Remediating impacts and channels for consumers to raise concerns

Remediation processes

The Companies’ CSS and the Jerónimo Martins’ Customer Ombudsman and its local offices are committed to addressing consumer grievances and concerns in a timely and effective manner, particularly those related to the material topics identified earlier in this subchapter (product quality and safety, product and services’ innovation, and product affordability). The internal due diligence processes to remediate any actual or potential negative impact from our brands’ products or services are described below.

Customer Support Services

Through a structured process, these services aim to enhance customer satisfaction, thus reinforcing trust in Jeronimo Martins’ Companies and brands, and to gather valuable inputs that can serve a better alignment of products and service to consumers’ expectations:

• Complaint Reception: customers can submit any grievance through various means, as seen before, and the CSS receives and acknowledges it promptly.
• Evaluation & Investigation: the CSS assesses the issue by gathering relevant information, identifying any potential root cause and determines if the grievance is valid.
• Solution Proposal: if the grievance is considered valid, the CSS tries to offer a solution for the issue. This can be, among others, a clarification about the reported situation, a personalized apology, a discount offer through a voucher, a refund, a replacement or a reparation of products, based on the nature of the grievance and according to the conclusions drawn from the diligence process implemented alongside relevant functional areas.
• Implementation: once a solution is agreed upon, the CSS acts rapidly and keeps customers informed of its implementation progress.
• Improvement: the CSS report information to the functional areas that can trigger the identification of improvement opportunities considering the customer experience and feedback, aiming at the continuous improvement of products, services and overall Companies’ operations.

The management indicators for CSS are for internal use only. They may include the number of contacts handled, the type of contacts received (information requests, complaints and claims, compliments and suggestions), the topics addressed (typically product quality, payment services, customer service, store conditions, and promotional campaigns), the most commonly used contact methods, the average resolution duration, the customer satisfaction rating, the net promoter score and the resolution rate.

Customer Ombudsman

Jerónimo Martins Customer Ombudsman Office mediates customer relations with Companies, being independent and neutral. Each process is analysed, and the necessary steps are taken, ensuring that each one is assigned to a manager who will keep an open line of communication until final clarification is provided to customers. Jerónimo Martins Customer Ombudsman Office mediates and responds based on facts ascertained, engaging the relevant internal interlocutors and departments to resolve the situation. Opportunities for improvement are recommended to the Companies and performance indicators are shared, monitoring commitments undertaken and encouraging internal discussion on the rights and expectations of customers.

The Customer Ombudsman key performance indicators include¹:

• the number of new occurrences during the year and those that transitioned from the previous year;
• the type of occurrences, categorised as complaints, requests for information, compliments and suggestions;
• the main topics addressed;
• Companies most impacted;
• the preferred contact channels used by consumers;
• the average time taken to respond;
• the resolution rate.

In 2024, the Customer Ombudsman managed 589 new occurrences, 8% more than in 2023, due to the increase of contacts in all Companies. 1,147 incidents were referred to the CSS, as they were related to more operational issues and required a first response from those services (9% more than in 2023). 792 occurrences did not fall within the scope of the Customer Ombudsman’s Office and were referred to the competent departments.

Thus, in total, 2,528 new occurrences were received at the Ombudsman’s Office during the year, representing an increase of 19% compared to 2023. From the previous year, 23 were carried over, totalling 2,551 cases handled. The resolution rate, which measures the level of service provided, was similar to 2023: 98.7% of the cases handled in 2024 were closed within the year.

The contact channels most used by customers to communicate with the Ombudsman’s Office were email (65%), telephone (20%) and website (13%). The contacts received were classified as Complaints (87%), Requests for information (8%), Compliments (3%) and Suggestions (2%). Pingo Doce and Biedronka were responsible for 99% of the occurrences. The main topics managed by the Ombudsman’s Office were prices and promotions, employee’s attitudes, noise and environmental pollution, and overall dissatisfaction.

In 97% of the 2,302 cases closed with a response during the year, customers received a response in less than 30 days.

Ethics Committee channels

As mentioned above, consumers can also contact the Group’s Ethics Committee to report any ethical concerns or non-compliance with the law and the Code of Conduct. The Ethics Committee has its own contact channels available to all stakeholders, as described in more detail above in “Customer Support Services” in this point².

The process takes the following steps, in accordance to the law and the Whistleblowing Policy:

• Once a report has been received by the Committee, the whistleblower receives an acknowledgement of receipt within a maximum of seven days.
• The appropriate internal steps are taken to assess the case.
• Follow up on a report by the Ethics Committee may include, for example, forwarding it to other Jerónimo Martins Group reporting channels (with the prior consent of the whistleblower), closing it due to a lack of evidence, opening an internal inquiry or forwarding it to a competent authority.
• Information on the follow-up of internal reports is shared with whistleblowers, to the extent legally permissible.
• Whistleblowers may be asked to provide further information during the inquiry.
• At the end of the investigation, a final report will be drawn up with the findings.
• A response is sent to the whistleblower within a maximum of three months following the acknowledgement of receipt, or to six months depending on the complexity of the case.
• Whistleblowers may request, at any time however, to be informed of the result of the assessment made, within 15 days of its conclusion.

Effectiveness of the resolution mechanisms and measures proposed

The channels described before are led by the principles of accessibility, accountability and transparency, through:

• respect for the law and consumer rights, including the respect for human rights in terms of access to fair treatment, non-retaliation, non-discrimination and freedom of expression;
• the implementation of clear internal procedures for handling complaints, with designated teams and professionals;
• the analysis of potential systemic patterns so to update and improve policies, processes, employee training and products or services in order to prevent similar grievances in the future and to reach a continuous improvement of the remediation process;
• keeping an open, bidirectional channel of communication with customers regarding the grievance process.

Our Companies value dialogue with customers, with each case treated on an individual basis as we seek to understand the customer’s perspective and to reach a mutually agreed resolution whenever possible and in accordance to the law. The basis of our remediation practices is to offer a fair and transparent resolution, which may take the form of a clarification about the reported situation, a personalised apology, a discount offer through a voucher, a refund, replacement or reparation of products, depending on the nature of the grievance and according to the conclusions drawn from the due diligence process carried out alongside the relevant functional areas and the Companies’ policies on these matters.

We believe that these interactions benefit both the consumers and our Companies, as they build trust in our commitment to fair treatment and allow for continuous improvements in our day-to-day business to prevent similar situations from recurring.

¹ The Customer Ombudsman key performance indicators are dully disclosed on the Jerónimo Martins corporate website.

² See also “Mechanisms and channels for raising concerns”.