Carrefour - 2017 Annual Report

C A R R E F O U R — 0 3 What are the reasons, strengths and legitimacy behind Carrefour’s commitment to the food transition for all? The food transition is happening before our eyes; it is a global phenomenon. Intensive production methods are reaching their limits and consumers have never been so concerned about what they eat. It is up to us to do what is necessary to meet their expectations. Carrefour is the only player with sufficient power and sufficient presence across the chain to achieve this ambition at a global level. Through our network, our daily proximity to millions of customers, the services we are designing and developing, our affordable prices and the choices we make about our offering, we have the means to make this transition a success everywhere we operate. We have a duty to set an example at every stage of our operations and we are rolling out some very proactive measures in our food offering, working to make quality, reliable, accessible food available to all consumers, every day, at a reasonable price. This is firstly a question of ensuring food safety. I would like to stress this point because it is an absolute priority. We will achieve this by developing innovative mechanisms to guarantee traceability, such as Europe’s first food blockchain pioneered by Carrefour, which has been a great success. We will additionally be extending this technology to all of the Carrefour Quality Lines. We will also be introducing more initiatives to improve quality standards and investing in the democratisation of organic products. We have some very ambitious targets in this area, and plan to quadruple our sales to reach €5 billion by 2022. Supporting the food transition is also being responsible. We take action on a daily basis, at every stage of our operations, whether this is tackling waste, preserving biodiversity or getting more involved upstream in farming, along the lines of the agreement reached with the WWF ® , which aims to help more than 500 French producers to convert to organic farming. Furthermore, the food transition will only be effective if it is for all. Carrefour banners are mass-market banners, aimed at everyone. We must offer all our customers the ability to eat better, everywhere at a reasonable price, and this will require proactive efforts to develop a range of quality, healthy products, providing better information for consumers, and improving staff training. This ambition is based on strong commitments and strengthened governance with the designation of an Advisory Food Committee, made up of external experts who will support the Group on food transition issues. How does the Carrefour model fit into this trend? Carrefour must also adapt its model to respond to new customer expectations, creating an omni-channel universe of reference. This means mobilising all of our assets, both physical and digital, to guarantee an offering which is perfectly tailored to individual customers wherever they are and however they shop. To create this omni-channel world, we need to draw on our network of stores, which will also become preparation, collection or return points for products ordered online. This is the strength of our model compared with pure players and it is why I believe deeply in the power of our incomparable local roots. To succeed in the omni-channel challenge, we will invest heavily in digital technologies – €2.8 billion by 2022 – and become the leader in food e-commerce. At the same time, we are continuing to develop our growth formats and embarking on the revitalisation of our hypermarkets. The success of our model also depends on the development of a range of unique digital services, built on optimised logistics assets and a strong Carrefour brand, at the heart of the relationship with customers. What would you like to say to those who are following Carrefour’s development? The transformation that lies ahead of us represents unprecedented change for our company, but the Group has some incomparable assets. Teams in all of our locations are fully mobilised. With “Carrefour 2022”, the Group has adopted a profound transformation plan to ensure profitable and sustainable growth.