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!