Ahold Delhaize names new chief sustainability officer

Ahold Delhaize announces that Jan Ernst de Groot has been appointed as chief sustainability officer. In this newly created role, he will be accountable for the success of Ahold Delhaize’s integral vision, strategy and goals relative to all aspects of environmental sustainability, healthy eating, social impact, ethics, human rights and governance.  

“For a long time, sustainability has a central position in our organization," said Frans Muller, CEO of Ahold Delhaize. "It is one of our four key strategic focus areas, and a critical driver of our purpose: Eat well. Save time. Live better. Our activity and performance in this area are attracting increasing interest from customers, (future) associates, investors and other stakeholders. With the appointment of Jan Ernst, we ensure that the full scope and dimension of sustainability and ESG are holistically represented at the Executive Committee level.”

Ahold Delhaize said its sustainability strategy is based on the belief that what's healthy and sustainable should be available and accessible to all. Centered around the conviction that the world's health crisis and climate crisis are intrinsically linked, its approach ensures the decisions it makes are grounded in doing the right thing for people and planet. "We collaborate closely with our partners and our brands to make this possible," the company said in a statement.

de Groot is well known in the sustainability community, with a track record of leading transformative sustainability programs at companies and supervisory roles at NGOs and civil society organizations. He will retain his other, separate accountabilities as Ahold Delhaize’s chief legal officer, an executive committee role he has held since 2016.

“At Ahold Delhaize, we want to lead the transition to a sustainable food system," said de Groot. "I look forward to working with Daniella Vega, our SVP Health & Sustainability, and other senior leaders across our organization to further define the right, ambitious and future-oriented strategy and ensure execution and delivery of our targets, for the betterment of society as a whole.”