Ahold Delhaize, the Dutch retailer and wholesaling company, announced yesterday that Jan Ernst de Groot has been appointed chief sustainability officer, a newly created position. Ernst de Groot will be accountable for the strategy and goals related to sustainability, healthy eating, social impact, ethics, human rights, and governance.
“For a long time, sustainability has a central position in our organization. It is one of our four key strategic focus areas, and a critical driver of our purpose: Eat well. Save time. Live better,” said Frans Muller, Ahold Delhaize CEO, in a statement. “Our activity and performance in this area are attracting increasing interest from customers, (future) associates, investors and other stakeholders. With the appointment of Jan Ernst, we ensure that the full scope and dimension of sustainability and ESG [environmental, social, and governance] are holistically represented at the Executive Committee level.”
Ernst de Groot is known in the sustainability community, having led transformative programs at many companies. He will operate in the CSO position while also maintaining his duties as the company’s chief legal officer, a role he has held since 2016.
“At Ahold Delhaize, we want to lead the transition to a sustainable food system,” Van de Groot said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Daniella Vega, our SVP Health & Sustainability, and other senior leaders across our organization to further define the right, ambitious and future-oriented strategy and ensure execution and delivery of our targets, for the betterment of society as a whole.”
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