"Retail sector co-responsible for increasing wealth of hundreds of millions of European citizens"

Zaandam, The Netherlands, November 7, 2001 - 'Our sector has been co-responsible for increasing the wealth of hundreds of millions of European citizens over the last decades. Commerce has been an important contributor to relatively low inflation rates across our continent. Retail growth reflects the benefits of electronic data interchange, bar code developments and improved inventory management. These developments together with ongoing developments in information technology have boosted productivity considerably.'

With these words, Ahold President & CEO Cees van der Hoeven today addressed attendees to the European Day of Commerce in Brussels. Commenting on the increasing role of commerce in today's economy, Van der Hoeven noted that commerce is responsible for over 13% of the European Union's gross national product and currently accounts for over 15% of EU jobs. 'This means that one out of every 7 jobs is created by our sector, making commerce one of the largest employers in the EU,' the Ahold President said.

He emphasized his commitment to ongoing cooperation between companies in the food retail sector by praising the work of the Global Food Safety Initiative, the alliance between key retailers and manufacturers to maximize food safety. 'Working together on a non-competitive basis, we have developed a food safety benchmark standard against which existing standards can be checked and validated.' As the recently-named co-chairman of the Global Commerce Initiative, Van der Hoeven stressed that 'standardization will not only improve efficiency in the supply chain but will decrease the waste of raw materials and consumer products through better and faster combinations of supply and demand.'

Addressing the challenge of corporate social responsibility in the food retail sector, Van der Hoeven said retailers should take the lead by being more transparent in their reporting on social and environmental policies and practices. 'We are closest to consumers,' the Ahold President said. 'Our sector is a crucial link between producers and consumers.'

Ahold is a multi-local food retailer and foodservice operator serving 35 million customers in 25 countries every week.


Editor's note: the full text of Cees van der Hoeven's speech today is attached for your background information.