Woolworths has been named the Responsible Retailer of the Year in the 2008 World Retail Awards.
Held in Barcelona, Spain last week as part of the World Retail Congress, the Responsible Retailer award bestowed international recognition upon Woolworths for its commitment to responsible business practices and for setting high standards among its contemporaries in South Africa.
The Responsible Retailer of the Year category is designed to celebrate corporate responsibility and reward companies that set new world-class standards of good practice through initiatives that add ethical value and represent long term commitments in the areas of employment practices, sourcing, environmental policies, fair trade and supply chain, said the judges.
Woolworths triumphed over five other retailers to win the award. Nominees in the category included C&A Europe (Germany), Carrefour Group (France), Sainsburys (UK), Tesco (UK) and The Warehouse Group (New Zealand). Last year's winner was UK based retailer, Marks and Spencer.
"The accolade recognises Woolworths’ commitment to embed the Good Business Journey through all facets of the business,” said Woolworths in a press statement
Woolworths’ Good Business Journey, a five year plan announced in April 2007, is aimed at directing Woolworths’ business focus towards issues of sustainable growth. The plan sets targets and commitments around four priority areas: accelerating transformation, driving social development, enhancing the environmental focus and addressing climate change.
The retailer has widened their range of organic foods and has made large investments in organic cotton farming in South Africa. Woolworths has also recently announced a commitment to planting 17 000 trees (one for each of their employees) in an effort to offset their own carbon footprint.
Woolworths CEO Simon Susman says, “We know that sustainable growth can only be achieved through paying greater attention to the world around us than has been the case in the past. The links between economic growth, transformation, social development, the environment and climate change must create a better world for everyone.”
The World Retail Congress was established in 2006 in an effort to address the challenges facing the retail sector. Issues discussed at this year’s congress include the effect of the global economic slowdown on the sector, the growing importance and prevalence of E-Retailing and winning strategies of emerging market retailers.
The Awards highlight and reward excellence across the key areas of retail skills and operations.
The 2008 Winners are:
Retailer of the year - Tesco (UK)
Responsible Retailer of the year - Woolworths South Africa
Multi Market Retailer of the year - H&M (Sweden)
Innovative Format of the year - Baroue (Kuwait store designed by Gensler)
Marketing Campaign of the year - JC Penney, ‘Every Day Matters’
Emerging Market Retailer of the year - Shoppers’ Stop (India)
Retail Destination of the year - Zlote Tarasay, Poland
Employer of the year - Recreational Equipment Inc
E-tailer of the year - Tesco
Outstanding Leadership Award - Mike Ullman, CEO JCPenney
