05 Jul Let there be Light
Let there be Light
Striking a balance between growing our business and sustaining our planet requires a new mindset. At Jerónimo Martins, we don’t take this matter lightly, as you will find out in the following pages of this Feed issue.
In this edition, amongst many other things, you will find out how we pursue the difficult balance between growing and keeping weight under control. We believe we have an important role to play in keeping it light, for instance when developing our Private Brand products. Be it on the inside – through the reduction or elimination of unhealthy ingredients such as sugar, salt or fat – be it on the outside, by making our packaging more eco-friendly. We are also committed to being a positive presence in the lives of those who are close to us. After the worst forest fires in a century – that devastated part of Portugal’s countryside last year – a new ray of hope is dawning amongst the sheep producers of the worldrenowned Serra de Estrela cheese.
Light is essential to life and in many ways light is right. This is why at the Jerónimo Martins Group we do not take this matter lightly.
In a bid to strengthen our sustainable approach to business, in Portugal we’ve made the decision to buy electricity from 100% renewable sources in order to provide the light needed every day in the more than 500 stores and Distribution Centres run under the Pingo Doce, Recheio, Hussel and Jeronymo banners. Leveraging on an average of 300 days of sunlight per year in the South of Portugal, we also launched a pilot programme to generate power using photovoltaic panels at two of the Group’s facilities in Algarve. One of the major tourist attractions in Lisbon is the Oceanarium, the best aquarium in the world in 2017 according to Trip Advisor.
João Falcato, its CEO, tells us how this 20-year old impressive facility is a beacon of light in the preservation of the oceans’ biodiversity across the globe. In Colombia, the project “A litre of light” is bringing street and house illumination to some of the poorest rural areas of the country in a very simple, ingenious and enlightened way. This is the year when Poland is celebrating 100 years of regaining its place in the map of Europe and therefore the national identity of the Polish people is praised in this issue through a closer look at the history of the country’s independence. As the old saying goes, “let there be light” while this issue of “Feed” keeps you company.