Migros Ticaret, founded in 1954, is the leading supermarket company of Turkey. We deliver a broad product range to meet the different needs of our customers through its Migros stores (MigrosJet, Migros, MM, MMM, 5M, Migros Wholesale), Macrocenter stores and e-commerce channels (Migros Sanal Market, Migros Hemen, Macroonline and Tazedirekt) in 81 provinces of Turkey.
Integrating our 68 years of retail experience into all business processes with digital transformation, we provide a unique shopping experience through its innovations, ultimate service approach and pioneer applications. We are the biggest fresh food seller in retail sector of Turkey with an exclusive expertise on fruits, vegetables, red meat and poultry products. We also aim to offer the basic needs of households with the best price and the best quality.
We have a large social ecosystem with 55 thousand employees, 20 thousand farmers and producers, 3 thousand suppliers and millions of customers. Sustainability is the backbone of this ecosystem. Pursuant to our Migros Better Future Plan, we are pursuing the goals that will make it better for our customers and stakeholders, our employees, innovative transformation and our World. By determining our economic, social and environmental priorities in the areas we directly affect with our activities, we measure our current situation and set ourselves development targets.
Migros is the first and only retailer to be listed in the Borsa İstanbul Sustainability Index eight years in a row. In addition, we have been selected among the “CDP Turkey Climate Leaders” for three years and ranked among leaders in CDP Water Programme in 2020. We have been receiving the “The Most Admired Company of the Retail Sector” award for 18 consecutive years associated with “Turkey’s Most Admired Companies” research.
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Our Contribution to Sustainable Agriculture and Biodiversity
Within the scope of the operations we carry out, we attach importance to the conservation and increase of biodiversity in the regions within our sphere of influence. At the same time, we contribute to biodiversity by supporting sustainable farming practices.
Protecting the fertility of our soil is possible by strengthening our farmers and producers, and by expanding sustainable production methods and traceability. We are the first retailer to introduce products produced in accordance with the principles and procedures of the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in fruit and vegetable products in 2010 and animal food products in 2013. Products that have been verified by food safety analysis have a traceability system and have successfully completed annual inspections by organizations authorized by the Ministry and can obtain GAP certificates. By focusing on supplying GAP certified herbal and animal products, we contribute to the establishment of a quality and efficient production system and to ensure safe food consumption. At the same time, efforts to develop alternative pest control methods and to eliminate the use of pesticides with biological control techniques have positive effects on biodiversity. The products we have procured with a Good Agricultural Practices Certificate has reached a total of more thab 1 million tons in 11 years. All of the turkey and chicken products sold in our stores are produced in accordance with GAP procedures and principles.
With our Anadolu Lezzetleri (Tastes of Anatolia) product line, we aim to bring together the seeds that are on the verge of disappearing all over Anatolia with new generations, to protect our cultural richness and to increase product diversity. As a result of scanning local seeds and special recipes belonging to 25 territories in 7regions of Turkey, we brought our 59 products, which differ with their regional or cultural characteristics, to our customers. We have produced each of our products from the original with the help of our experts.
Supporting Localisation for Regional Development
Having approximately 77 percent of its turnover consisting of the agriculturally-derived products, Migros manages to reach both the large-scaled and also the medium and the small-scaled producers from all over the country. We conduct many projects for the purpose of ensuring the continuance of agricultural production and enabling the producers to continue their existence by getting stronger. We have made very important cooperation with banks to strengthen our farmers and ensure the continuity of agricultural production. With the Producer Financing System implemented for the first time in our country in cooperation with farmer-market-bank , farmers can get the price of their products sold at Migros in cash from our partner bank without waiting for maturity. With this project, we contribute to the stabilization of food prices by reducing the collection of receivables by the producers in a shorter time and reducing the intermediaries in the supply chain from the producer to the consumer.
We developed a model on prioritizing the sale of locally purchased products in the same region. Along with supporting regional development, we also reduce carbon emissions caused by transportation. We cover wide range of local products and brands in our related stores. We started pilot studies of regenerative agriculture and to reduce carbon emissions of agricultural products. We are about to launch the Migros Digital Agriculture Platform, which we have implemented with the aim of creating momentum for more fertile lands and production. On this platform, producers from all over Turkey and those who want to be producers will be able to come together, receive new generation farming trainings and develop joint projects with entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture.
Although women have an important place in agricultural production, they are legally less visible than men on papers. That’s why we care about supporting women cooperatives. We buy all their products which are in accordance with our sales standards. In addition, we aim to raise production standards by training women farmers and entrepreneurs in cooperation with Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey .
Our Food Waste Prevention Practices
As member companies of the Food Waste Coalition within the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), we have committed to halving our food waste disposal rates by 2030, in line with SDG 12.3.
As a responsible food retailer, we carry out various projects in line with the FLW standard and the food recovery hierarchy. Reducing food waste at source is our main goal. For this purpose, we have improved our smart automatic order systems so as to generate minimal waste. In addition, we discount fruits and vegetables, and food products with imminent expiry dates by 25% to 50%: by doing so we have already saved 13,741 tons of food since 2019.
Through a web-based donation platform, our food products which fall below sales standards visually, but are suitable for consumption, were donated to the needy. These donations equate to food necessary for the preparation of approximately 12,8 million meals. We are part of an ecosystem in which our role is to care for other living beings. We therefore provide edible food items which are not preferred or suitable for human consumption for stray and forest animals in collaboration with various NGOs. Within this partnership, a total of 5,421 tons of food was reclaimed for the benefit and nutrition of animals in need.
Food waste is an issue that the world needs to address in unison. We were the first Turkish retail company (and one of the first 10 companies globally) to participate in the World Resources Institute’s “10x20x30” initiative. 23 of our suppliers signed up for this initiative with the purpose of halving their food waste. Since we have a strong belief in the principle and efficacy of “acting together”, we also participate in the FAO’s “Save Your Food” campaign in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to raise public awareness about food waste. Our final output of this partnership was the publication of an official guideline entitled “Guide to Combating Food Waste at Food Points of Sale” which was presented to the whole of the grocery sector in Turkey. We launched a new implementation in 2021; “pilot model on upstream losses” to prevent food loss at harvest stage by engaging more with our value chain which causes a win-win scenario for business, farmers and the environment. The results of the first year are very encouraging and we are determined to scale up our efforts in 2022.
The prevention of food waste is in our core sustainability agenda to achieve sustainable agriculture and efficient use of natural resources. We have accelerated our efforts regarding our target to halve our food sales / waste ratio by 2030 compared to 2018. Thanks to the initiatives above, we have already reduced our food waste by 22 percent which is equal to 50 million meals saved.