Last Refreshed: 10/9/2024 3:05:50 AM
Brand Story

A look into Ahold Delhaize's Q3 2023 highlights 

Zaandam, the Netherlands, November 8, 2023 – Today, Ahold Delhaize released its 2023 third quarter results. It is a moment to reflect on the important strategic and operational performance we have made. Throughout Q3, we continued to focus on serving customers and communities in supporting households facing the challenges of inflation and rising interest and energy rates. Our great local brands have been agile in expanding their assortments with high-quality own-brand products at great prices. They continue to invest in and leverage the power of our digital capabilities to provide customers with meaningful, highly personalized discounts tailored to their needs and wallets.   

Ahold Delhaize CEO Frans Muller comments, “We take pride in the accomplishments we’ve achieved this quarter. During these times of heightened human suffering around the world, I am particularly proud of our associates for their hard work and unwavering commitment to supporting their local communities.” 

Learn more about our Q3 2023 business highlights within our key priorities below.  

Customer highlights

Across Europe and the U.S. our brands continue to drive value by implementing personalized offers through loyalty programs. Giant Food launched a pharmacy-based rewards program that allows customers to earn loyalty points from qualifying pharmacy purchases; and Maxi in Serbia joined the 'Better Prices’ initiative with the Serbian government to help reduce inflation. 

Ahold Delhaize also joined Eurelec, the European retail alliance, to address price differences between European markets. With this specific partnership we aim to promote open and fair price negotiations with the largest FMCG brands (fast-moving consumer goods) across Europe, which ultimately benefits our customers. 

Health & Sustainability highlights  

In the U.S., Food Lion, Hannaford, and The Giant Company were recognized for their efforts to reduce emissions from their refrigerant systems by the EPA's GreenChill program. Giant Food's collaboration with Divert resulted in processing 30.8 million pounds of wasted food in their first year, showcasing a commitment to reducing food waste. Hannaford introduced Snack Pals Plates, an initiative aimed at promoting healthy eating habits among children. These plates were designed with colorful quadrants representing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins to make mealtimes engaging and nutritious. Hannaford was also the first major supermarket to join a partnership supporting organic dairy farms, emphasizing their dedication to organic and sustainable practices. 

In Europe, Delhaize Belgium, in collaboration with Electra, began installing fast-charging points at their stores which is part of a plan to set up 1,200 charging points. Albert Heijn's utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in demand forecasting to reduce food waste was also highlighted in a minidocumentary powered by Kickstart AI. It illustrated their innovative approach to sustainable practices and how they provide customers with affordable and healthy products while minimizing costs. Albert Heijn also launched AH Terra: a new own-brand line of around 200 plant-based products. This step contributes to Albert Heijn's goal of making 50% of sold proteins to be of vegetable origin by 2025 and 60% by 2030. The percentage is currently 44%.  

Across Ahold Delhaize and all our brands, we're continuously moving forward in reducing CO2 emissions. Soon, we will also give an update on our industry-leading roadmap towards our climate targets for our own operations and the supply chain, which are in line with the 1.5 degrees scenario.

Last Refreshed: 10/9/2024 3:05:50 AM
Operational highlights  

At the end of October, Albert Heijn opened a mechanized Home Shop Center to serve customers in their online orders. The new center will make the work easier for associates as it handles 45,000 orders weekly. This summer bol also opened its second warehouse for extra-large items like trampolines and TVs.  
 
In our CSE region (Central and Southeastern Europe) Mega Image in Romania will go live with its first Home Shop Center in the coming weeks. This is a notable example of how our brands leverage and optimize learnings across the organization – in this instance, applying the successful Albert Heijn e-commerce model. 

Portfolio highlights  

Last week, we were pleased to share that Ahold Delhaize will acquire 100% of Romanian supermarket chain, Profi – subject to approval from regulatory authorities. This acquisition will provide a complementary customer proposition to our great local brand Mega Image in the Romanian market. 
 
AD Retail Media ranked 5th best overall US Retail Media Network and scored the #2 position in the area of omnichannel advertising sales. By continuously investing in retail media capabilities, AD Retail Media has ensured that advertisers can reach customers and can leverage the full scale of our Ahold Delhaize USA brands. It also helps our brands to learn more about their customers’ preferences to meet their needs. 

Similarly in Europe, through our collaboration with Adhese, the first major milestone was achieved with the expansion of the self-service platform to include display campaigns. With this step, advertisers can directly set up banner campaigns on the Albert Heijn website and app, monitor performance and optimize campaigns. New features and services will be added to the platform in the coming 1.5 years and it is intended to role this out to several other European brands in the course of 2024. 

Today, Ahold Delhaize USA also announced it has entered into an agreement to sell its FreshDirect business to Getir, a pioneer in ultrafast grocery delivery operating in key markets in the U.S. and globally. Following a thorough review, Ahold Delhaize USA made the decision to sell the FreshDirect business to focus investments in its omnichannel businesses.

Learn more about our Q3 financial results in the video below:  
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