a social audit.
Description: Customers should feel safe shopping with ICA Gruppen. ICA Gruppen’s focus on quality includes ensuring that suppliers have safe production processes. This is done through provisions in agreements with all suppliers. Suppliers of the Group’s corporate brand products are also required to have certification according to a standard accepted by the Group.
Outcome: At the end of 2020 a total of 91% of suppliers of ICA Gruppen’s corporate brand products were quality-certified. From 2021 onwards the number of quality-certified suppliers will continue to be monitored and reported to ensure that quality work remains at a high level.
Description: Helping customers to feel good and guiding them to make healthy choices is a priority for ICA Gruppen, partly because customers call for it and partly because the Group, as a major player, has a great opportunity to positively impact people’s health. Success in achieving this goal is monitored through customer surveys.
Outcome:
• In the 2020 NKI customer satisfaction index, ICA came in second place among Swedish grocery retailers when respondents answered the question “Who inspires me to eat healthily?”.
• In a Nielsen Omnibus survey in November, Rimi came in first place in Estonia and Latvia, and in fourth place in Lithuania, when respondents were asked to associate grocery retailers with the statement “Offers healthy products and guides customers to choose a healthier lifestyle”.
• In a brand tracking survey performed by Nepa during the autumn, Apotek Hjärtat was seen to be second best in the industry in taking responsibility for improving public health in Sweden, and was seen to be one of the pharmacy chains most associated with making it easy for customers to make sustainable choices.
Description: Climate change affects everyone. To contribute to the UN’s goal to limit global temperature rise, ICA Gruppen has a target that its operations will be climate neutral by 2020. The target includes the climate impact caused by operations at stores, pharmacies, warehouses and offices. This is to be achieved by constant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, achieving at least a 70% decrease in climate impact compared with the 2006 level, and through increased resource efficiency. The climate impact that remains in 2020 is offset through carbon credits. By 2025, ICA Gruppen’s suppliers representing 70% of its upstream climate impact are to have adopted science-based climate targets.
Outcome: ICA Gruppen reached its climate neutrality target in 2020. Since the base year of 2006 emissions of greenhouse gases have decreased by 76%, mainly due to major efforts and improvements in the areas of energy, refrigerants, logistics flows and goods transport. Altogether, emissions have decreased from an average of 111 kg CO2e per square metre to 26 kg CO2e per square metre. All 2020 emissions are offset through climate compensation. The outcome for the supplier target at the end of 2020 was 26%.
Description: Food accounts for about a quarter of humanity’s total impact on the climate and it is therefore of utmost importance to take care of the food that is produced. ICA Gruppen’s target is to cut food waste from warehouses and stores in both Sweden and the Baltic countries in half by 2025 compared with the base year 2016. Food waste is measured using an international standard created by the Food Loss and Waste Protocol (FLW Protocol). Important factors for reaching the new target include smarter algorithms for sourcing and product processing, and having procedures and tools for early identification of food that is at risk of being wasted.
Outcome: ICA Gruppen’s food waste has by the end of 2020 been reduced with 14% compared with the base year 2006. A continued focus on purchasing processes, and on registering, following up and analysing the cause of waste has led to an increased pace in reducing food waste. Especially the stores in Sweden have improved their work with systematically measuring and following up on their food waste, which also improves the reliability of data.
