Three years after it created its CSR and Food Transition index, french retailer Carrefour is raising its targets and setting itself some new ones. Henceforth, it will be incorporated into the pay structure and bonuses of the retailers employees, as well as into the remuneration of integrated country managers.

In 2018, Carrefour introduced a CSR and food transition index designed to assess the Group’s performance and track its success in achieving its corporate social responsibility targets. The index covers four areas: Responsible product sourcing, store activities and logistics, perception and customer satisfaction and commitment to its workforce. Several quantitative targets and timeframes are associated with each of these areas. 17 indicators are tracked, and the results for each one are published annually. The average of the scores achieved for all of these indicators is the index’s overall score. In 2020, the CSR and Food transition index reached a score of 115% (114% in 2019), meaning it outperformed the initial target by 15%.

Carrefour is now raising its targets for several of these areas so as to confirm and bolster its commitment to sustainable fishing, combating deforestation, promoting nutrition and health as well as local products and reducing the use of packaging.

• Nutrition and health: To help our customers enjoy a healthier diet, we are committing to ensuring that by 2025, 25% of our food products will contribute to the food transition. Furthermore, the recipes of more than 6,000 private brand products will be revised so as to reduce their sugar, fat or salt content, and eliminate controversial substances or additives by 2022. These new commitments are in addition to our applying the Nutri-score system to 7,000 of our store and e-commerce products before 2022 and eliminating more than 100 controversial substances from our Carrefour private brand products. 

• Food transition in stores: As part of our ACT FOR FOOD program, the CSR and Food Transition index will gauge the satisfaction of our customers based on the five priorities that we have set ourselves:
  • Accessible organic products
  • Healthy and responsible Carrefour brand
  • Tackling food wastage
  • Elimination of single-use plastics
  • Availability of ultra-local products

• Supplier commitment: As part of an extension of the food transition pact that was launched in 2019 involving more than 30 major partner brands, Carrefour is extending it to include the national suppliers operating in each of the Group’s countries in 2021. The idea is to involve brands that are popular with our customers in our food transition for all programs. The aim is to sign up 300 suppliers by 2025.

• Packaging: Carrefour has doubled its packaging reduction target, and is committed to reducing it by 20,000 tons before 2025. The retailer is involving all of its industrial partners in its aim of achieving 1,000 reusable packaging solutions so as to supply the various re-use, deposit and “sold loose” schemes in use in stores.

• Climate: To meet its target of reducing the CO2 emissions of its indirect activities (scope 3) by 30%, Carrefour is getting its suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint by 20 megatons of CO2 by 2025. In particular, this will involve developing the use of plant proteins, cutting energy consumption, using renewable energies and incorporating local and low-carbon ingredients.

• Diversity and team commitment: Across the Group, Carrefour is stepping up its aims in the area of diversity. It has set the ambition of  women accounting for 35% of its 200 most senior managers and is aiming to have people with disabilities account for 4% of its employees. It is also developing employee expertise by giving them access to training and is bolstering own commitment to its own teams, which is measured by employee recommendation.

To help reach these targets, performance criteria have been incorporated into the pay of Group managers. Starting in 2019, 25% of managers’ pay was based on the CSR index as part of a Long-Term Incentive. And 20% of the CEO’s (company representative) pay has been made up of a variable component. Since 2021, the CSR index has been incorporated into the variable remuneration of all Group entity employees, as well as into the remuneration of integrated country managers.