"We believe in making a difference through sustainable and socially responsible value creation."
At the Jerónimo Martins Group we believe that the primary
responsibility of a company is to create value. In the short,
medium and long term. For this reason, we do not disassociate value
creation from development and the experience of values. Our values,
which shape our corporate mission, include Humanity, Merit,
Entrepreneurship and Citizenship.
Recent times have convincingly shown us how ignoring the social and
environmental impacts of a company's activities can also be bad for
business.
Indeed, when a company is longer prepared to account for its
actions and for the impacts of its decisions, it is no longer
responsible.
I believe that the reputation and survival of companies in the 21st
century are not determined purely by the logic of the market, but
also by the social acceptance that they earn.
I believe that, in an increasingly globalised world, nobody can get
away with not contributing to the development of a Common Good and,
as a major economic player, we must be conscious that profit should
also be the result of responsible conduct focused on the generation
of more wealth, more prosperity and more sustainability for the
largest possible number of people.
Our history of more than two hundred years of operations says a
great deal about how responsibly we have developed our business and
about the medium and long term vision that we incorporate into the
decisions that we take throughout the value chain.
In the Jerónimo Martins Group we seek to manage in a balanced
manner the relationship between necessary economic prosperity and
an active contribution to socioeconomic development and
environmental conservation in the regions where our presence is
felt.
We are, for this reason, committed to the communities of the
countries in which operate and to the continuous improvement of our
capacity to meet present needs in a way that allows future
generations to also meet their needs.
We know that our leadership in food distribution in Portugal and
Poland also brings more responsibility. But we firmly believe that
the way we live this responsibility is also one of the cornerstones
of corporate competitiveness today.
Because companies are not islands that can survive regardless of
what surrounds them. Alongside a capacity to listen, respond to and
surprise consumers; alongside an executive capacity; alongside an
excellent operating and financial performance, relationships with
stakeholders and affected parties are determining factors for an
Organisation's competitiveness and long-term success.
And the Jerónimo Martins Group is in the business to stay and to
continue its history of growth and of true creation of
prosperity!
Pedro Soares dos Santos