Auchan Romania: innovating for a more sustainable retail

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA, March 20, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- With over 440 stores, approximately 7,000 employees and an innovative approach, Auchan Romania leads the transformation towards improving food systems and achieving the SDGs, leveraging partnerships and digital tools for a sustainable shopping experience. Guided by the vision, “Eat well and live better while preserving the planet” Auchan offers modern, high-quality retail with a responsible discount concept and everyday low prices, ensuring food accessibility for customers, with a strong focus on local products and producers, healthy eating and environmental responsibility.

Through all its initiatives, Auchan supports the economic growth and ethical labor conditions in Romania while protecting citizens’ purchasing power. The retailer, honored with the Brand of the Year in Sustainability award for the third consecutive year, has implemented numerous social and sustainability programs focused on environmental protection through climate action, circular economy solutions, and resource-saving initiatives.

Leading the fight against food waste

Auchan Romania launched an AI-based food waste reduction system, now adopted globally across Auchan countries. The “Zero Waste Project” detects sell-by-date products and offers customers AI-optimized prices. Over the past four years, this initiative saved more than 21 million products, prevented over 2,500 tons of CO2 emissions, and supported citizens’ purchasing power.

Pioneering in circular economy

Seven months before the launch of the national Deposit - Return System, Auchan invested millions of euros to introduce Reverse Vending Machines, providing customers with a convenient recycling service. This initiative transformed the packaging of the store's beverage segment into a circular economy system. During this time, Auchan collected 32 million packages, bringing the total to over 182 million year-to-date. Customers were encouraged to recycle through supplier-backed discounts designed to boost participation.

Auchan Romania has also developed the Packtool app, an innovative solution to measure and improve the products packaging especially reducing plastic. This tool helped us to reduce the plastic quantity in own-brand water bottles by 5.3 tons annually and has since been adopted globally across Auchan's operations to measure and minimize plastic packaging.

Climate action and green energy

Auchan Romania is the first retailer in the country to offer customers a service to recycle used cooking oil, and has collected over 1.3 million liters since 2019, transforming it into biodiesel in partnership with a leader in oil recovery. Auchan also provides many other recycling solutions for electronics, cooking pans, paper, Christmas trees, and more through different campaigns during each year.

According to the Company Climate Plan 2030, the objectives are to reduce the operational emissions on Scope 1 and 2 by 46% by 2030, compared to the 2019 baseline. This has led the company to focus the efforts on optimizing energy consumption and modernizing refrigeration systems to use environmentally friendly refrigerants, significantly reducing their overall usage. Over the past two years, Auchan Romania has replaced more than 1 kilometer of refrigeration lines in the stores, upgraded to LED lighting, and installed energy-efficient HVAC systems, investing over 11 million euros in these initiatives.

The retailer is also committed to reducing its stores' energy consumption by 40% compared to 2019 and achieving 100% renewable energy by 2030. To support this goal, the retailer has installed over 18,000 solar panels across 16 stores, totaling a green energy production capacity of 9.1 MW, covering 20% of the total consumption of these stores, helping to avoid the release of about 58 hundred tons of CO2 emissions per year into the atmosphere.

Further advancing its green transition efforts, in 2023, Auchan launched a new company, Auchan Renewable Energy as part of its strategy to produce, transmit, and distribute renewable energy. This initiative marks a significant step towards meeting Auchan Romania's climate targets on Scope 2, making it the first retailer in Romania—and within its global group—to establish its own green energy procurement and trading company.

Additionally, for Scope 3 emissions, the company targets a 25% reduction by 2030 compared to 2020 levels. In 2022 as part of the Climate Plan, Auchan Romania launched Partners for Decarbonization, an engagement program for Suppliers in order to decarbonize products and the supply chain. As part of these efforts, since 2022 Auchan Romania developed a partnership with Social Innovation Solutions to support Climate Change Summit, a leading Climate event in Eastern Europe, to assist local suppliers to get the necessary know-how to drive the transformation towards a more sustainable and decarbonized supply chain.

At the end of 2024 Auchan Romania along with the Sustainability Academy launched a Sustainability in Retail educational program in order to further support its suppliers and franchisees to become more sustainable.

Store design and product choices support inclusivity and sustainability

Auchan is redesigning its stores to ensure accessibility for everyone. Key features include wide aisles, clear signage, in-store communication, along with accessibility solutions for people with disabilities to meet the needs of all diverse customers. One of its most notable achievements is creating the first store fully accessible to customers with various disabilities, offering specialized services such as trained staff who provide assistance throughout the entire shopping experience, among others.

When it comes to products, Auchan offers a variety that reflects its commitment to ensure community needs and accessibility for customers with a wide variety of prices. The selection includes eco-friendly, organic, and locally sourced items, as well as products made from recycled materials and biodegradable packaging in its gastronomy department. Additionally, most non-food private-label products packaging are FSC-certified, emphasizing the company’s focus to improving packaging.

Local products are a core part of Auchan’s food strategy. Committed to supporting local products and producers, over 90% of Auchan’s food product range comes from Romanian companies, while 85% of its suppliers are local. The company prioritizes partnerships with local producers through its "Filiere" program, which aims to improve citizens' nutrition. These products meet the highest quality, environmental, and social standards, further promoting sustainable agriculture and reinforcing Auchan’s commitment to supporting local communities and protecting the environment.

Detailed information on Auchan Romania’s sustainability performance, including key projects and initiatives, can be found in the company’s latest Sustainability Report available on www.auchan.ro. This annual report reflects the company's commitment to transparency and outlines its 2023 sustainability efforts. It is prepared in accordance with GRI Core international reporting standards and incorporates elements from other frameworks, such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Auchan Romania voluntarily decided to have a specialized third party auditing the report, the report being compliant as limited assurance with ISAE 3000 Standard.

Auchan’s pricing and discount models and affordability

Auchan has always been dedicated to protecting consumer’s purchasing power and is always looking ahead, trying to anticipate the changes in the economic landscape and the additional challenges that these changes might bring for both consumers and the industry as a whole. In today’s economic climate, affordability is more important than ever and Auchan’s pricing strategy is built on providing consistent value through every day Low Prices, through the loyalty program MyCLUB Auchan and strategic promotions on key items for the average household needs.

By offering not only strong promotions but also competitive prices every single day, Auchan has become a trusted reference point when it comes to price and by making sure that essential goods remain accessible. Moreover, for vulnerable groups, Auchan offers tailored discounts and initiatives, like dedicated promo campaigns or partnerships with local organizations, ensuring no one is left behind when it comes to essential products.

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About Auchan Romania

Auchan Romania’s portfolio includes over 440 stores: 26 classic hypermarkets, 7 ATAC Hyper Discount stores, 8 supermarkets, the Auchan Go smart store, nearly 400 ultra-proximity MyAuchan stores (mostly in Petrom stations), 10 Simply by Auchan franchise stores, and the online store auchan.ro. With a 2023 turnover of over €1.6 billion, Auchan offers residents in its store locations a modern, high-quality omnichannel shopping experience with the widest range of products and a responsible discount concept with consistently low prices every day.

Media Contact:
Elena Cobianu
Head of External Communications
comunicareexterna@auchan.ro

Eloise McKenna
Acumen Media
+44 20 3553 3664
email us here

Auchan Romania | How a Romanian retailer became a force for sustainability innovation