Albert Heijn for Africa: no charity!

Yesterday we had the board meeting of the Albert Heijn Foundation. It was great to hear about all those good things that are happening throught the cooperation of Albert Heijn, ICCO, FairMatch Support and our suppliers in Africa. Just being a retailer that wants to create long term relationships with suppliers to ensure future volume, quality and reasonable price. Therefore AH is investing into community projects through the foundation: water systems, learning centers, HIV/Aids programs etc. etc. No charity, no way. Just good business sense and coop at its best!

Walmart Sustainability Consortium: good slow start - reprise

The end of last month I went to Washington DC to participate in a meeting of the Walmart Sustainability Consortium. Walmart started some time ago asking its suppliers to fill a scorecard on packaging. The feedback from some major suppliers was that they thought Walmart should organize a joint effort with other retailers to start asking for that kind of info, otherwise they would end up with an organization full of Chief Questionnaire executives. And so Walmart did. Together with the University of Arkansas (watch the pronounciation... , something like "arkensow"...) and Arizona they developed the Sustainability Consortium, a joint effort of retailers, manufacturers and civil society, to create a common standard for the footprint of a product related to environmental and social issues. I think that was a great thing to do. Of course we spent way too much time on bureaucracy during the meeting, I guess that is the norm these days...

Anyway, good slow start, promising for the future!

Anuga: nice to meat!

Have I ever seen so much meat in one place. Bratwurst all over the place, steaks, lambchops, chicken wings, porky tails. Ich bin ein Berliner in the literal sense of the sentence. It does not look like the food industry gathered at the Anuga, one of the big food exhibitions in the world of the food industry, has a clue about global warming and what that has to do with the consumption of meat. With some effort I found two exhibitors of 'non-meat meat'. Way to go baby!

Red Hat

Red neck, red hat? Yesterday evening we had a great debate in "De Rode Hoed", a famous used to be church, now used as a debating center on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. Prof. Van der Ploeg talked about the terrible empires of food in the world, including us, basically trashing the farmers by controlling the full supply chain. And of course we objected. It is all very nice to say that we make enormous profits by exploiting farmers, but we still only make 4 cents on every Euro that we sell. Jan Douwe van der Ploeg's favorite model is, as he calls it, farmers agriculture. That is not a contradictio in termino, no, it just means that he talks about smaller farmers diversifying into businesses that make money. And that we applaud. For the rest, we are just a retailer making sure it is operating in a fair way with its suppliers and by buying and selling we make some money.

http://www.ontwikkelingssamenwerking.nu/: missed faces?

On Saturday we had the big dag of Bert Koenders, minister of development cooperation in Holland. A big day because we were talking and debating about how to move on with development cooperation related to the MDGs. MDGs? The Millinium Development Goals as they are established within the United Nations. One of them, # 8, is all about sustainable trade amongst other things. Lots of talk about the influence of businesses in developing economies. But apart from the usual suspects on stage, like Peter Bakker from TNT, it was a day of missed changes. Where were all those innovative initiatives from a business perspective, where were the people taking charge in the countries that we talked about? Again it was a party of 'ons kent ons' (incrowd party) and not of 'ons willen die ander kennen' (meeting the other side of development cooperation). The Dutchies told themselves how good they were doing, did we ask Kofi how it works out on the ground?

https://www.cdproject.net/en-US/Pages/HomePage.aspx

The Carbon Disclosure Project has been out there for quite some time now. It tries to capture carbon emissions of all the major business in the world. Ahold for the first time this year disclosed via the Project and we are glad we did. The Project is the best recognized attempt to cover emissions and the developments. Used by investors to see if companies actually recognize the risks and opportunities that come with climate challenges.

In CDP language:
Consumer Staples Royal Ahold AQ IN 45 69 2,474,427 1,150,964 1,323,463

She did it!

Simone did it, in 1 hour and 45 minutes more or less. When I interviewed her at the finish line she looked quite OK for a lady running 10 miles. Well, I now loose quite some money, because all three people I sponsored completed the race. The proceeds are going to the Leefkring Huis, the foundation we support at Ahold to provide a safe haven for women and kids in need.

