Building on years of experience in supporting healthier dietary choices and working with healthy sales targets, Ahold Delhaize is increasingly helping customers to make more sustainable choices. The brands’ strategies are tailored to their local markets and customer preferences. These include:

• Actively promoting plant-based product ranges and offering lower-carbon animal protein assortments.
• Working together with farmers and partners to reduce emissions of animal protein products.
• Leveraging loyalty programs and incentives to encourage customers to choose plant-based alternatives.
• Investing in inspiration and education, helping customers discover the benefits of healthier and more sustainable choices.

For more information and examples of our local brands’ approaches to healthier and more sustainable choices, please visit this webpage.
 

In 2022, Dutch brand Albert Heijn set its current protein split target of 60% plant-based sales by 2030.
 

-Ends-

Notes

• *Romanian food retailer Profi became part of the Ahold Delhaize family of brands in January 2025 and is not yet part of this target.
• The EAT Lancet Commission concluded in its report that a diet rich in plant-based foods and with fewer animal-derived foods confers both improved health and environmental benefits.
• Link to European Commission Farm to Fork strategy, including a section on protein transition.

Ahold Delhaize’s digital convergence journey 
This launch marks the final milestone in a six-country implementation. The first market to go live was Albert in the Czech Republic in February 2024. It was followed by Maxi in Serbia and Delhaize in Belgium in July, Delhaize Luxembourg in September, Mega Image in Romania in November and Alfa Beta in Greece completing the rollout. 

Gerhard van der Bijl, CTO Ahold Delhaize Europe & Indonesia: “Our new app showcases the value of engineering, of implementing technology at scale for our brands across Europe. We take pride not only in the product delivery, but also in the collaborative journey that made it possible. Successfully delivering all releases in a complex, multi-brand environment underscores our commitment to agility and innovation. This initiative not only enhances our customer experience but also drives substantial business value and positions us for sustained growth in the future. With this newly developed customer platform we have a strong foundation for customer innovation in the future.”  

Key features for customers of Ahold Delhaize’s European brands 

• Intuitive interface: Enhanced communication and improved accessibility for a seamless user experience.  
• Web-based login and registration: improved security measures to keep our customer data safe. 
• Retail media integration: Special offers and products recommended to customers based on their shopping history. 
• Cookie consent management: Ensuring transparency and giving customers control over how their data is used.  
• Larger product images and improved customer navigation: Making online shopping easier while offering a more visually appealing experience.  
• Multiple quantities of free products in exchange for points: Enabling customers to redeem more rewards. 

The journey ahead 
This series of launches is a strong example of strategic collaboration among Ahold Delhaize brands, as well as a foundation for delivering a vibrant customer experience that leverages scale and operational excellence​. Ahold Delhaize and its brands remain committed to continuously strengthening their shared technology foundation to drive cost efficiencies, accelerate innovation and support the customers of tomorrow.  

January 20, 2025 – Ahold Delhaize is proud to announce that the Top Employer Institute (TEI) has recognized both the company and the majority of its great local brands as Top Employers in 2025. This certification recognizes organizations that are dedicated to cultivating great places to work through excellent Human Resources policies and people practices. 

The Top Employer certification highlights Ahold Delhaize’s progress in its Thriving People strategic priority, part of its broader Growing Together strategy, which drives the company’s aspiration to be the leading (#1 or #2) employer of choice in each market. TEI has assessed our brands’ policies and unique practices, which may differ from one another. The recognition celebrates efforts to foster a caring, purpose-driven environment where the brands’ employees are valued, inspired, and empowered to grow and collaborate.  

In 2025, Ahold Delhaize Group and all of its U.S. brands – including ADUSA – achieved the Top Employer certification, alongside several European brands such as Mega Image (Romania), Maxi (Serbia), Alfa Beta (Greece), and Albert (Czechia). The assessment, based on TEI’s HR Best Practices Survey, evaluates organizations based on several areas, including people strategy, work environment, talent acquisition, learning, diversity, equity & inclusion, and well-being. 

“We are a people business. Receiving this certification is positive confirmation that our HR strategy is driving meaningful progress across all these areas,” says Natalia Wallenberg, CHRO of Ahold Delhaize. “It's testament to the  efforts of teams in the local brands and Ahold Delhaize Group, recognizing initiatives that prioritize connection with our purpose, collaboration and well-being, while supporting our brands’ communities. “It also proves that Ahold Delhaize is staying true to its promise: to create a supportive workplace that encourages growth and teamwork, where everyone feels heard, valued, and finds purpose in serving our communities.”  

Thanks to an ongoing collaboration between our great local brands, customers will find a broader range of new products including more plant-based and organic choices, as well as redesigned packaging and innovations on existing food products. Our brands’ customers are now able to enjoy an even wider selection of own-brand staples, such as Nature’s Promise, Perla coffee and tea, Delicata chocolate and Gustona. This expansion is part of an extensive harmonization project that aims to offer an enriched, high-quality product range across the region. The CSE brands have introduced around 500 new items, bringing the total products introduced through the project to 800. 

