Pick n Pay

Pick n Pay was honoured in 2009 to be nominated as the business who promotes sustainable living the most by The Sunday Times; we also became the first retail company in Southern Africa to be invited to join the Clinton Global Initiative.

These achievements reflect a shift in our sustainability strategy: we are no longer laying the foundations (“cleaning our own backyard”), but beginning to actively promote and operationalise sustainable practices in our core activities.

The emphasis now is on fresh thinking and innovation, informed by clear analysis of the significant risks and opportunities we face in creating a resilient business in a time of increasing uncertainty.

We continue to work on a broad spectrum of initiatives documented in our sustainability report (from biodiesel to eco-friendly shopping bags; from wind turbines to partnerships for predator-friendly beef, sustainable fish and rapidly expanding organic product lines).

Our new strategic direction means we are talking more about our achievements. It is imperative that we support this by strengthening the systems that co-ordinate and manage related activities within the company. Critical focus areas include:

• Integrating sustainability criteria into our internal audit process;
• Improving sustainability data capture and management across all departments;
• Reviewing procurement policies to drive responsible practices throughout our supply chain;
• Establishing an action-oriented committee to co-ordinate and drive internal initiatives (including new ethical / sustainable products; packaging; operational environmental issues such as waste, carbon footprint, chemical and energy use; internal training; marketing and consumer take-back policies, etc). There are clearly opportunities to leverage present initiatives in Transformation and Corporate Social Investment (including the Foundation).