Our constant involvement in supporting surrounding communities gives us a real and accurate understanding of the evolution of the communities’ social problems and the needs of the beneficiaries, most of whom are part of groups at risk of social exclusion and marginalisation. This dialogue, where we essentially listen to the views of those who are on the ground on a daily basis, shapes our support strategy in order to maximise the impact on communities through our products and activities.
Dialogue with legitimate representatives of the communities in which we have operations takes place in different ways. In the case of organisations with protocols established with the Holding Company, annual visits are conducted of their facilities for onsite assessment of the quality of the infrastructures and the service provided to the people they support. This dialogue is scheduled annually and also whenever deemed necessary, by e-mail or phone.
In Portugal, Pingo Doce has designed a survey for the institutions it supports to understand their needs and invite them to participate in an in-store campaign to recruit volunteers, to be held in due course. In 2024, and as part of the “Alimenta o Bairro” (Feeding the Neighbourhood) project, Pingo Doce held a series of workshops to better understand the institutions’ opinion of the Company’s support procedures, the foodstuffs most appreciated and needed, their ability to collect the products at stores, and how to address identified areas for improvement.
In Colombia, Ara assesses the most material social indicators in the country, such as monetary poverty, multidimensional poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition, in order to channel its efforts towards the challenges identified. Before implementing concrete projects, Ara selects and collaborates with stakeholders, opinion leaders and NGOs recognised for their work in the fields identified (e.g., UNICEF, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, secretariats for social integration, and food bank associations), recognising that these partnerships are crucial for leveraging knowledge and resources and thus designing impactful solutions. Ara also frequently consults its stores’ surrounding communities to identify and plan local interventions, incorporating the expectations of these stakeholders into its decision-making processes wherever possible. This process is the basis for the creation of the “1 Millón de Razones” (One Million Reasons) project.
Given our international presence and the diversity of our activities, there are several people responsible for engaging in dialogue with the social organisations we support1. These include the Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development Director of Biedronka, the Corporate Events and Social Investment Senior Manager of the Group’s Holding Company, the External Communication and Social Responsibility of Ara and the Director of Sustainable Development and Local Impact at Pingo Doce, who manages the Local Impact and Development area. In other Companies, the dialogue and engagement with the organisations supported, is done through the managers of these projects in the Companies, which is why they are not listed.
The Business for Societal Impact (B4SI) methodology, which we use to measure social impact, involves an annual survey of the organisations we support to understand the ways the support provided is allocated and the different types of impact on the beneficiaries and community organisations. The survey has an open-ended response field which institutions can use to submit additional needs to be passed on to the Group or its Companies.
The B4SI methodology criteria are applied to each of the institutions to which we donate more than six thousand euros. We also use this methodology to evaluate our training programmes for people in situations of social vulnerability (people with disabilities or who are unemployed, for example), in order to strengthen their ability to integrate into the labour market.
In 2024, we estimate that the nearly 79.6 million euros2 allocated to 515 organisations positively impacted around 2.3 million people. Support was mostly in the form of in-kind donations and directed towards addressing social emergency situations.
Type
Scope
Impacts on Beneficiaries
Benefits for Charities
As in previous years, the majority of beneficiaries (84%) surveyed by the institutions that support people in vulnerable situations reported positive impacts in their quality of life. These institutions also report that the support received has enabled them to offer more to their beneficiaries and improve the fulfilment of their mission.
Another indicator we use to measure our social impact is the support our employees provide to beneficiaries of institutions that help people in vulnerable situations (e.g. unemployment or disability). In 2024, a total of 271 of our employees in Portugal and Poland took part in professional on-the-job training programmes, corresponding to more than 65,000 hours of tutoring which are the equivalent of an investment of more than 2.5 million euros3.
To ensure community engagement, we have established communication channels for open dialogue and to better understand the challenges local communities face. Outreach mechanisms and interpersonal relations are particularly noteworthy, such as face-to-face meetings and conferences with the organisations and remote communication tools, including a tool that forwards requests for support sent by e-mail to the Sustainability Departments of the Companies and the Holding Company. Contact points are available at regional centres, distribution centres and stores.
Our Whistleblowing Policy ensures confidentiality and non-retaliation against anyone who submits a report through the communication channels made available by the Group. More detailed information about the communication channels available within the Group is provided in “Stakeholder engagement and communication channels”.
1 More detailed information about those responsible for stakeholder engagement is provided in “Governance and strategy”.
2 This figure corresponds to the activities/projects measured with the institutions and their beneficiaries supported by the different Companies of the Group, and there is a minimum threshold at which significant social impact data can be obtained. Therefore, it does not represent the total amount of support granted by Jerónimo Martins. This figure includes support to organisations that develop projects with vulnerable populations, the value of which is a contribution and not a donation.
3 For more details on mentoring and professional training, see “Inclusion of minorities”.