Streamlining production and processes
By working together on their own-brand assortments over the past three years, the brands are able to differentiate their offering from competitors, providing high-quality, healthy and affordable options that customers greatly value. At the same time, they are streamlining the entire production and distribution process.

This CSE harmonization project marks a great step towards Ahold Delhaize’s ambitious group target of 45% of total food sales coming from own-brand products by 2028. Rembrandt Heerkens Thijssen, Director EU Sourcing CSE, comments: “This dynamic collaboration between our CSE brands allows us to make positive changes at scale, bringing innovations and the latest product improvements to customers across the region.”

Small packaging adjustments, big impact
The project team is also rebranding some existing products to unify them under new packaging and labeling. "As part of the harmonization, we’re developing packaging that will be consistent across all countries, with four-language labeling," explains Ivo Ředina, Own Brand Development Director.

The support and collaboration of local suppliers in the CSE markets are of great value, in providing high-quality ingredients, unique recipes and product innovations. Their partnership enables us to introduce new trends in health and convenience.

Rembrandt concludes: “While the harmonization process has its challenges, it’s well worth it. And customers seem to agree. The team has seen comparable sales growth of over 20% compared with the previous year. One great example is the plant-based milks which have shown a three-fold uplift since last year. This is a massive team effort that we can all be proud of.”

Nikos Lavidas has had an extensive career in food retail. In 2009 and 2010, he worked as Managing Director at Kraft Foods. After that he joined the Greek supermarket chain I&S Sklavenitis S.A. There Nikos worked for almost nine years, starting as Head of Strategy and Expansion. He led the company through a reorganization and a series of acquisitions, which allowed the company to grow into a major Greek retailer.  

He was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2019. Most recently Nikos worked at Upfield, a newly formed regional business unit of Unilever. As Managing Director, he held overall accountability for Greece, Cyprus and Albania and several other countries within South East Europe.

Wouter Kolk, CEO Ahold Delhaize Europe & Indonesia: “This appointment is a positive step for Alfa Beta, our prominent Greek food retailer. Alfa Beta is strongly rooted in Greece, leads in food e-Commerce and has a broad high quality and healthy offering and a successful customer loyalty program. With Nikos Lavidas on board, the team will be reinforced by someone with extensive experience in the supermarket sector as well as on the supplier side. Nikos is well able to weigh all interests and will ensure the best offer for customers, together with the Alfa Beta team. I wish Nikos all the success in his new role!”

Jesper Lauridsen: “I am very happy to welcome Nikos as Brand President of AB. He will join a strong team of retail professionals in serving millions of customers every day.”

Nikos Lavidas: “I am absolutely thrilled to be making such an important step of becoming part of AB Vassilopoulos, a company with such a strong legacy in Greece. I cannot wait to join my efforts with the AB team in this exciting and ambitious path to growth.”

Cautionary notice

This communication includes forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Words and expressions such as to leave, would, will, next phase or other similar words or expressions are typically used to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and that may cause actual results of Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (the “Company”) to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the Company’s public filings and other disclosures. Forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Company’s management and assumptions based on information currently available to the Company’s management. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such statements, except as required by law.

How does dry misting work? 

Inspired by the morning mist that hangs over crop fields, engineers sought to replicate this natural occurrence and managed to develop a dry misting system. The system is equipped with ultrasonic technology to make the finest mist from the purest filtered water. As the mist floats out of the humidifier through a special diffuser and thinly surrounds supermarket produce, the mist evaporates, the humidity rises, and the temperature drops naturally. This allows the produce to keep important nutrients and have a significantly increased shelf life as it can better retain moisture and stay fresh. 

Pilot expectations 

The installation of the dry misting system in Alfa Beta was completed in early October and Mega Image’s three month pilot began in September. The NfR team has taken the lead in sharing information and coordinating the project, supported by the technical department. In the three months that the pilot will last, several factors will be analyzed. One of the most relevant being the generated savings enabled by decreased shrink/loss and improved sale performance. The NfR team is confident it will be a success and will bring benefits to others.  

The standard, by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), aims to make fish farming more responsible and reduce the impact on marine life. It was the result of a concerted joint effort by Alfa Beta, fish farmer Nireus and WWF Greece over the past six years.

Greece is the first European country to have sea bream and sea bass farms certified according to the standard.  The Mediterranean Sea is an important center for the production of sea bream and sea bass, which have become increasingly popular species with consumers across the globe.

Alfa Beta is the first Greek retailer to carry the certified product in its stores, under its own-brand label AB Choice. Its role in developing the ASC standard is a great example of the efforts of Ahold Delhaize’s local brands to further improve the environmental and social footprint of our products. 

 For more information, see the video: