Meeting our customer’s needs is at the core of METRO’s business strategy. We aim to provide consumers with products and services that meet their expectations and we work toward a more responsible supply chain.
Our ambition is to implement responsible practices within our supply chain to offer our customers products that respect workers and the environment. This long-term task requires continuous issue monitoring, close collaboration with our suppliers and rigorous implementation programs.
Objectives
For information on our key performance indicators, see our 2022-2026 Corporate Responsibility Plan
Our ambition is to implement responsible practices within our supply chain to offer our customers products that respect workers and the environment. This long-term task requires continuous issue monitoring, close collaboration with our suppliers and rigorous implementation programs.
To learn more
Responsible procurement is a fundamental aspect of our business.
We also know how important it is to our customers. We want to work with suppliers that share our commitment to responsible practices and act on this commitment. To guide us, we have developed several programs and policies that are science-based, rigorous and in line with industry best practices; they are a core part of our ongoing business operations. Click here to view them.
We continued assessing our suppliers against the principles of our Supplier Code of Conduct for responsible procurement. To date, 29% of our active suppliers have been evaluated, representing nearly 69% of our purchases. Of these, 91% of purchases were made from suppliers that meet our expectations.
Customized continuous improvement plans are also shared with suppliers to address gaps, while tailored support and regular monitoring help strengthen responsible practices and ensure sustained progress.
We expect our suppliers to provide us with products and services based on practices that ensure workers are treated with dignity, respect and equity in a healthy and safe work environment that provides decent conditions and is free of abuse.
This year, we published our first Human Rights Statement, which formalizes our commitment and outlines the principles that guide our actions. It sets out METRO’s expectations toward its employees, business partners and other stakeholders linked to the company’s activities, products and services.
METRO recognizes farm animals as sentient beings. We support the process and approach of the National Farm Animal Care Council(NFACC) and require our suppliers to apply, at a minimum, the Codes of Practice developed by the Council.
In 2025, 94% of our stores offer cage-free eggs, which account for 33% of our total whole-egg assortment. All whole eggs sold under our private brand Life Smart are organic and cage-free.
The average conversion rate of our Canadian pork suppliers to gestation crate-free operations is 78%, representing the majority of our purchases. We are closely monitoring this transition with the goal of reaching 100% by 2029, as per our suppliers’ commitment.
All the chicken we purchase from producers and slaughterhouses comes from farms that meet the NFACC’s stocking density requirements, in line with the higher animal welfare standards of the Better Chicken Commitment. Almost 77% was sourced from suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere stunning.
For more details about METRO’S commitments, please read our Animal Welfare Statement.
Because beef and palm oil production are recognized as significant drivers of deforestation worldwide*, we want to avoid products from areas with a high risk of deforestation.
The vast majority of the beef sold in our stores comes from North America, a region considered of low concern in terms of deforestation. To date, the origin is documented for more than 99% of our beef purchases, and none of these come from areas identified as high risk.
We introduced this year a new indicator aligned with international standards, namely the weight of palm oil used in the manufacturing of our products. This metric will allow us to better target our efforts, as some products contain only very small amounts. In 2025, we analyzed 73% of our private brand food products. A total of approximately 1,186 tonnes of palm oil was used, of which close to 94% was certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
*Source: World Resources Institute, 2024
METRO has committed to not market the main genetically modified foods available on the Canadian market, which appear on a list of products it has compiled and keeps up to date.
In 2025, papaya, zucchini, summer squash and lettuce mixes were added. Corn, apples, potatoes, pink-fleshed pineapple and farmed Atlantic salmon were already included.
We recognize that the health of the oceans and the preservation of natural resources are important issues, as much for the sustainability of fish and seafood stocks, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems, as for the conditions in which workers operate.
Our Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy (PDF) covers fresh, frozen and canned fish and seafood. It provides a framework for our sourcing practices and is based on five principles that foster responsible procurement:
Healthy species
Responsible operating methods
Product traceability
Respect for workers
Socioeconomic development
For more details on our achievements, see the 2025 Corporate Responsibility Report (PDF).
Our Responsible Cosmetics Statement outlines our approach in this area. Responsible cosmetics, as we define them, are products for which the environmental and social dimensions, including human health, ethics and animal welfare considerations, have been taken into account to minimize the impacts associated with the ingredients that make up the product and its packaging.
To learn more about our local purchasing initiatives, visit the Communities page.
