Number of more sustainable products

Due to reporting reasons, METRO only displays the share of own brand products in those policies with limited scope.

Healthy and Nutritious products *

No. of own brand products FY 2021/22 1 FY 2022/23 2
METRO Germany
Less of sugar / salt / saturated fatty acids / free from additives 45 70
Organic 72 82
Alternative Proteins 3 3
METRO entities
Less of sugar / salt / saturated fatty acids / free from additives 827 835
Organic 519 524
Alternative Proteins 39 39

1 as per 30 September in 20 out of 29 reporting entities.
2 as per 30 September in 20 out of 26 reporting entities.


No. of own brand products FY 2023/24 1
METRO Germany
Less of sugar/salt/saturated fatty acids 16
Free from additives 0
Organic 3
Alternative Proteins 0
METRO entities
Less of sugar / salt / saturated fatty acids 114
Free from additives 59
Organic 8
Alternative Proteins 5

1 as per 30 September in 24 out of 25 reporting entities.


Explanation:

All figures shown refer to own brand products only and are aggregated figures referring to the base date. A product is also counted in these figures if the product range gets extended with a product qualifying under the criteria and does not necessarily only mean a reformulation of existing products.

We define product as each separate product offered to our customers. Sometimes identical products have different GTINs in the different countries where they are sold. In such cases, these identical products are counted only once. It may also be the case that a product simultaneously shows several areas of application for this key indicator, e.g. is sugar-reduced and certified organic. In these cases, the figure is shown in both areas of application, i.e. one count for sugar-reduced and one count for certified organic.

Reformulation of products in order to qualify for being counted in this KPI means:

  1. Reduction of sugar-/salt-/saturated fatty acids content of 0,1g per 100g for products with a minimum content of 0,5g sugar / saturated fatty acids per 100g and 1g salt per 100g
  2. Removal of all additives listed in METRO’s H&N policy and additives accepted for legitimate reasons or reduction of the number of those before mentioned additives present in the recipe.

Organic products reflected in this figure refer to products from biological agriculture and meeting requirements of EU regulations (EU 834/2007, EU 889/2008 and EU 271/2010) and/or national organic labels (esp. of non-EU countries) and/or as listed in the official GS1 packaging label guideline.

Alternative protein products reflected in this figure refer to alternatives of animal proteins (meat, milk, fish, eggs and their derivatives) produced using novel or new technologies and ingredients, which include: Plant-based extracts e.g. pea proteins, cell-cultures (synthetic) proteins e.g. meat grown in a lab.

For these products a change of methodology has been introduced as of FY 2023/24: compared to previous years, alternative proteins products with higher number of additives vs. previous recipe shall not be considered as “healthier” hence not be reported; before, all alternative protein products were counted in.

Also, the base year and way of displaying the figures changed in reporting year 2023/24 hence makes a comparison to 2022/23 data not possible: figures shown for FY 2021/22 and 2022/23 refer to base year 2018 and accumulated “less of” and “free from” products into one figure. Figures as of FY 2023/24 refer to the new base date of 1 October 2023 and show “less of” and “free from” as two separated figures for transparency reasons.

The offer of 1,500 own-brand products METRO-wide (thereof 150 common and 1,350 locally sourced) with less sugar, salt and saturated fatty acids, completely or partially free from additives and organic certified and/or alternative protein products was achieved by end of December 2023 and reported in detail up to October 2024. No new corporate target has been developed.

Number of food products* certified as organic**

FY 2021/221 FY 2022/231 FY 2023/241
No. of products Own brand Branded Own brand Branded Own brand Branded
METRO Germany 72 2,577 131 4,074 137 3,060
METRO entities 519 7,589 7012 8,7693 6014 5,6635

1 as per 30 September
2 In 14 out of 18 reporting entities
3 In 18 out of 18 reporting entities
4 In 13 out of 18 reporting entities
5 In 15 out of 18 reporting entities

* Products means all own brand and brand food products and includes double counts for common sourced products
** Organic in line with EU regulations (EU 834/2007, EU 889/2008 and EU 271/2010) and/or national organic labels (esp. of non-EU countries) and/or as listed in the official GS1 packaging label guideline.

