SPAR Hungary has been striving for years to minimise its impact on the environment in both its commercial operations and manufacturing processes, to protect employees and customers, to offer products from an increasing number of small and family-owned Hungarian companies and to pay attention to disadvantaged groups in the spirit of social responsibility. The company has published the results achieved in 2022 in a Sustainability Report. 

The sustainability activities of SPAR are guided by five main pillars: protection of the environment, food safety, promotion of healthy lifestyles, protection of employees and social responsibility. These key pillars are closely linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“We have kept focusing on the company’s sustainability vision even during a year of economic difficulties, such as 2022. SPAR aims to further deepen its commitment to sustainability in its relations with employees, customers and suppliers, in order to become Hungary’s leading retail chain addressing sustainability issues and challenges,” explained Gabriella Heiszler, President and CEO of SPAR Hungary, who is also responsible for the company’s sustainability activities.

Hungarian products, shorter supply chains

SPAR Hungary is committed to supporting small businesses in getting their products on the store shelves. This is achieved through the Hungaricool competition, organised for the fourth time in 2022, to which applicants can enter high-quality, newly-developed products manufactured in Hungary. The Regions of Treasures programme, launched in 2021, will also improve market access for small Hungarian producers. In order to reduce transport distances SPAR has set up centres in six cities – Nyíregyháza, Pécs, Győr, Székesfehérvár, Zalaegerszeg and Hódmezővásárhely – to provide supply outlets for micro and small enterprises in the region. The SPAR Supplier Academy also provides valuable professional skills and knowledge to step up the activities of the partner companies.

Less plastic and food waste

In the second half of last year, the company phased out single-use plastic bags from all its store fruit and vegetable departments, and from August 2022 it only offers customers biodegradable bags, reducing the amount of plastic entering the commercial cycle by around 450 tonnes per year.

SPAR is also committed to cutting food waste: in partnership with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, it distributes food donations that are fit for consumption but no longer available in stores due to their expiry date to those in greatest need. Within the framework of this cooperation, more than 32,000 kg of food was delivered to the charity service from 11 stores between September and December 2022.

From November 2022, 21 test stores started working with the Munch food-saving app (a Hungarian development), offering low prices on close-to-expiry products, thus preventing food waste.

The trial period has demonstrated the success of the campaign: in its first two months, November and December, nearly 10,000 kg of food has been saved.

Some key results from 2022:

– SPAR Hungary’s total energy consumption decreased by more than 3 percent compared to 2021. The company has started installing solar panels.

– The organisation’s volume of generated waste decreased by more than 2,200 tonnes (6.4 percent) compared to 2021.

– SPAR continues to expand the number of collection points for used cooking oil. The company also provides a map-based online search tool for the collection of sorted waste.

– By phasing out single-use plastic bags, the chain’s customers use around 450 tonnes less plastic each year when buying fruit and vegetables. Additionally: from May last year, paper bags are used for bakery products. In addition to the above, such products can be bought in their own packaging, in reusable bags or without packaging.

– The retail chain is reducing its plastic use by 84 tonnes per year with new packaging materials used in the logistics department.

– By 2022, the SPAR Lifestyle programme added more than 1,500 health-conscious and “free from” products to the Hungarian chain’s range.

– 90 percent of employees participated in the 2022 employee satisfaction survey. The corporation spent around 8.6 billion HUF on salary increases. Training hours per employee increased by more than 20 percent in 2022.

– SPAR Hungary spent more than HUF 244 million on charitable causes in 2022.

– The “Joy to Give!” (Adni Öröm!) Christmas fundraising campaign – which SPAR organised for the 26th time in 2022 in cooperation with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service – made the holidays of 19,500 families more joyful. Through the cooperation with the charity, the customers helped 1,500 needy students start school with 58,000 school supply items and nearly HUF 2 million worth of donation cards.

– In the he “Paw in trouble!” (Mancs a bajban!) pet food collection campaign, volunteers collected more than 10,000 kilograms of dry dog food, nearly 2,000 kilograms of dry cat food, and 11,000 cans and pouches in stores last year.

In 2019, SPAR Hungary has organised its sustainability activities under the umbrella brand “SPAR – for a sustainable future”, and has made the objectives and results available to everyone on the www.sparafenntarthatojovoert.hu website.

Please find the full Sustainability Report at www.sparafenntarthatojovoert.hu/jelentes.

ALTEO will build a new solar power plant in Nógrád County, with its own investment and construction, following the approval of the Board of Directors. The development, worth more than EUR 17 million and capable of meeting the electricity needs of more than 10,000 households per year, will double the size of the company’s own solar power plant portfolio, which is listed in the premium category of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE).