Our ambition is to support our customers in their daily actions to care for their health and well-being by offering products that meet their aspirations and nutritional needs and providing professional services to help them take concrete actions for their health. We intend to continue to play an active role in supporting public health through our network of neighborhood stores and pharmacies.
Objectives
Product offers
Professional services
For information on our key performance indicators, see our 2022-2026 Corporate Responsibility Plan
Our ambition is to support our customers in their daily actions to care for their health and well-being by offering products that meet their aspirations and nutritional needs and providing professional services to help them take concrete actions for their health. We intend to continue to play an active role in supporting public health through our network of neighborhood stores and pharmacies.
To learn more
We continue to expand our offering of private brand products that support healthy eating, with new products launched under Life Smart, Selection, Irrésistible and Personnelle organic brands. In 2025, the number of products categorized as healthy increased by almost 11% compared to 2024.
New brands aligned with wellness values were introduced across our Jean Coutu and Brunet networks, including Good Protein and Yummy Sports, two Québec‑based brands, as well as Can‑i Wellness and Beekeeper’s Naturals, two other Canadian brands.
In January 2021, Metro launched in Québec and Ontario the My Health my Choices program, a tool that helps customers find products suited to their lifestyles, values and health needs.
In 2025, we created more opportunities to inform our customers by integrating topics such as organic, gluten‑free and plant‑based products more frequently into our communication tools across all our banners, for both private label and national brands.
As the scope of practice for pharmacists continues to broaden in Québec, New Brunswick and Ontario, their role as front-line health-care professionals is more central than ever.
This year, the rollout of our Pharma Clinique PJC concept continued in Québec, with 25 clinics in operation at the end of our fiscal year and 30 more scheduled to open in 2026. In Ontario, our pharmacists partnered with an external medical group to provide virtual access to comprehensive support for weight management and diabetes care, including consultations with other health-care providers, the prescribing of medication when appropriate, and personalized medical follow‑up.
For more details on our achievements, see the 2025 Corporate Responsibility Report (PDF).
Our ambition is to optimize our packaging and printed materials by reducing their use, relying on optimal design, choosing environmentally responsible materials and facilitating their recovery and recycling. These practices aim to reduce the use of resources, limit product losses and diminish waste generation, while contributing to the fight against single-use plastic.
Objectives1
Note 1 : For more information, see our Packaging and Printed Materials Management Policy.
For information on our key performance indicators, see our 2022-2026 Corporate Responsibility Plan
Our ambition is to optimize our packaging and printed materials by reducing their use, relying on optimal design, choosing environmentally responsible materials and facilitating their recovery and recycling. These practices aim to reduce the use of resources use, limit product losses and diminish waste generation, while contributing to the fight against single-use plastic.
To learn more
Since the early 2010s, we have launched a range of initiatives to optimize our packaging and printed materials and reduce their environmental footprint.
With our Packaging and Printed Materials Management Policy (PDF), launched in 2019 and updated in 2022, we implemented measures to reduce the use of resources, limit product losses and generate less waste while contributing to the global movement to reduce single-use plastics. It guides the actions of our teams and suppliers in the effective management of our packaging and printed materials in all our activities.
Our Packaging and Printed Materials Management Policy is based on four principles:
Reduce at the source and avoid over-packaging
Encourage reuse
Reduce the mass or volume of packaging and printed materials
Use the right quantities of materials
Give preference to recycled materials
Use virgin materials from sustainable sources
Give preference to recyclable materials
Communicate instructions for recovery
Since 2024, all ready‑to‑eat meals in our Metro Go offering in Québec have been sold in aluminum containers, a transition completed in 2025 in Metro stores in Ontario for all in‑store prepared ready‑to‑cook meal containers. At Adonis, coloured plastic containers were replaced with recyclable fibre packaging.
As of September 2025, 24 Metro stores in Ontario offer customers the option of bringing reusable containers from home to service counters for deli, prepared meals, meat and seafood. This initiative has been in place in Metro stores in Québec since 2019.
Over the past several years, many private brand product packages have undergone optimization — whether through reducing their weight, increasing the share of postconsumer materials used, or using materials with strong recycling potential.
We notably switched the packaging of several Selection sliced cheeses to thermoformed packaging that meets our definition of recyclability. In 2026, we will continue this transition with shredded and block cheese packaging.
To support our private brand suppliers, we also offer a design guide and training module on sustainable packaging.
See the training module and the eco-design guide (PDF)
For more details on our achievements, see the 2025 Corporate Responsibility Report (PDF).