Understanding the complex business environment in which we operate is an instrumental part of our business. Throughout the Group our trust and credibility is built upon a solid foundation of dialogue with our stakeholders.

Since 2009 we engage and interact with key stakeholders on a regular and ongoing basis.

The table below gives a non-exhaustive overview of how we integrate stakeholder engagement across our business.

Guided by our existing stakeholder strategy, in 2010 we held one Group level stakeholder session for the CR Steering Committee. The purpose of the session was to review and discuss our current CR strategy and performance. Nine CR thought leaders from around the globe participated in the discussion. Experts from Danone Group, Ecover, the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS), Forum for the Future, IMD Business School, Johnson & Johnson, the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the University of Hasselt and WWF gave us their feedback on the structure of our strategy and key impacts for our business. Some key comments from the session are integrated throughout our reporting as quotes under the relevant sections. We have incorporated their feedback into our work toward a new, ambitious CR strategy that we will announce in the end of 2011.

Also in 2010, Delhaize Belgium launched its first official stakeholder engagement, which reaffirmed the need for more formal stakeholder engagements across our operating companies.

A new strategic stakeholder approach, in alignment with the new CR strategy, will be revised and confirmed in 2011. An updated Group-wide stakeholder mapping exercise will accompany this.

Click here to see a full list of our partnerships and memberships.