Dam2Dam

This year the 25th time of the Dam-to-Dam 10 mile running event. A'dam will be closed down over the weekend, as we are all out there to watch the bravehearts. Of course Ahold sponsors this event that brings runners from the Dam in Amsterdam to the Dam in Zaandam, the town where our company started more than hunderd years ago. And I have to sponsor a lot of people, so my wallet will be easy to carry around next week. My favorite is Simone, she will be running and it will be hard for her. Do not know her number, but keep an eye, because it will be tough for her!

http://www.damloop.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=10

Putz

Some two years ago Cargill, Heinz en Albert Heijn sat together about how on earth to make the cocoa supply chain more sustainable. Hunderds of thousands of farmers were out there in the field. In West Africa, in Asia en who knows where. Quality mostly lousy, social conditions same thing. Bringing cocoa to a collection station was mostly a matter of bringing in as much weight as possible. Throw in some rocks here and there, not at the top of the bag. Child labor? Who knows. Slave labor? Who knows. The task at hand was so immense. That is when I first started participating tha meeting. Cargill was thinking of telling Oxfam what great things they were doing in their cocoa supply chain. And then what, did we make a difference? No, I suggested, let's talk to Utz Certified. These guys know about sustainable coffee certification, coffee is a bean, cocoa is a bean. That was my simple reasoning. Wow, did I know you could raise so many objections comparing beans and beans! But in the end it worked. Today in Dutch newspaper a big article about what Cargill and Utz did. And that fills these eyes with tears. Gratitude, that some things work, more and more things work...

Djsianks!

In 2004 we were deleted from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. We had some issues in our company, but today we are back! Back in one of the most prestigious sustainability indexes and we will drink a glass of champagne to that this afternoon!

Why is this important to us? Well, it sort of shows ourselves and the world that we changed things in the right direction. And now we want to move on. Making sure we understand what the world is about, and what we can do about that. That is what we are preparing now. project FIS: Future Issues & Solutions. It is about obesity, diversity, anxiety. Big words to be translated into simple and inspiring solutions. That's what it is all about!

Business Performance Review

Yep, what's in a dull word? Well, I can tell you, that dull wording is full of healthy, sustainability, energy and engagement. Full of emotion and passion. We are talking a major step in terms of our Corporate Responsibility policy. Every quarter we will report internally to the Supervisory Board, the Corporate Executive Board and the CEOs of our Operating Companies how we are doing in terms of our major themes: Healthy Living, Sustainable Trade, Climate Action and Community Engagement. Now we are talking. Numbers is what counts. We will get discussions about our assortment, our suppliers, our energy usage, our waste and our effort in the communities around our stores. What more do you want!

Transparant green?

Second, that is what we were evaluated in Greenpeace’s latest analysis of seafood sustainability policies at major supermarket chains. Second, that is the same as last time. Only last time we were surpassed by Wholefoods, now by Wegmans. Because is not totally clear how Greenpeace evaluates our efforts, it is rather difficult to find out what we would have to improve to come first. Transparency, that is what it is all about. Also from our side we have to communicate what we do, how we do it and with whom we dot it with respect to offering sustainable seafood in our stores. Apart from seafood we get loads of questionnaires about anything related to corporate responsibility and we always ask for transparency in their ranking efforts. We want to use the questionnaires as a sort of stakeholder input, but then it has to be clear what we are looking for.

So, let's go for clarity!

Food, food and food

Last week Wednesday at 2:00 PM I took my bike and together with Alex we went to the Food Bank in Amsterdam North. Some biking, some boating, some biking and then we arrived. After waiting for half an hour or so in what supposedly had been a small supermarket the truck with all kinds of food arrived. We started unpacking, categorizing and waiting for our customers. All those people with smaller or bigger families who have a difficult time feeding their families. Lots of fun, and really giving you the idea that this is something that helps in a direct way. I love it!

Do we follow the hamster or the panda?

Now for something completely new. Yesterday we had our Annual General Shareholders Meeting in Amsterdam. And we had a fantastic introduction to Corporate Responsibility through Friends of the Earth. They were hanging from the building, police was around, shareholders puzzled as to what those hamsters were actually talking about. It was soy my friend. And the Friends of the Earth totally disagrees with the World Wildlife Fund on this issue: how to promote sustainable produced soy. That is the question for today. Can the NGOs please agree on the direction they want to go, using the same kind of research data, coming out with a generally accepted opinion?

