“The older shareholder is concerned with the here and now, but the younger one has questions about the future,” a questioner summarized the Ahold Delhaize shareholder meeting on Wednesday in Zaandam. It was expected that the first ‘live’ shareholders’ meeting at Ahold Delhaize since the corona crisis would be dominated by sustainability. The youth branch of the Milieudefensie campaign group had already announced that it would demonstrate in Zaandam and pose critical questions about the supermarket group’s sustainability goals.
Ahold Delhaize (75.6 billion euros in turnover in 2021) was one of the 29 Dutch companies that received a letter from Milieudefensie in January, urging them to make haste with sustainability and sharper climate ambitions. In the letter, Milieudefensie stated that it would not shy away from legal action if the promises were not sufficient. They now know how effective this can be at Shell. After a lawsuit from Milieudefensie, the energy group had to reduce the emissions of its products (including petrol at the pump) in order to comply with the agreements in the Paris climate agreement.
All goals at a glance
CEO Frans Muller was therefore warned and managed to take the sting out of the climate issue on Wednesday, even before the meeting had even started. On Wednesday morning, the supermarket group published a 19-page document on its site, which once again summarized its sustainability goals. The Milieudefensie campaigners, who welcomed the shareholders in Zaandam with a banner and a green carpet, were presented with a copy.
In the 19-page document, Ahold Delhaize reiterates that it wants to go to ‘net-zero’ by 2050 – ie zero emissions. By switching to electric transport, for example. And because of the CO2emissions from the production of groceries by 15 percent. To this end, the production processes of farmers and suppliers must become cleaner. The supermarket chain promises to come up with new calculations in November, after talking to more suppliers and producers about their emissions.
In answering questions from the audience, the 19 pages formed an effective lightning rod for CEO Frans Muller. When asked by Milieudefensie, he referred several times to the climate document. “An empty envelope,” said spokesperson Neele Boelens of the youth branch of Milieudefensie on the phone afterwards. “It was already clear in advance that there is nothing new in the document, and that is disappointing.” Milieudefensie is also skeptical about Ahold’s promise to provide more clarity in November. “Then we are already a year further, while climate change does not wait,” says Boelens. “Certainly not on Ahold Delhaize’s plans.”
In addition to sustainability, there were other issues at the Ahold Delhaize shareholder meeting. The question of to what extent the supermarket group should go along with speed cameras, for example. This week it was announced that Albert Heijn will be working on a trial basis with meal deliverers Deliveroo and Thuisbezorgd.nl to deliver groceries faster at home.