Both as a business and a full member of society, the Carrefour Group has a certain responsibility to surrounding populations. For many years now, the Group has dedicated a certain portion of its resources and skills to efforts to give back to the community. Under its various banners and through the Carrefour International Foundation, the Carrefour Group provides financial support and takes part in solidarity initiatives to aid the destitute.

Emergency aid and food aid

The emergency aid the Carrefour Group and the Carrefour International Foundation provide in the event of a natural disaster often includes food aid, as was recently the case in Colombia and Brazil.
In Colombia during the winter of 2008, 500,000 people were affected by the extreme cold and flooding, which claimed 93 lives. In response to an appeal for humanitarian aid issued by teams in Colombia, the Carrefour International Foundation donated €35,000 to help people afflicted by the harsh conditions. Thanks to the responsiveness and organization of Carrefour’s teams, 500,000 kg of non-perishable foodstuffs (rice, beans, sugar, powdered milk etc.) were distributed to the victims by the Red Cross.
On 26 November, serious floods devastated the province of Santa Catarina in Southern Brazil, leaving over 79,000 people affected and 98 dead. Teams from Carrefour Brazil launched an effective emergency aid programme, bringing help to families in stricken areas by sending in trucks containing food to the value of €20,000.  A system for collecting food and clothing has also been set up in stores and at the head office. The Carrefour International Foundation has also responded to appeals from local teams by contributing €100,000 to help get vital basic supplies (blankets, drinking water, powdered milk, food etc.) into the affected areas and thus meet the needs of a greater number of people.

Food aid on a daily basis

For several years, in an effort to stem the rise of social exclusion, our stores have been collecting food on a daily basis for donation to charities and welfare grocery stores. In 2007, the Carrefour Group retail banners in France (Carrefour, Champion, Ed and Promocash) donated the equivalent of 34 million meals. Carrefour International Foundation participates in the development of this initiative in Poland, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil by distributing a practical guide on donating to all Group banners and countries.

Since solidarity is an act of generosity, Carrefour Group collaborators also solicit food donations from banner customers. In France, past food drives involving the general public have yielded 15% of total provisions to food banks. In 2008, Carrefour, Carrefour Market and - for the very first time - Ed held collection drives with the aim of collecting 10,000 tonnes of food.

The Carrefour International Foundation also offers refrigerated vehicles to food donation organizations to help them comply with cold-chain standards in the transport of food products. It also helps finance “welfare grocery stores” and improves the quality of their supplies through assistance with logistics and equipment. The management of these welfare grocery stores is handled in part by volunteer Group employees.

Welfare grocery stores

Since its creation, Carrefour International Foundation has been financing the opening of welfare grocery stores and convenience superettes that offer disadvantaged families a range of staple goods at 20% of the usual hypermarket price. There are nearly 300 of these stores in France, six of which belong to the organization Pour Agir Contre Toute Exclusion (PACTE) and are managed by volunteer Carrefour employees.  Some 100 others belong to the Association Nationale des Epiceries Sociales (ANDES) network, which receives assistance from the Carrefour International Foundation.
PACTE’s main aim is to cover the basic needs of disadvantaged families at a low cost to enable them to improve their living conditions and reach financial autonomy in the short term. PACTE also offers complementary services such as tutoring, cultural and sporting activities for children, assistance with training and job searches, creation of jobs and services (ironing, tailoring etc.) and assistance with food purchase management and family budgets for the disabled, the disadvantaged and persons under guardianship. The PACTE welfare grocery stores in France are located in Levallois Perret (92), Mondeville (14), Lens, Bully-les-Mines and Hénin-Beaumont (62) and Lille (59). PACTE also has five welfare grocery stores in Belgium and two in Greece (opened in 2008).

Carrefour International Foundation: partner to ANDES since 2006

Since 2006, the Carrefour International Foundation has been supporting the development of the Association Nationale des Epiceries Sociales et Solidaires (ANDES) network, to which the Direction Générale de l’Action Sociale (DGAS) has allocated a 1 million budget to set up an experimental scheme for replenishing welfare grocery stores in five French regions (Ile-de-France, Rhône-Alpes, Aquitaine-Midi-Pyrénées, Picardie Nord-Pas de Calais and Pays de la Loire). This programme makes it possible to supply the welfare grocery stores with products from a range of 150 items.
In March 2008, a nation-wide procurement logistics system was set up in Rungis (Ile-de-France region) to provide disadvantaged families with products collected from private companies and the European Union. The 900 sq. km warehouse handles delivery of five tonnes of produce five days a week.
In the Ile-de-France region logistics will be provided directly by ANDES, which will also supply the PACTE store in Levallois-Perret, while in the Picardie Nord-Pas de Calais region the organization Pacte62 is to take over distribution of staple goods to all ANDES network stores.

Support for the Buenos Aires Food Bank

Created in Argentina in April 2001, the Buenos Aires Food Bank is part of the country’s network of 14 food banks. It distributes food to some 52,000 people in need who frequent cafeterias for the disadvantaged in Buenos Aires. Each year it distributes nearly 250,000 kilos of food - non-perishables, frozen foods and perishables including produce - to 349 cafeterias.  The Food Bank also holds annual collection drives to make it possible to help as many people as possible. From 2006 to 2007, the Carrefour International Foundation contributed €205,000 to expand and equip the current warehouse to make it possible for its capacity to be increased from 250,000 to 500,000 kilos of food per month. The Buenos Aires Food Bank was thus able to help a larger number of people in need.