Tesco 2009 Annual Report Download - page 27

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REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS
Tesco PLC Annual Report and Financial Statements 2009
We understand the importance of behaving responsibly in all our
operations. Over the past year, we have worked even harder to be
a good neighbour and have strengthened our contribution to the
wider communities we serve.
All communities have their own individual concerns and priorities
and so each of our countries has its own Community Plan. Whilst
the goals and targets are tailored specifically to each country, each
plan is underpinned by five core promises: actively supporting local
communities; buying and selling our products responsibly; caring
for the environment; giving customers healthy choices; and creating
good jobs and careers.
Our success depends on listening to our customers, and responding
to their feedback by giving them what they want. Often the most
significant contributions we can make to communities are at the
truly local level and so over the past year we have appointed over
250 Community Champions in stores and depots across six countries.
These members of staff are dedicated to working with local schools,
charities and services to support the causes that matter most to
our customers.
We have made a step-change in our work on climate change and
environmental responsibility by taking clear leadership in these vital
areas. In 2007, we set ambitious targets to reduce emissions in our
own buildings and distribution networks and we continue to make
good progress. Over the past year we have continued to roll-out
initiatives to save energy and lower our carbon footprint in all our
operations and we now have environmental stores in every country
in which we operate. Since 2006/7 we have reduced our carbon
intensity of new stores by 21%.
Our aim is to give customers choice by providing them with the
information they need to make informed decisions when they shop
through initiatives such as carbon and Guideline Daily Amounts
(GDA) labelling.
In addition we have continued to work hard to help our customers to
lead healthy lifestyles by providing information and services such as
Tesco Diets, our online dieting, weight loss and healthy eating service,
and improving nutritional content in all our foods. We also continue
to find innovative ways to help customers get active. In Thailand, for
example, our Getting Active with Tesco Lotus programme has inspired
2.4 million people to get involved in activities such as aerobics.
To provide the best quality, choice and value for money for our customers
we need strong and constructive relationships with our suppliers. We
continue to make good progress in building these long-term relationships
as we recognise that our success is linked to theirs. Trading fairly is
essential in all our operations and last year we met with the UKSIF (the
Sustainable Investment and Finance Association) to discuss our ethical
trading approach. They benchmarked us against a number of peers and
concluded that we were in a leadership position in terms of good
factory labour standards.
Community
We recognise that running our business responsibly is important
to our customers and increasingly crucial to our growth. We are
working within communities to develop our own plans as well as
involve customers in the journey.
500
We will measure the carbon footprint
of 500 more products this year.
200
Our Greener Living brand helps our customers to make greener
choices. The range comprises 200 products as diverse as energy
saving light bulbs, paper goods and kitchenware.