Now who do we follow my friends? Is it going to be the hamster or the panda?

Fun, funnier, funniest

Yesterday we had another brainstorm (or breinstorm in Dutch) with De Vrolijkheid, the Foundation to Promote Cheerfullness. We were trying and we were succesfull in establishing a program for a joint Vrolijkheid/Ahold day of fun and pleasure for some 100 kids from asylum centers. Always a pleasure to be at their offices, enought good calories to eat and our ever engaged Simone (our Community leader) baked a lovely and tasty cake. Joop, our supposedly strict Internal Audit chief, was also present and handed over enough money to give three asylum center kids some days of fun over the year. What a pleasure it is to give, to have fun and to work at what you think is of value!

Community Center open at Westfalia Tzaneen, Limpopo, South Africa

That is the Albert Heijn Foundation (http://www.ah.nl/albertheijn/article.jsp?trg=albertheijn/article.waarden.duurzaamheid.ahfoundation). Ge Happe, our European fruit and vegetables manager had the privilige to open up the community center at one of our suppliers, Westfalia. Westfalia produces mango's and avocado's. A very tangible result of the Foundation that invests in community projects in Africa. And Dorcas was also there, the Westfalia champion for community service. We go back a long time. I still miss them, after having spend so mucht time over at Tzaneen. "Are you doing the tour yourself Roland?"

The Foundation to Promote Cheerfulness

Yesterday I went to the opening ceremony of the Day of Fun of http://www.vrolijkheid.nl/. We are going to work with them and have fun! Go take a look at the small and brilliant exposition in the Public Library in Amsterdam if you are in town. The idea was to start off with 1000 and 1 encounters between refugee kids and guys and girls like me. I had the privilege to talk, joke and draw with Miski from Mogadishu. Just before she had been action as a stewardess in the opening play. Boy, could Miski laugh. I enjoyed every minute of it!

Intern internal international

Over time we have learned to love all the interns and assistants that worked with us over the years. First in Ghana, then in South Africa, now in A'dam. Most of the time ladies. You get so tired of those guys. All this macho career building, lots of talk, less action. Hé guys, bring it up down! Yesterday we said goodbye to David, our last intern so far. A man, a real man, yes. But we loved him too. Lots of guts, critique, humor, laughs. Hard working also, where do you find a man like that? Sorry to see him leave, hiring for new interns, yes we are. Write to Angelica and send your motivation and cv and we will have a look. So, now you know, we love diversity. We love arguments, culture, being different. Are you next?

The report, the report and the report

I did not know that CR reporting was so boring sometimes. It takes forever and in the end you are discussing numbers till nobody knows anymore what reasons there were to publish those number in the first place. And editing text. You edit, they edit, we edit. And sometimes coming back to the same text we had three months before...

But now we are out with the report. On line. And printed in a summary with the Annual Report. Last year I promised the investors that our new report would be a lot duller. And we kept that promise! It looks and is a lot duller than last year. Less glamour, more data, that does the trick. Actually, that was one of the remarks of the investors present at our Monday investors meeting. They missed the passion of last year. And that made me wondering. Do we indeed lack passion. I do not want to hear that. I love my job, passionately. But if that is not recognized anymore?

Anyway, we started working on the 2009 report and we will love it right from the start!

Milky Way!

Yesterday evening I went to a concert of Habib Koité and his band. Just look at wiki for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habib_Koit%C3%A9. I loved it, relaxed mix of African and whatever influences. If you ever have the change to go listen to him, please do. You feel at home with this music and Africa comes alive again. Just hanging out there in the Milky Way with friends and this kind of music is one of great things op life!

Professor Franse

Onno is the Nestor of our department and he just celebrated his 50th birthday. As always with Onno he gave a magnificent speech about life in general and some specifics about his own life. Having worked for fast movers, McDonalds and the likes he has seen it all. Cheap calories, the whole range from poverty --> wealth --> well-being. And how do you reach that? It is a balance my friends. It is not about eating healthy always, it is about sometimes eating fries, burgers. Sometimes carrots, fried garlic. Drinking beet root juice and wine. And exercising. make it a life, get a life!

