Concerted Efforts Leading to A New Era of Sustainable Consumption - Sodexo Attended China-Europe Sustainable Consumption Forum

Chengdu, July 1, 2023 - Sodexo, the global leader in quality life services, was invited to and attended the China-Europe Sustainable Consumption Forum at the 17th EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair held in Chengdu. This forum aims to build bridges between China and European Union and to explore the development path and innovative cooperation opportunities in sustainable consumption.

The China-Europe Sustainable Consumption Forum is co-organized by UNIDO ITPO and Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone Administrative Committee at The 17th EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair.

Under the theme of "Collaborative Innovation and Ecological Reconstruction", international organizations, Chinese local governments, Chinese and European companies, institutional investors, industrial associations, think tanks, and media in new consumption, green economy, and other fields are invited to exchange their insights over topics including China-Europe Green Consumption Cooperation and European and Chinese Geographical Indications, and to provide input on China-Europe sustainable consumption to reach progress across the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Grace HAN, Director and head of Government, Public and Corporate Affairs, Greater China, Sodexo, was invited to and attended the China-Europe Sustainable Consumption Forum. She shared her expertise and insights on the forum.

Amid growing global concern over issues including resource crisis and climate change, promoting sustainable consumption has been a pursuit of society. Sodexo, a pioneer and advocate in sustainable consumption, has actively participated in this event and shared its experiences and cases that serve as a useful cooperation model and innovative solutions for both parties to learn from.

Balance Sustainability and Profitability in China-Europe Green Consumption Cooperation

• Sodexo commits to developing a longer-term sustainable development strategy - Better Tomorrow 2025. It incorporates environmental protection and social responsibility into our core business, thus ensuring that sustainability becomes part of our business philosophy and is embraced by our employees, clients, partners, etc.
• As a tool to promote resource efficiency, digitalization has been widely used in Sodexo's restaurants. Thanks to the intelligent canteen online ordering system and mini programs, we can anticipate the amount of food served and ensure that food is fresh, safe and not unnecessarily wasted, therefore yielding a double benefit of environmental friendliness and cost saving.
• As early as in 2019, Sodexo has deployed WasteWatch (a monitoring system for food waste) in multiple operation sites around the world. This is an intelligent system that may effectively reduce food waste in food preparation through the capture and intelligent analysis of food waste data. WasteWatch may change the awareness of people on food waste from the initial step of food preparation, thus generating more positive impact on the environment. Since the deployment of WasteWatch in Greater China in June 2021, Sodexo has deployed WasteWatch in approximately 200 operation sites. It has recorded a total food waste of 5,259 tons and reduced food waste of 702 tons (as of May 17, 2023).

Grace HAN, Director and head of Government, Public and Corporate Affairs, Greater China, Sodexo, said: "It's a great pleasure to participate in the China-EU Sustainable Consumption Forum and exchange ideas about China-EU cooperation on green consumption with Chinese and European officials, experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from various fields to promote consumption upgrade in sustainability and profitability.” We companies should actively cooperate with the government to develop a good partnership with it and other parties. By exchanging experiences and learning from each other via a platform provided by the government, we will improve information transparency and enjoy more dividends of information sharing. The information will serve as the cornerstone of sustainable green development and the basis for long-term strategic development of enterprises.