Pick n Pay aims to reduce landfill waste and create 20 jobs a week, and challenges banks to reduce fees

It is refreshing to see a business leader actively working on environmental and social issues as well as challenging government and other industries to work towards bringing back confidence to South Africa. Although this is not directly a personal finance story, I wanted to share the address that Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman delivered today at the announcement of Pick n Pay’s interim results.

Chairman’s introduction – Pick n Pay interim results 13 October 2015

Gareth Ackerman

Thank you to the Pick n Pay team for achieving this result. Delivered in a difficult consumer environment, it demonstrates that the Pick n Pay recovery is gaining momentum.

We have spoken about the three principles which govern Pick n Pay:

• Consumer sovereignty
• Business efficiency
• Doing good is good business

What is particularly encouraging about this result is that all three principles are evident and are growing.

It is pleasing to see the upward trajectory in sales, which demonstrates how hard the team is working on improving the shopping trip and ensuring that the Pick n Pay offer is in tune with the lives of our customers.

Our commitment to consumer sovereignty is evident through the development of our new Next Generation stores, Brand Match, Smart Shopper, and a relentless focus on price.

It is also pleasing to see the work we are doing on efficiency is beginning to bear fruit. We are controlling the increase in operating costs below our increase in sales. Our work on efficiency is delivering a better shopping trip through improved availability, better ranges and fresher products.

Our third principle, doing good is good business, remains at the heart of Pick n Pay. We launched our War on Waste campaign at our AGM in July. Initial targets are:

• Reducing food waste to landfill by 20% by 2020
• Reducing energy used per square metre by 20% by 2020, a 50% reduction on 2008
• 20 new jobs per week between now and 2020 – 5 000 a year

These sustainability priorities are amongst those goals set for the international Consumer Goods Forum, which I co-chair. These include reducing food waste and securing food and water security, achieving zero deforestation in commodity supply chains and reducing carbon emissions.

Reducing food waste

It’s not a well-known fact but it is a shocking reality that in Africa as much as 40% of all food produced is wasted before it reaches the consumer. This is enough to feed roughly 300 million people. By giving FoodBank SA surplus food, which is still perfectly safe to eat, we are already contributing 40,000 meals per week for people in dire need – and saving almost 1 000 tonnes of food waste per year.

I am particularly excited by our jobs announcement. With 50% or more of our youth population unemployed, and our economy growing at a sluggish rate, it is vital  that responsible employers step forward and provide real jobs and career opportunities for young people.

I am pleased to report that we have got off to a strong start – creating over 1 800 jobs in the first half of the year.

Retail is a wonderful career for young people who want to learn a skill and want to use their skill and their determination to advance quickly up the ladder. The skills we teach and develop are very varied, including management, customer service, food hygiene, butchery, bakery, logistics, finance and many others.

At a time when everyone in the country is facing difficult economic circumstances, we all need to pull together and work as a team. The choice is not, as some politicians claim, between profits and jobs. We have to jointly focus on creating jobs and reducing poverty.

Growth will also not come from well-meaning legislation without the necessary impact assessments, as we have recently seen from the impact of new visa regulations. Our government departments could work much closer together to avoid unintended consequences.

Role of government

Government providing clarity and legislative certainty in the supply chain on a number of issues, such as allowable percentages of brine in chicken, would also be welcome.

Helping South Africans overcome poverty is not only the responsibility of government in supplying social grants and retailers in delivering lower prices. We would welcome the banks joining retailers in waiving the ATM fee for SASSA withdrawals and relying on a government fee, as we do. This would seem to be fairer to all involved.

We would also support the spreading of SASSA payments through the month to reduce long queues and congestion at stores, which would also materially reduce crime during the first three days of the month.

As the Pick n Pay turnaround shows, it is by becoming more efficient, more customer-focused and more innovative that we can grow our sales. By growing our sales and improving our efficiency we not only increase our profits, we create employment and with it the dignity and hope which comes from having a job.

I therefore urge the government to support business in this task. Rather than increasing the burdens on companies it must look at how it can make it easier to do business in South Africa. By helping us to grow and create jobs, this will benefit those millions of people who currently face the scourge of unemployment.

I also call upon my colleagues in business to make their own pledges on jobs to bring confidence and hope in difficult times. We have always been at our best in South Africa when we work together.

There is no better and no more important time to do this than the present.