Sustainability
OUR APPROACH
‘My SPAR, Our Tomorrow’ remains our public commitment to the future of our brand and our planet. Recognising that we can only make positive and large scale change by working with others, developing long-term relationships with partners in our value chain is at the core of our ESG strategy.
Our strategy is guided by our sustainability policy and our ESG purpose: to build a better future for all – by creating a considered, sustainable, responsible and ethical culture throughout our value system. Through our strategy, we aim to achieve three strategic outcomes: to create sustainable stakeholder value, to be loved and respected as a brand, and to provide nutritious and affordable food.
Our ESG and climate change reports contain more detail about our strategy and initiatives.
Download environmental, socio-economic and governance report 
Download climate change report (produced every two years)
SPAR AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Energy
SPAR is committed to achieving a just transition to net zero emissions across our value chain by 2050. We are following a comprehensive and phased approach to our climate work that includes scenario analysis, training, revising risk management processes, as well as up and downstream engagement in our value chain.
Water
As a retailer, we need water to achieve our food safety and hygiene standards. At the same time, water is an essential input throughout our value chain, from the direct operations in stores to our distribution centres to our suppliers. To act as responsible stewards of water, we track savings achieved through efficiency measures implemented as well as overall withdrawal and discharge volumes.
We also engage with partners in our value chain and have started to prioritise suppliers with good water efficiency and quality management practices. In addition, we engage with local community partners to maintain and rehabilitate the ecosystems we depend on.
Circular economy
Packaging
We want to ensure that our packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable. We design our packaging with a circular economy in mind. Our packaging policy sets out the commitments and principles that SPAR adheres to, including clear communication on recycling labels, choosing mono-materials over composite whenever possible, and ensuring easy extraction of contents for recycling. We also minimise the number of materials used and prioritise using pre- and post-consumer recycled content.
Food waste reduction
We want no food that is safe for human consumption to be wasted in our operations. SPAR is a signatory to the South African Food Loss and Waste Voluntary Agreement. Through this agreement, we commit to achieving SDG target 12.3 to halve food waste by 2030 and to report annually on our quantities of food waste and food surplus.
We engage at farm level, with our distribution centres and at our retailers to minimise food waste. Our international territories also make continuous efforts to reduce food waste.
Responsible sourcing and production
A responsible supply chain
We want to source raw materials responsibly and support our procurement teams buy sustainably. We promote transparency and report accurately on the entire value chain. Among other materials, we are making active efforts to source seafood, eggs, timber, coffee, palm oil and cattle products responsibly. To learn more, read our sustainable seafood procurement policy here.
The SPAR Rural Hub
In 2017, SPAR embarked on a journey to invest in small-scale farmers, by establishing the SPAR Mopani Rural Hub in Limpopo. The Rural Hub model is focused on developing and supporting farmers who are not currently able, yet have the potential, to supply commercial markets. The model achieves this by providing relevant technical and food safety training, facilitating access to input and infrastructure funding, and providing a guaranteed market for their produce. Read more in our blog post or in our ESG report.
Socio-economic DevelopmentPeople development
The SPAR human resource strategy focuses on people development across four key areas:
- Consistent and solid human resource foundation: this includes having appropriate policies, processes, systems and toolkits in place for the Group and for retailers
- Future-fit human resource capability (structured for success): this is made up of the centre of excellence, shared services, and business partnering
- Talent strategies for priority skill areas: this includes buying and planning, retail and data literacy
- Fostering a healthy work culture: the behaviours we strive to embed include collaboration, performance-driven, consistency, ethical behaviour, innovation and creativity as well as diversity and inclusion
Wellness
Violence and harassment are forms of unfair discrimination and have no place in our society or work environments. These behaviours have far-reaching and detrimental consequences for the safety and well-being of employees. We want to help colleagues look after their physical and mental well-being so they can be at their best at work and home.
We support our employees through a robust workplace harassment policy and leave policy. We have numerous initiatives in all the territories we operate including hosting health-related challenges, providing training, counselling programmes, and providing healthy food choices.
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
GBV affects 46% of African females, as well as men and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, yet the national rate of conviction is only 3% of cases that are reported. To address GBV, we have been supporting and driving proactive and responsive GBV initiatives since 2019. Due to the scale of the GBV problem in South Africa, we partner with others to maximise our impact. Our initiatives include a student app, awareness programmes, counselling, supporting a DNA laboratory and donating to care centres. Read more, here.
Transformation and diversity
We want to continue building an inclusive culture where everyone can get along. In South Africa, we are also committed to driving transformation and supporting employment equity. We achieve this through our Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) transformation strategy that focuses on the three areas where we have the most room for improvement: management control, skills development, and enterprise and supplier development.
One of the key initiatives within these focus areas is our SPAR supplier development programme which offers support for micro and small businesses in the food and agriculture sectors. We also conduct culture surveys every two years to continually improve and focus our employee support. Our B-BBEE certificate is available here.
REPORTS