Letter from Rosa Carabel 

It is increasingly more common for us to start our annual analysis by discussing uncertainty. Of course, there is no shortage of reasons to do so. The health crisis which led to an economic and social crisis and now, war in Europe, as well as the human tragedy that implies, have seen significant increases in the costs of energy and raw materials. All of that, combined with other factors, has seen economies grow slower than initial forecasts and has seen inflation reach levels not seen in decades. If we put the focus on the costs of food, we will be in agreement on the fact that we cannot remember a situation such as that we are managing at present. Despite this, I want to refrain from using this hackneyed phrase to focus on what has affected our management throughout the year and to use perhaps more appropriate terms to describe the way in which we have tackled such a complex situation as this: with responsibility and commitment.  

All the actions we have carried out this year have been geared towards helping, facilitating, mitigating and alleviating. These are terms that could be used indistinctly as synonyms for our sense of responsibility and our unbroken commitment to the consumer. This is evident in all the decisions that each and every one of us who make up this project have applied over the course of the year. In today’s environment, when companies in our sector are being unfairly questioned, here at EROSKI we want to make it clear that we have always been, remain and will remain on the side of the consumer. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we do not have the capacity to absorb in full the cost overruns we face. Let there be no doubt that we have made all efforts to implement all the measures possible to reduce the impact.  

Thanks to our firm conviction, we have managed to pass on savings to consumers through our particularly intense promotional activity and a fine-tuned monitoring, follow-up and adjustment of prices or our own lines. To be able to do that, we have taken key decisions. Firstly, we reduced our margins so as not to pass on the totality of cost increases to our customers and, as a result, we have fostered greater efficiency in all internal processes, from logistics and management of stores, to our platforms and head offices. We have all assumed the responsibility to identify savings opportunities to build an efficient and sustainable plan.   

These two decisions have resulted in an increase in the shopping basket that is below the national average.  

Our partnerships 

In September 2002 we celebrated the first anniversary of our partnership with EP Corporate Group in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. We are really satisfied with the results obtained that respond fully to the business objectives we had set for ourselves for both perimeters.  

One of those main objectives was the re-branding and commitment to Catalonia through the relaunch of the Caprabo brand under the slogan Benviguda la vida (Welcome Life). This campaign was the public face of a strategic plan for the expansion of the company, one that will continue over the coming years. We also sought to strengthen and consolidate our commitment to the Balearic Islands, where we are one of the established leaders, among other reasons because we have managed, better than anyone else, to combine a range of local products at very competitive prices. Another of our strategic alliances is the one that unites us with the González Iglesias Family in Vegalsa-EROSKI, with whom we will celebrate 25 years in 2023. 

Our difference 

The promotion of local products, sustainability and healthy eating remain a constant, despite the complexity we are generating. We firmly believe that these are reasons that set the difference. In 2022, we have strengthened our commitment to these values through the creation of the first marketplace of a distribution company in Spain for local producers, EROSKI Azoka, a space where our customers and small producers can meet. We have also renewed our agreement with the Basque Government for the development of the agri-food sector and with the transformation in Aragón to remain a key factor in the region.  

Our commitment to the producer extends to tools like the mentoring programme through which we help ensure small producers design their roadmap to making their processes sustainable and their products better quality, for the benefit of all parties, especially the consumers.  

On the other hand, we continue to place the focus on the food for children through our training programme on healthy eating habits which once again reached hundreds of schools and thousands of pupils.  

Once again this year, EROSKI’s social contribution, together with the different contributions of customers to the different causes proposed over these twelve months, have proven fundamental to understanding the impact of our organisation. 23 million euros were invested in solidarity and social action; supporting families and groups with special needs; consumer information and training and local culture, entertainment and the environment. We must not forget the global view of the contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by virtue of EROSKI’s sign-up to the Global Compact. 

Our difficult decisions  

2022 will remain in our memory as the year we reached an agreement with Grupo Iberostar for the transfer of 100% of the Viajes EROSKI business. This was a difficult decision but a responsible one with the aim of guaranteeing the future of the business and therefore the employment future of its people. We are deeply proud of what Viajes EROSKI has meant to the company. It was founded more than four decades ago with the ambition of offering a quality service at a time that was a boiling point for tourism as an industry. Now, this project will have its continuity in one of the leading sectors in the company. We would like to thank all the people who have been part of our history. 

People 

Without a doubt, our main asset is the people who make up this project and this year I would like to highlight the capacity to adapt and the flexibility our people have shown over the course of a difficult year that has required extraordinary effort from each and every one of the areas of the organization, platforms and our stores. It is necessary to appreciate and recognise the professionalism and mastery with which we have all managed a situation of constant change.  

Personally, it has been a special year for me. This is the first time I have had the honour of writing this letter as the leader of a business project that I am immensely proud of, one that is cooperative in its roots and soul and one that makes us do things the way we do. We want to transmit our values to society: equality, sustainability, solidarity and equitable distribution of wealth. We believe they are values we should aspire to as a society. We have a clear proposition to contribute to the sustainable development of society and its transformation. We are committed to being a trusted name for consumers and we want to evolve with them, offering responses and contributing solutions to their needs at each stage of their lives. This year, in 2023, we will remain on the side of consumers. With you more than ever.  

Rosa Carabel 

CEO of EROSKI