April 25, 2012 - METRO PUBLISHES ITS FIRST CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT

Montréal, April 25, 2012 – As part of its Corporate Responsibility (CR) approach, Metro is pleased to announce the publication of its very first Corporate Responsibility Report today, detailing the various initiatives that were put forward by the company in 2010 and 2011.

“Beyond the quality, freshness and price of the products we sell, corporate responsibility is a reason more and more people consider when choosing their supermarket. Our customers trust us when it comes to the quality of the products we offer them, as well as the ethics that we demonstrate”, commented Eric La Flèche, President and Chief Executive Officer of Metro Inc.

Highlights of the report:

Respect for the Environment

• Set a goal to reduce waste destined for landfills by 25% by 2016;
• Set a goal to reduce our overall energy consumption by 10% by 2016;
• Achieved our goal to reduce the distribution of single-use plastic bags by 50% by the end of 2010;
• Implemented initiatives to reduce packaging. We achieved:
  • 30% reduction in the weight of certain packaging within our private brand frozen entrées category;
  • 25% reduction in the packaging weight of our private brand meal bars;
• Diverted from landfills over 70,000 metric tonnes of material involving our overall operations in Quebec and Ontario.

Delighted customers

• Introduced more than 20 gluten-free Irresistibles products;
• Introduced over 100 reduced sodium content Selection and Irresistibles products;
• Expanded our Life Smart Irresistibles line to 170 healthful products;
• Developed a plan toward sourcing sustainable palm oil over the next five years;
• Defined responsible procurement principles to provide guidance to our suppliers on issues related to business ethics, human rights, the environment, among other topics;
• Implemented a Sustainable Fisheries Policy and stopped selling seven threatened fish species;
• Reviewed more than 185 suppliers’ practices to ensure compliance with the Global Food Safety Initiative.

Strengthened Communities

• Contributed $5.6 million worth of cash, goods and services to the community in 2010-2011;
• Developed a Community Investment Program with key pillars of focus;
• Expanded our efforts to showcase Quebec and Ontario products in our stores.

Empowered employees

• Implemented our training and mobilization program with respect to our five customer promises for all of our Quebec and Ontario store employees;
• Reduced our frequency rate of accidents by 24.5% since 2009;
• Participation of more than 4,000 employees in our annual mobilization survey.

Metro continues in its efforts to go beyond its role of distributor and become a player in the area of sustainable development, working hard for the past several years to minimize its impacts. Metro’s CR approach structures the company’s programs and actions in order to link them to the business strategy. As a leader in the area of food and pharmaceutical distribution in Canada, Metro has a responsibility to contribute to initiating better practices that will lead the way toward commercial activities that are in harmony with today’s society.


The report is available online only

METRO INC.
With annual sales of over $11 billion and over 65,000 employees, Metro Inc. is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Québec and Ontario, where it operates a network of more than 600 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, as well as over 250 drugstores under the Brunet, The Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners. 

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Information

Marie-Claude Bacon
Senior Director, Corporate Affairs
514 643-1086
mbacon@metro.ca
 

Source: Metro Inc.