Carrefour : The food transition is under way, Carrefour is meeting consumers' new requirements

We are currently grappling with a profound global movement.

Our ways of consuming are changing: quality, safety and where food comes from have become key concerns for our customers. This is leading to changes in the way in which food is produced.

How can we provide people with high-quality food that is good for their health and does not harm the environment? How can we provide a growing number of people with simple, straightforward solutions for feeding themselves healthy food, manufactured in healthy conditions?

That is Carrefour's aim - become the world leader in the food transition for everyone.
Since we operate all over the world, we are able to listen to what our customers are saying about wanting to have a healthier diet which is good for their health and well-being, while protecting the environment at the same time. Since we operate along the entire length of the chain and across all food categories, we are the only food retailer that is powerful enough to make this transition possible for everyone.

Numerous changes are occurring
To properly understand this change, several major developments need to be considered together.

A demographic transition: by 2050, the world population will be 9.8 billion, and feeding them while minimising the impact on the planet will have become an extremely important challenge. This increase in numbers will mean the need for discussions about which kinds of lifestyle will spare our planet. In answer to the very direct question about the extent to which our environment will be able to withstand our current lifestyle, what NGOs are saying is very clear: the environmental crisis is serious and the planet's resources are running out. We enjoin agriculture to yield forth, but it suffers and pollutes the environment. The food that results from it is losing its nutritional value, and numerous pathologies and types of malnutrition are on the increase, including obesity.

A food transition: when we eat properly and give our bodies nutrients derived from high-quality, varied and fresh foodstuffs, we maximise our chances of staying healthy and warding off disease. Although the medical and scientific communities are all in agreement about this, the idea has also gained some track among consumers, 70% of whom say that they understand the relationship between food and health (Havas Prosumer Report 2017). Public opinion attaches a great deal of importance to the conditions under which food is produced. Consumers pay great attention to nutritional advice and are sensitive to topics to do with food production: respecting producers, industrial production conditions, hygiene and freshness are a minimum.

We have to help farmers switch over to organic or integrated production methods, rethink our supply channels and ensure that everyone can afford these products.

A digital transition that positively impacts lifestyles: information which can be shared faster via social media sites and new media, the emergence of new innovative and agile players, and the development of mobile services which support the digitisation of our lives have had a disruptive influence in the distribution sector. In the future, artificial intelligence will be part and parcel of our lifestyles. Consumers want it all: with their smartphones and broadband connections, connected customers want to be able to control how they spend their time. Shopping chores will be a thing of the past - consumers are now looking for solutions to make shopping easier: online ordering, getting their shopping delivered, going to pick up what they have ordered… or meal solutions: fresh food baskets, boxes, delicatessen offerings and eating on-site when they decide to shop in-store.

A new fight and a focus for Carrefour
Although historically Carrefour has been a forerunner in making mass consumption widely available, its aim now is to become a world leader in the food transition for everyone.

This is the thinking behind Carrefour 2022, linking up all of these aims.
As a food retailer operating in around thirty countries, Carrefour has fantastic assets for being to take up this challenge and support this major movement: an outstanding network of stores located close to where people live and work, a powerful and well-known brand, indisputable expertise in fresh produce, the enthusiasm of retail, the commitment of its employees, knowledge of its customers and a service-orientated mindset.