Number of sustainably certified palm oil products

FY 2021/221 FY 2022/231 FY 2023/241
No. of products Own brand Share of certified own brand Branded* Own brand Share of certified own brand Branded* Own brand Share of certified own brand Branded*
METRO Germany 42 100% 99 32 100% 184 28 100% 101
METRO Entities 492 51% 2,250 5262 35% 3,0853 5044 35% 17035

1 as per 30 September
2 In 25 out of 27 reporting entities
3 In 13 out of 19 reporting entities
4 In 23 out of 26 reporting entities (in 3 out of 26 reporting entities not applicable)
5 In 13 out of 18 reporting entities

* The figure includes double counts for common sourced products

Explanation: Referring to own brand and branded products. Sustainably certified palm oil products according to the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification levels Identity Preserved, Segregated, Mass Balance or Book & Claim

Expired Target: 100% of own brand products containing palm oil being RSPO Identity Preserved or Segregated certified by 2023.

Considering the new EU Deforstation Regulation METRO currently revises its Sustainable Palm Oil Policy and therefore has not renewed its target.


Share of sustainably certified palm oil product volumes
by level of quality (Jan-Dec 2023 calendar year results)

RSPO Certification level Share of used palm oil
Identity Preserved 0%
Segregated 48%
Mass Balance 23%
Credits 1%
% of volume of palm oil used in our METRO own brand products as RSPO certified 72%

Explanation: Referring to sustainably certified palm oil own brand product volumes of all METRO entities according to the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification levels.

Number of sustainable soy products

Number of sustainable soy tier 1 products

FY 2023/241
Own brand products Number Share
METRO Germany n.a. n.a.
METRO Entities 132 81%

1 As per 30 September

2 In 8 out of 26 reporting entities (in 18 out of 26 reporting entities not applicable)

Explanation: Referring to own brand and brand products. Sustainable Soy Tier 1 products with RTRS or Proterra or other FEFAC approved certification (ADM Responsible Soy Standard, Agricultura Certificate de Aapresid; Certified Sustainable Agriculture (ASC), Amaggi Responsible Standard, Belgian Feed Association (BFA), Bunge Pro S, Cargill Triple S, Certified Responsible Soya (CRS), Coamo Responsible Soy, Donau Soja, Europe Soya, FEMAS, ISCC Plus, Sustainable Feed Standard (SFS), Sustainable Farming Assurance (SFA), US Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (US SSAP)

Number of sustainable soy tier 2 products

FY 2023/241
Own brand products Number Share
METRO Germany 40 49%
METRO Entities 5672 49%

1 As per 30 September

2In 15 out of 27 reporting entities (in 12 out of 27 reporting entities not applicable)

Explanation: Referring to own brand and brand products. Sustainable Soy Tier 1 products with RTRS or Proterra or other FEFAC approved certification (ADM Responsible Soy Standard, Agricultura Certificate de Aapresid; Certified Sustainable Agriculture (ASC), Amaggi Responsible Standard, Belgian Feed Association (BFA), Bunge Pro S, Cargill Triple S, Certified Responsible Soya (CRS), Coamo Responsible Soy, Donau Soja, Europe Soya, FEMAS, ISCC Plus, Sustainable Feed Standard (SFS), Sustainable Farming Assurance (SFA), US Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (US SSAP)

Number of sustainably fished or farmed products

FY 2021/221 FY 2022/231
No. of products Own brand Share of certified own brand No name* Share of no name Branded** Own brand Share of certified own brand No name* Share of no name Branded**
METRO Germany 54 70% 181 37% 551 51 85% 217 67% 525
METRO Entities 785 63% 1,299 24% 1,492 7782 72% 9573 29% 1,4184

FY 2023/241
No. of products Own brand Share of certified own brand No name* Share of no name Branded**
METRO Germany 42 93% 85 29% 554
METRO Entities 8395 71% 1,1006 27% 1,3717

1 As per 30 September
2 In 22 out of 27 reporting entities (in 5 out of 27 reporting entities is not applicable)
3 In 22 out of 27 reporting entities (in 5 out of 27 reporting entities is not applicable)
4 In 18 out of 19 reporting entities
5 In 23 out of 27 reporting entities (in 4 out of 27 reporting entities is not applicable)
6 In 22 out of 25 reporting entities (in 3 out of 25 reporting entities is not applicable)
7 In 15 out of 18 reporting entities

* Products not bearing a METRO brand but with METRO address. This also includes all in-house produced products and all products sold via counter and labelled with METRO address.
In FY 2020/21 we have reported all no name products subject to the scope of the Policy and carrying one of the acceptable certificates mention in the explanation below. As of FY2021/22 we sharpened our reporting approach and contemplate only those certificates where Chain of Custody certificate is ensured also at the level of METRO legal entities.

