French organic food sales reached €9.7 billion in 2018. In the meantime, as Carrefour unveiled its new strategic plan, the Group announced it intended to generate global sales of €4.8 billion in this segment by 2022 – in other words, the equivalent of half of the country’s current organic food market. And with good reason: the retailer sees itself as “the world leader in the food transition for everyone”, a mission that has been clearly stated and now recorded in its articles of association.
On one hand, this figure reflects the ambitious transformation initiated by Carrefour and steered by the CEO, Alexandre Bompard – as outlined in this Responsible Way with the analysis of the company through its different stakeholders, according to our SPICE methodology. And on the other, it is consistent with the major changes that are occurring and gaining momentum throughout the social and economic fabric, seeking for meaning.
Sycomore AM has also moved from intention to action by recording its mission in the firm’s articles of association. This milestone also provided an opportunity to set our strategic priorities, in keeping with our historical approach as a responsible investor, and to make several strong public commitments in this respect – for example, applying for the French government’s SRI label for our entire long-only equity range by the end of 2020 – as Anne-Claire Imperiale, our Co-Head of ESG research, explains in her Opinion article.
Among these commitments, we have chosen, as of 2020, to channel some of the management fees generated by Sycomore Shared Growth towards high societal impact projects. This will to ‘transmit’, fully consistent with the fund’s strategy, is described in this newsletter and notably depicted through the testimonies of two beneficiaries: Thomas Peyre, who receives support from the ARDEAR, and Tanguy Adam, Compagnon du Devoir et du Tour de France.
Therefore, this edition of the Responsible Way provides insights into exciting new perspectives, just as much as the new decade into which we are entering calls for!
We wish you a pleasant read!
Click here to read the ISR Way 12