Effe een balletje trappen

We just had the celebration around our new official soccer table in the office. We had several before, but you know, with all those financial guys playing with it, it breaks down easily. So now we had a huge X-Mas project where the most creative Albert Heijn man reviped an old table and we were giving the opportunity to sponsor the players. Of course our Corporate Responsibility department got the strikerand all the proceeds went to the Johan Cruyff Foundation. Johan Cruyff, being our world soccer player from the past, is trying his utmost to give disadvantaged kids a good sport time one or the other.
Ha, that is the spirit!

New Year

Last week a reception in the Hague of the MInistry of Development Cooperation. All the guys and girls from the development scene were there. Mr. Joris Voorhoeve, former Minister of Defense, was speeching before me about all the ins and outs of the development world. Can we create a avant-garde capable of actually hitting real development goals? He is a wise and friendly man. Then I could give my ideas about cooperation between the development sector and the private sector. My conclusion: together in the mud we will stand! Jack van Ham was there also, he is heading ICCO, with whom we have a fruitfull cooperation.
Who's next?

Obama!

Now, this was the day. We got up quite early to get to The Mall to see what was happening around the inauguration. And it was great! There booing, cheering, crying and all of that. Long lines for refreshments and an impressive amount of mobile toilets. And there was Barack Obama, impressive as ever. It was so cool to listen with I do not how many other people to those great words. Seeing all those persons that made US history. And for me wondering what all this will mean for our policies in Corporate Responsibility. For the better I am sure. I am wishing all Americans a good change

Ghana Investors Advisory Council

Some years ago I was working from Ghana. I was stationed there for a few years to develop sustainable trade between suppliers in Africa and our operating companies in Europe. And that worked. One of my duties was to represent Ahold in the Ghana Investors Advisory Council (GIAC). I loved those meetings. His Excellency the president of Ghana John Agyekum Kuofor was presiding over those meetings and still hear him asking: "Please gentlemen (because we were...), be brutally honest with me." He know how to learn. He listened, he observed. "Roland, you are so silent today, what is on your mind?" I miss those meetings. I miss Ghana. But I sure know that that country is one the most promising countries of the world!

Zim2

With all of the noise surrounding the election results in Zimbabwe, we at Ahold find ourselves being questioned about our continuous presence in the country. We want to stand firm and make the right choices.
Over all of the years that we have been sourcing products from Zimbabwe, we have built up many strong relationships. That’s not to be taken lightly. People have come to rely on us just as we have on them. We are working very closely with a number of suppliers there and with their employees. Any decision we make has to be taken with them in mind. We have to make a responsible decision.
We have talked about what is going on in Zimbabwe today with our suppliers, and also with ICCO and FairMatch Support, our partners in development in Africa. The conclusion was clear: We stand for Zimbabwe! By sourcing products from Zimbabwe we support thousands of families in a very effective and important way.
We are very aware of the situation in the country. We talk to our suppliers about their relationships with the government, veterans and with their own employees. We analyze, we summarize, and we do our best to make the right decisions.
Let's take a stand for the people from Zimbabwe. This beautiful country with its wonderful and friendly people deserves our ongoing support.

Going for Green

Yesterday we had some good news. Ahold USA came in second on the Greenpeace hit list for sustainable fishery. The team at Ahold USA has been working hard with the New England Aquarium to come to a more sustainable assortment. It is not perfect yet, but we are getting there. In Holland Albert Heijn is working with the World Wildlife Fund to do the same thing. And it works! It works for the fish and it works for us. And that is what we want to make Corporate Responsibility all about. To make it work: now and in the future. For profit, people and planet. Not easy, I know. Loads of questions, loads of remarks we get. But we are working on it and we will make it work for sure. I am now looking at this immense poster in our office representing the lady that was on our cover of the 2007 CR report, carrying all those delicious fruit salads we get from Ghana. So every time I look to the right I am reminded why we are doing this. For Amel Sabeh from Ghana, working at one of our suppliers. For creating those heavenly tasting salads for our customers. So, it is big time working on that. And with Greenpeace just around the corner here in A'dam and being able to see the Rainbow Warrior when it is in (which it is not now: http://www.123-cams.com/live-webcam.php?var=1560&site=http://www.greenpeace.org/international/photosvideos/rainbow-warrior-webcam), we have enough to think about and doing in the future!