Following the completion of the construction, which is expected to start in September, ALTEO’s 20 MWe solar power plant in Tereske, Nógrád County, is scheduled to start generating electricity in the second half of 2024. ALTEO acquired the solar power plant development project of Edelyn Solar Ltd. in 2022. In May 2023, the company informed investors that it had achieved a ready-to-build status, and now ALTEO’s board has approved the construction plans. The self-financed development will be able to produce 31 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 10,000 households.

“The project is also of particular importance from a sustainability point of view, as energy will be generated entirely from solar radiation, as opposed to fossil fuels, so there will be no emissions of pollutants, unlike other power plants, and no need for drinking water during the plant’s planned lifetime of 25-30 years” said Attila Chikán Jr., CEO of ALTEO. The reversible design of the plant also serves sustainability: at the end of its total lifecycle, the entire infrastructure can be removed and the land occupied can be reused for agriculture.

The investment will naturally be integrated into ALTEO’s Renewable Regulation Centre, launched in May, 2023. “We also plan to integrate the new solar power plant in Tereske into ALTEO’s Renewable Regulation Centre, which will allow it to consolidate several smaller stand-alone generation units into one large power plant in the electricity and system services market. This will optimise generation alongside other weather-dependent power generators” the CEO added.

Selena Group joins professional insulation market as a manufacturer of glass wool. Within the framework of a strategic collaboration, Selena Group will acquire a 50% stake in the glass wool manufacturing project in Hungarian town of Szerencs, which was jointly announced by the parties. Through the Hungarian-Polish cooperation, the companies will jointly establish the glass wool factory in Szerencs.

The establishment of the mineral-based thermal insulation manufacturing plant was previously initiated by Masterplast through the acquisition of PIMCO Ltd. In the ongoing production development project company, Selena will carry out a €10 million capital increase, acquiring a 50% ownership stake, and together with Masterplast they will continue the investment.

Sustainability aspects play a crucial role in the project. Glass wool, which belongs to the family of mineral-based thermal insulation materials, is highly applicable in both new construction and modernization projects aiming to enhance building energy efficiency. The market for mineral-based insulation materials is expanding in line with the increasing expectations related to energy consumption in buildings, and in previous years, supply chain operations were characterized by shortages and slower performance. One of the main raw materials for this product is waste glass, which is recycled during the manufacturing process, following the principles of circular economy. The plant will be equipped with environmentally friendly, modern electric furnace technology, partially supplied by renewable energy sources.

PIMCO Ltd. has a 4.3-hectare industrial site in Szerencs, Hungary, prepared for factory construction, supported by a non-refundable HIPA investment grant of HUF 5.645 billion, and an advanced investment project. The project company possesses the necessary construction and environmental permits, and the suppliers for the manufacturing technology have already been selected. The new plant, covering an area of 11,500 square meters and requiring a €47.5 million investment, will have an annual production capacity of approximately 19,000 tons of glass wool insulation material. It is planned to commence full-scale production in the first half of 2025. After the completion of the investment, management rights related to the joint venture will be exercised by Masterplast, and the performance of the company will be included in the consolidated results of the enterprise.

“We are very proud to collaborate with Selena Group, an internationally recognized professional manufacturing partner, in the implementation of the strategic mineral wool insulation development. This is a crucial step that provides an opportunity to exploit synergies between the companies and pursue further joint development. After the successful rock wool production, we can now establish both projects with professional partners,” said Tibor Dávid, President of Masterplast.

“The Pimco project will strengthen Polish-Hungarian business relations and is a part of our contribution toward sustainable buildings. I am glad that Selena can move this project forward together with Masterplast, which is one of the European leaders in insulation materials. For many years, our products have not only made the work of professional contractors easier and faster, but also helped make construction more sustainable,” said Krzysztof Domarecki, founder and main shareholder of Selena Group.

This spring the SPAR Supplier Academy got featured in the curriculum of the Budapest Metropolitan University. The students of the university got the chance to work on the real-life marketing issues of the participating SMEs of SPAR’s two popular supplier improvement programmes over the course of the last six months.

