Working on food waste from all parts of the supply chain is essential. As a retailer, it is vital to work upstream since it is in the crops where most food is lost. This phenomenon occurs because, in many cases, supermarkets have very high-quality standards that do not allow all products to be sold in our stores. At the same time, Colombia is not an industrialized country where nature is imperfect and, in some cases, is affected by climatic phenomena. Additionally, it can create significant supply chain disruptions, increase costs, and have negative environmental impacts.
To address this issue, we must work with our suppliers to develop more sustainable and resilient production systems. By developing suppliers, we can help improve their productivity, reduce food loss and waste, and create more sustainable supply chains. This can help ensure a reliable supply of products for our stores while supporting local communities’ economic development. In addition, by working closely with suppliers, we can identify and address issues early on, such as poor crop yields or quality issues, which can lead to food loss and waste.
First and foremost, we recognize that we need our suppliers to achieve the goals we have set for our sustainability strategy. Therefore, working with them on food waste is essential for their development and continuing to nourish Colombia with opportunities. In addition, engaging suppliers in this process is crucial for reducing food waste and building more sustainable and resilient supply chains.
We see our suppliers as partners in our sustainability journey and want to support them in becoming more productive, efficient, and sustainable in their operations. This will benefit our business and support local communities’ economic development.
We recognize that working on food waste upstream is especially important in a non-industrialized country like Colombia, where there are many challenges in the technification of agriculture. That is why we have prioritized working with our suppliers to identify and address the root causes of food waste early in the supply chain. But we still have some opportunities, like providing tools and resources in Spanish, the language of many of our suppliers, to ensure that we capture their needs and facilitate collaboration and communication.
As Grupo Exito, we have many concrete initiatives and projects to help suppliers address food loss and waste. One of our most successful programs is Reagro, a unique program in partnership with a food bank that seeks to give a second chance to foods that are not qualified for sale in supermarkets but are still fit for human consumption.
In addition, our stores have several formats that allow retail diversification and the quality of products that reach the stores, including hypermarkets, supermarkets, cash and carry, and convenience stores, which allow food to have different standards of quality, size, and appearance depending on the format. As a result, this initiative provides a greater opportunity to sell the entire crop and reduce food waste.
We also have initiatives like the “Mandarinaton,” “Yucaton,” and “Papaton” fairs, which are held in our stores when some food has a high season. These fairs allow us to buy large volumes of products to avoid waste and encourage consumers to buy them before they go to waste.
In addition to these alternatives, we have an inventory planning team that helps us in advance to know how much we will buy from the producer, so they know precisely how much they should plant and in what conditions. We also have a team of experts in the company’s business lines who constantly visit the crops and production centers to advise and promote good practices in the suppliers.
We have several initiatives and projects to help our suppliers address food loss and waste. These initiatives benefit our business and the wider community by supporting economic development and building a more sustainable future for Colombia. We remain committed to this process and will continue to work closely with our suppliers to achieve our goals.
As Grupo Exito, we are proud to share the results of our initiatives related to food waste with our suppliers. For example, through our Reagro program, we have avoided wasting more than 2,000 tons of food annually and impacted more than 147 thousand people. Additionally, our fairs, such as “Mandarinaton,” “Yucaton,” and “Papaton,” have been successful in reducing food waste by buying more than 6000 kilos of ñame, thousands of kilos of Mandarina, and so on.
Furthermore, working with our suppliers on upstream food loss and waste has several benefits:
As outlined in our Integrated Report for 2022, we are committed to continue working with our suppliers to address food loss and waste and contribute to developing sustainable supply chains. This is a responsibility and an opportunity to create value for all stakeholders.
