In the wake of the crisis, making CSR the cornerstone of our durability
DAG RASMUSSEN
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lagardère Travel Retail
The shock of the global health crisis, which we are continuing to face, has turned our fundamentals upside down and forced us to think about how to build, alongside our partners, a more sustainable and more responsible future. In addition to consumers paying greater attention to the safety and traceability of the products they buy, companies’ civic responsibility towards their employees and the communities within which they operate has become a major factor in consumer choices. People no longer expect a company just to generate a profit: we expect them to have a mission.
Lagardère Travel Retail strives to fulfil this mission by continually improving its offering and providing as much transparency as possible, increasing the proportion of local and ethical products and supporting communities by means of donations and volunteering. We also do this by taking as much care of our employees as possible, by providing financial support for the most vulnerable, offering flexible ways of working, and by means of enhanced communication and transparency.
The ramp-up in these expectations in terms of sustainable development can also be seen throughout the travel retail ecosystem: licensors, brands and airlines. Environmental and social responsibility are among our main priorities and we are making a shared effort to ensure that the upcoming recovery takes account of these issues. In addition to our taking part – by means of sales revenues – in investment by railway stations and airports in more environmentally friendly infrastructures, we are also involved in helping them and brands with major projects such as reducing use of plastic, recycling, optimising supply chains and improving our energy efficiency.
Making CSR a priority is not about image; it is the cornerstone of our commercial success and our durability.
“Making CSR a priority is not about image; it is the cornerstone of our commercial success and our durability.”
Dag Rasmussen