Krónan Sjálf­bærni lyk­il­at­riði í blómstrandi rekstri Krón­unn­ar

The management of the Crown has placed great emphasis on having a positive effect on the environment and the public health of its customers. The company sees that its role in society is not only to offer citizens a wide range of products for daily use, but it is in an ideal position to promote public health in the country, reduce waste and garbage and encourage customers to make informed choices about food products. .

Gréta María Grétarsdóttir, executive director of Krónun, says that in the beginning the motivation for bringing these issues to the fore was not financial. "We have not calculated the financial benefits and focused on that. However, we know that it is our moral duty to do our part. There is no future without environmental issues. We are a large company and due to our size in the Crown, we are constantly looking for ways to have a positive impact on society." She says, on the other hand, that the actions the company has taken have had an enormously positive effect on the business. For example, Gréta, together with the Crown, received the Business Award of the Business Journal and Free Trade in 2019, but in a news report about the award, it is stated that the current operating year will be the biggest in the company's history. "The turnover in the first nine months of the year amounted to 27.1 billion ISK, so it is likely that it will be between 35 and 36 billion in the operating year. For comparison, the turnover amounted to 28 billion in 2018, as well as in 2017. For the last three years, Krónan has generated between 700 and 850 million ISK of profit per year. This year, the goal is for the profit to exceed a billion," says Viðkispablaðinn's report.

"Of course you wouldn't go into something where you lose big, this won't work if we don't deliver a positive long-term operating result," she says.

"The biggest financial benefit is satisfied customers," says Gréta. "Actually, it's not necessarily a question of financial gain as such, because if we don't contribute, we won't have customers in the future." Then we are not included."

"The consumer will punish you very quickly if you don't take this seriously. There will be no settlement in two, three years if you don't do this."

The management at Krónunni decided in 2015 to put their weight on the scales when it comes to the store's environmental impact in a targeted way. Krónan then set itself the goal of choosing energy-saving equipment when building new stores and when renovating older ones. Investments were made in closed coolers and freezers, CO2 cooling systems and LED lighting was used instead of fluorescent lamps. This has resulted in 20 to 50 percent less energy consumption per year. The following year, Krónan began offering its customers to buy products that had passed the last sell-by date at a reduced price in order to prevent food waste. This decision has not only increased positive publicity in the community, but also reduced waste at the company, which is reflected in savings. In this way, food waste was reduced by more than half in the first year that the Crown took it seriously.

Although it is important to keep in mind that such actions are not taken lightly, in order to combat food waste, a system has been designed for staff to keep track of the correct inventory status and make informed decisions about when a product is salable and when not. There are more actions of the company that have a positive impact on the environment but also bring financial benefits; for example, Krona's management made the decision three years ago to stop sending advertising brochures to homes, saving 92 tons of paper annually. In the same year, the decision was made to use green reusable boxes for imported products, which saves 162 tons of cardboard per year. On the Crown's website, you can find a timeline summarizing the company's aforementioned actions.

Gréta segir að sumar aðgerðanna sem fyrirtækið hefur ráðist í séu mögulega ekki arðbærar við fyrstu sýn. „Það að taka nammibarinn burt og fjarlægja sælgæti af kössum er í sjálfu sér ekki skref í átt að fjárhagslegum ávinningi, nammi er vara sem hefur háa framlegð þannig að ef þú myndir fjarlægja það án þess að gera nokkuð á móti myndi það einfaldlega draga úr hagnaði. Hins vegar finnum við að viðskiptavinir eru ánægðir með þessa áherslu, til dæmis þreyttir foreldrar sem losna við að hlusta á suð á kössunum í lok dags, og þá koma þeir frekar aftur.“ Þessi ákvörðun var tekin sem liður af því markmiði Krónunnar að efla lýðheilsu í landinu. Árið 2015 tók fyrirtækið einnig ákvörðun um að láta hollustuna fá besta plássið; ávextir taka á móti viðskiptavinum Krónunnar og snakk og nammi þarf að leita sérstaklega uppi.

"The young generation is much more aware than the older ones and we feel that this matters more to them. It is our future customers, they will choose a company that is socially responsible. This is a benefit that we will see multiplied in the future."

Gréta says a vision like this is necessary if a long-lasting company is to be created. The future vision of the Króna's employees can be seen in more projects, but Gréta mentions that her dream is to develop software for all stores that customers can use to check the nutritional content, value chain and carbon footprint of sales products.

In Gréta's opinion, all companies can manage their operations in such a way that they deliver both operating profit and social benefit. The two actually go hand in hand and can no longer be separated. Some things simply cannot be valued.

"The financial benefits are indirectly measured in employee and customer satisfaction."

„Starfsumsóknir hjá okkur hafa aukist og þeir sem eru að sækja um hjá okkur segjast samsvara sig stefnu okkar í samfélagslegri ábyrgð. “

„Við sjáum minni starfsmannaveltu þó náttúrulega sé eðli starfanna hjá Krónunni þannig að fólk kemur oft tímabundið til okkar.”

Gréta María says companies in her sector are in an ideal position to contribute when it comes to climate issues and social responsibility.

„Matvöruverslanir eru á gríðarlega góðum stað til þess að hafa áhrif því allir þurfa að versla í matinn. Viðskiptavinurinn kemur oft til okkar, sumir daglega, það eru ekki mörg fyrirtæki þannig. Ég lít þannig á að ábyrgð okkar sé jafnvel meiri í ljósi sérstöðu okkar þegar kemur að heimsóknarfjölda viðskiptavina.” Þá bendir Gréta á að það sem helst skapi sorp og úrgang séu neysluvörur og því geti matvöruverslanir beitt sér fyrir því að minnka plastnotkun.