SPAR Hungary’s Supplier Academy has been supporting Hungarian food producers and enterprises for a long time and this year a new line of support has been added to their programmes. The suppliers who participate in the company’s Hungaricool and Regional Treasures programmes got the opportunity to receive marketing advice from the students of the Budapest Metropolitan University. The applicants got a chance to present the marketing challenges and issues their companies were facing. “Most of our suppliers that participate in our programmes find themselves in a very similar situation. They have to make some serious business decisions that will have an effect on the future of their enterprises and brands and therefore, they can really use some professional advisory,” said Attila Tollas, regional procurement team leader at SPAR Hungary who worked with full-time and part-time marketing students on the challenges of 16 different companies. As a result of the programme SPAR Hungary didn’t only help Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises to develop and progress but also provided students with a chance to improve their practical skills. The entrepreneurs were really glad to be able to involve young people with fresh eyes and different views in their decision-making process. The students enjoyed the joint work too, since they appreciate the importance of practical and real-life tasks as opposed to just theoretical learning.

“As part of the practice-orientated courses at METU we prepare our students for professional challenges and therefore they often work on different projects, some of which are mock projects and some with real companies involved during the semester,” explains Dr. Rita Lukács, head of the Institute of Marketing at Budapest Metropolitan University. She also added: “With their help the participants of the course got the chance to practise finding the solutions of real marketing challenges over the course of the semester. In these cases, their responsibility was much higher as opposed to working on mock case studies, because they helped building the marketing strategies of 16 real SMEs as part of their course a METU”.

SPAR Hungary announced a winning team amongst full-time and part-time students as well. The best project prize by full-time students was awarded to the one prepared for Virágbéke Méz Manufaktúra Kft. and the best presentation that got the highest score of the part-time groups was prepared for Funky Forest.

“I find the cooperation of SPAR and METU an outstanding opportunity as well as the option to get professional advice from students, so it was a no-brainer that I would apply,’ said the lead beekeeper of Virágbéke, Attila Gál whose enterprise is one of the participants of the Regional Treasures programme. “We are really pleased that the team working on our brand was announced to be the winner. We gained some really useful insights into the honey consumption preferences of the different age groups,” he added.

“As one of the winners of the Hungaricool product competition, we welcomed this new opportunity and were glad to provide the students with professional details. We were also very grateful to receive their invaluable suggestions and recommendations,” added Katalin Sarkadi, head of marketing at Funky Forest.

SPAR Hungary also gave out consolation prizes to the participating full-time and part-time students which means that there were altogether 20 students from METU to receive awards from SPAR.  The winning teams can be really proud of their achievements and were also invited to be featured on SPAR’s ‘I Love Hazai’ podcast.

For more than a quarter of a century, SPAR Hungary has been a strategic partner of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta and cooperates with the organisation in many areas to help disadvantaged fellow human beings. With a new joint initiative, since September 2022, they also regularly deliver daily food donations to those in greatest need.

SPAR joined the Munch food rescue app last year, which allows shoppers to rescue food that would otherwise end up in the bin. After a six-month trial period, from June this year, all SPAR and INTERSPAR stores offer shoppers the opportunity to access packages of products at up to 66 per cent off the price, depending on stock levels, using the Munch app. If the food products are not sold through Munch, good-quality goods will not be lost, because thanks to the cooperation with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, they will be given directly to the needy, the elderly, people battling illnesses and the homeless.

“Since September last year, we have distributed almost 174 tonnes of good-quality food to people in need through our food rescue programme, with the help of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service. The organisation currently has a permanent relationship with 27 SPAR and INTERSPAR stores. From these locations, an average of 150 crates of food donations each day, typically vegetables, fruit, bakery, meat and dairy products, are delivered to people in need,” explained Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary. He also added that in the coming weeks, three more stores across the country are expected to join the noble initiative.

While in the first month of the joint initiative, in September 2022, 423 kilogrammes of food was delivered to the needy, by March and April this year the amount had already increased to more than 30 000 kilograms, and with the addition of new stores, this number is expected to rise even further.

“Every weekday morning, a staff member from the logistics centre of the Maltese Charity on Határ Road visits the shops in Budapest, while our colleagues throughout the country do the same job. In Budapest, among other places, we deliver food to the 29 families of the Zugló Family Transition Home of the House of Inclusion, whose daily expenses are significantly reduced by regular food donations, and also to the Rimaszombati Road Social Centre, a shelter for homeless people that serves as a night shelter and daytime warming centre, where food is distributed to the residents and people in need who come in during the day. At the Zombori Road House of Care – Shelter for the Homeless, where elderly and sick homeless people are sheltered and there is also a disinfectant bathing station, the rescued food is used in a variety of ways: sandwiches are made for people who come to the baths, while the residents cook together. In rural communities, the food donation helps elderly people, families in difficult situations and homeless people with their daily needs,” said Tamás Romhányi, head of communications of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, with some examples of how food taken over from the Hungarian retail chain helps the needy.