** The figure includes double counts for common sourced products and products that carry two or more of the certificates listed below.

Explanation: Referring to sustainably fished or farmed own brand and no names products of the Top 12 species subject to the scope of the Policy according to the following certifications MSC, ASC, FOS, BAP, Global GAP, ASMI, GULF, IRFM, organic, FIP, AIP, RFM, CQA, MEL Japan or any other GSSI benchmarked certification scheme. The branded products are not limited to the Top 12 species.

Target: 90% of our TOP 12 own brand and no name fish and seafood species environmentally (see above) certified by 2025, 100% socially certified by 2025 and 100% digitally traceable by 2030.

Number of Cage Free Shell egg products

FY 2021/221 FY 2022/231 FY 2023/241
No. of products Own brand Share of own brand Own brand Share of own brand Own brand Share of own brand
METRO Germany 16 100% 16 100% 11 100%
METRO Entities 125 53% 1512 60% 1373 55%

1 As per 30 September
2 In 19 out of 27 reporting entities (in 8 out of 27 reporting entities is not applicable)
3 In 21 out of 27 reporting entities (in 6 out of 27 reporting entities is not applicable)

Explanation: Referring to own brand cage free shell eggs products, an improvement of farming conditions for laying hens by promoting alternative and more sustainable housing systems, i.e., barn systems and outdoor access systems (free range, organic – ‘enriched’ or ‘combi’ cage systems not allowed).

We have successfully transitioned to exclusively use 100% cage free shell eggs for our own brand assortment already last year in multiple countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland).

In 2023/24 two additional countries France and Turkey reached their 100% target.

Number of fair-trade products

FY 2021/221 FY 2022/231 FY 2023/241
No. of products Own brand* Branded* Own brand* Branded* Own brand* Branded*
METRO Germany 9 669 15 1,107 11 470
METRO Entities 61 1,388 892 2,0103 894 1,0235

1 as per 30 September
2 In 10 out of 19 reporting entities
3 In 13 out of 19 reporting entities
4 In 9 out of 18 reporting entities
5 In 13 out of 18 reporting entities

* The figure includes double counts for common sourced products.

Explanation: Referring to own brand and brand products that carry one of the following certifications Fairtrade, GEPA or Rainforest Alliance and counts double those products that carry more than one of the above-mentioned certificates.

Number of products from sustainable forestry

FY 2021/221 FY 2022/231 FY 2023/241
No. of products Own brand Share of own brand Own brand Share of own brand Own brand Share of own brand
METRO Germany 4 80% 5 100% 3 100%
METRO Entities 1,987 60% 2,0762 65% 2,1563 66%

1 as per 30 September
2 In 23 out of 27 reporting entities (in 4 out of 27 reporting entities is not applicable)
3 In 23 out of 26 reporting entities (in 3 out of 23 reporting entities is not applicable)

Explanation: Referring to own brand products and brand products. Sustainable forestry means certified according to FSC® or PEFC label or from recycled material. Brand data is not available as reporting system currently cannot discriminate product certificate vs. packaging certificate on sustainable forestry.

Target: 100% of own brand products containing more than 50% of wood in weight from sustainable forestry by end of 2023. Additionally, 100% of the processing factories of those products shall be socially compliant until end of 2030.

Number of sustainable single use products

FY 2021/221 FY 2022/231 FY 2023/241
No. of products Own brand Share of own brand Own brand Share of own brand Own brand Share of own brand
METRO Germany n.a* n.a* n.a* n.a* n.a* n.a*
METRO Entities 940 60% 9352 59% 8963 58%

1 as per 30 September
2 In 23 out of 27 reporting entities (in 4 out of 27 reporting entities is not applicable)
3 In 21 out of 26 reporting entities (in 5 out of 26 reporting entities is not applicable)

* No locally sourced own brand products affected by the policy

Explanation: Referring to own brand for which METRO strives to decrease the share of disposables and/or transform to reusable models if applicable and where reusable options are not feasible offer single use solutions made from alternative material which is recyclable or compostable.

Target: By 2025, METRO will empower our customers’ businesses to move into a future without conventional single use plastic and increase resource efficiency by:

  • providing reusable, recyclable and compostable alternatives
  • supporting our customers in this phase out and
  • advocating for the movement towards a circular economy regarding plastic

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