Encouraging consumers to choose sustainable products

Carrefour has regular promotions for its sustainable products. These products are promoted in catalogues and on websites, as well as in stores during various ad campaigns or theme weeks, such as World Environment Day, Sustainable Development Week, European Sustainable Energy Week and Fair Trade Fortnight.

 

Carrefour Quality Lines (CQL): at the forefront of sustainable development

Since 1992, the CQL is based on authenticity, the traceability from field to plate, long-term partnerships with producers, tradition and respect for the environment. Producers are required to comply with a set of related specifications, including an integrated approach to agriculture, breeding conditions that respect animal welfare, a ban on chemical treatments after harvesting and the absence of GMOs in plant production processes (fruit and vegetables) and in animal feed (pork, salmon, eggs, poultry etc.).

In 2010, there were 30 new lines launched. Carrefour now offers 395 products in 14 countries.

 

Carrefour Bio products: organic and accessible

With the launch of the Boule Bio loaf in 1992, Carrefour paved the way for the development of organic products in its stores. Because of the large selection and great prices, Carrefour is the leading retailer of organic products in France and offers more than 3,700 organic products in its hypermarkets worldwide.

The Group continues to develop its organic range of food and non-food products. Since 2009, it has offered, for example, a permanent selection of towels made from organic cotton. In 2010, the collection of Carrefour Bio expanded again with a new line of under garments. This totalled 4.6 million articles of organic cotton textiles in 2010.

In France, Carrefour was the number one retailer of organic products in 2010. 
 

Promoting fair-trade products

In 1998, Carrefour was the first large distributor in France to launch a fair trade product: Malongo coffee from small-scale producers. Since then there have been many more products offered and, in 2007, Carrefour-brand fair-trade products were launched.

In 2007, the Group developed a line of FLO-cert certified Carrefour-brand fair-trade products This line includes nearly 20 Max Havelaar certified products, including food products (coffee, cocoa powder, chocolate bars, tea, honey, sugar, bananas) and roses. The Group also works with about 50 small-scale food producers (80% in South America, 8% in Africa and 12% in Asia).
More than 480 products with the Max Havelaar label were sold in the stores in 2010 under the following brands: Alter Eco, Carrefour, Lobodis, Ethiquable, Malongo.

With over 40.8 million euros in sales in 2010, Carrefour is a leading retailer of fair-trade products in France.
 

Offering products contributing to forest protection

Carrefour has been working with the WWF since 1998 to offer wood from FSC certified forests (Forest Stewardship Council). The FSC is a non-governmental organisation that ensures the sustainable management of the forests it certifies. The assortment of outdoor furniture from the Group’s international Central Purchasing department is made exclusively from FSC-certified products (Amburana FSC and Eucalyptus FSC) and acacia, a tree species not on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) endangered list that is currently being certified by the VFTN (Vietnam Forest and Trade Network).

More than 70 Carrefour Ecoplanet FSC-labelled products are marketed in several countries. In 2009, the Group expanded its range of Carrefour Ecoplanet-labelled wood products with the launch of a line of FSC-labelled toys made from natural and sustainable materials and bamboo.

 

Promoting responsible fishing practices

In order to offer customers a selection of fish caught using responsible fishing practices, the Group is currently focusing its efforts on traceability, minimum size requirements, fishing-zone selection and the development of a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) labelled Carrefour-brand product range.

Consumers can now choose from an extensive range of more than 20 MSC-labelled products in Carrefour stores (27 products, including 14 Carrefour AGIR EcoPlanet products) at prices everyone can afford. Carrefour is now the leading French retailer of its own brand of MSC-labelled products.

MSC is a global non-profit NGO, created to find a solution to the problem of overfishing and thus has developed an environmental standard for sustainable fishing practices.
Along with these products, Carrefour has developed a responsible supply policy since 2004. In partnership with the WWF, Carrefour’s teams identify fishing areas, fish species and partners that respect with responsible fishing practices.

Furthermore, Carrefour decided to stop selling Mediterranean bluefin tuna in France in 2008, in line with moves made by other European countries where it operates, and has stopped the sale of other endangered species like orange roughy and blue ling. Through its CQL (Carrefour Quality Line) product range, Carrefour has offered seafood products that help preserve fish stocks while boosting local economies since 1995. In addition, the “Pêcheurs de nos côtes” (“Fishermen of our Coast”) range in French supermarkets offers seasonal produce sourced from local fisheries.

Carrefour is now the leading French retailer of its own brand MSC-labelled products.

 
FOCUS: Operation "Blue Days" ("Jours Bleus") to promote sustainable fishing

In early 2010, as part of a national campaign to promote sustainable fishing, Carrefour highlighted MSC-labelled products in partnership with MSC, Labeyrie, Findus and Connétable. During this operation entitled "Blue Days" educational activities were held in about a hundred hypermarkets in France.

The campaign used several types of informational material, including communication kits intended for customers, articles in internal magazines and a dedicated page on the site carrefour.fr.

Carrefour’s awareness activities have played a role in the increased visibility of the MSC label (up 22% between 2008 and 2010) and in its recognition as a guarantee for sustainable management of marine resources.
 

Offering a wide range of environmentally-friendly household products

The Carrefour Ecoplanet range includes some 20 health, perfume and hygiene products. In 2009, the Carrefour Ecoplanet non-food product line was expanded to include a range of cleaning products for cars and garden furniture.

Some of these products are derived from a new biotechnology - "biosurfactant", a natural surface-active agent with a high level of biodegradability. This biosurfactant is used in the following Carrefour brand Ecoplanet products: car shampoo, dashboard cleaner, furniture care product for exotic wood (European Ecolabel), and soft resin cleaner (European Ecolabel), launched in 2009.

Carrefour has also worked on its range of plant products for the garden. Since 2009, the Group has stopped listing herbicides containing glyphosate, a substance classified as toxic to aquatic organisms and may cause long-term adverse effects on them.

In addition, the Group is reworking their entire range of Carrefour-brand pesticides in partnership with the WWF. This will result in significant improvements to substances used, which will be more beneficial to the environment.

Making energy-efficient products available to clients

In order to encourage consumers to reduce their energy habits, Carrefour is offering products that allow customers to reduce their energy consumption at affordable prices. For example, for three years, Carrefour has offered 200 energy-efficient company-brand light bulbs.

These energy-efficient light bulbs use up to five times less energy and last up to eight times longer than conventional incandescent bulbs. They represent more than 44% of all light bulb sales of the Group. This is due to their in-store placement, sales and the progressive replacement of conventional light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs on the shelves.

In 2010, a new range of LED bulbs was added to the line. More robust, long-lasting and comfortable to use, these new light bulbs offer a better performance and consume five times less than a conventional light bulb.

As part of European Sustainable Energy Week, the Group mobilises in stores in six countries (Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Italy and Poland) to promote various initiatives that highlight energy-saving products and raise customer awareness of recycling and eco-friendly practices.
 
Nearly 24 million energy-efficient light bulbs were sold by Carrefour worldwide in 2010.

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