Ireland's Musgrave Group has announced that it has aligned itself with nine of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals that are relevant to its business, as part of its revised Corporate Social Responsibility strategy.
Musgrave, which operates the SuperValu and Centra banners, reports that this action will ‘ensure that we minimise any negative impacts of our business and inspire our stakeholders to follow our lead’.
John Curran, Head of Sustainability at Musgrave added, ‘The unique nature of our community based retailers, enables Musgrave to influence the development of sustainable business practices across a wide spectrum of activity.
‘This includes, responsible, local sourcing, exemplified by our Food Academy, working for the development of local producers since its inception in 2014. We are very proud of our continuing contribution to the development of CSR practices in the Irish business landscape.’
Responsible Business
The Irish retail group made the announcement on the back of Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Frances Fitzgerald T.D, launching Ireland’s Second National Plan on Corporate Social Responsibility 2017-2020, ‘Towards Responsible Business’.
The plan aims for Ireland to be recognised as a centre for excellence for responsible and sustainable business practices. It also supports the Government’s objective of building a strong economy.
“Today, more than ever, the Irish Government needs to deliver a clear message of encouragement and support to businesses and organisations around Ireland to embed responsible business practices at the core of their business strategies," said Fitzgerald.
“Businesses who communicate openly and transparently about their practices, who tell their story and recognise their impacts on society, foster a culture of trust with their workforce and their customers. CSR is no longer an optional ‘add-on’, but is becoming a necessary part of mainstream operations.”
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
