K-stores and Kesko help customers promote health

Kesko’s 11th Corporate Responsibility Report has been published in a revised form. One of the five themes of the report is healthiness, which covers the K-Group’s food, building and home improvement, and sports stores’ operations aimed to help customers in health promotion by providing them with information and offer them health promoting products.

Kesko’s responsibility programme 2008-2012 sets several targets related to healthy lifestyles and responsible products. Kesko’s 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report covers the objectives, actions and results of the responsibility programme.

This year, the report is divided into three sections: the general section, the theme section and the GRI indicator section. The selected themes are impact on society, wellbeing at work, energy solutions, responsible purchasing and sales as well as healthiness.

Product Research develops new foodstuffs

Health aspects hold a prominent place in the product development of Pirkka products. The Pirkka range includes four cholesterol lowering Pirkka Reducol products. Since 2008, sugar, fat and salt have been reduced from the Pirkka products. By the end of 2010, we had reformulated a total of over 80 Pirkka products in this way.

The GDA (the Guideline Daily Amount) label has been added to all Pirkka products where appropriate.

’What are we having today?’

The Pirkka test kitchen has created cooking recipes for K-store customers for as long as 50 years. The pirkka.fi website provides a choice of some 4,000 recipes

On weekdays, the MTV3 television channel broadcasts the programme ’What are we having today?’ All of the 800 editions and their recipes are available at:
www.mitatanaansyotaisiin.fi and www.pirkka.fi.

Kesko Food’s Consumer Service received over 19,000 contacts in 2010. The feedback concerned product complaints, product inquiries, questions about cooking
and new ideas.

K-food stores highlight healthiness

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a wholesome diet. A K-supermarket
selection includes 60 different fruits and 140 vegetables and root crops on average.
K-supermarkets annually organise fruit campaigns in which they offer different fruits at one euro per kilo, pack, box or bag.

Tips and advice for wholesome diets are available from more than 420 K-Food Specialists in K-food stores.

Building and home improvement stores offer products which help promote customers’ health

Cello indoor paints, sold in the K-rauta and Rautia stores, carry both the M1 and the Allergy labels. The M1 classification granted by the Building Information Foundation RTS indicates that the product’s emissions into indoor air are low. The Allergy label tells that the range has been developed in cooperation with the Allergy and Asthma Federation. The Cello adhesive and the FXA light filler have also been granted the M1 label.

Physical activity generates health

Kesko promotes physically active lifestyles and wellbeing of children, families with children and youths in cooperation with the Young Finland Association. The Your Move Grand Event, taking place in Helsinki on 27 May-1 June 2011, is expected to attract nearly 50,000 youths from different parts of Finland to get moving and having fun.

According to Intersport’s ’Sport to the People’ concept, sport has something for everyone regardless of age. Intersport stores provide different physical activity services and events for their customers.

The Kunnossa.fi service, piloted at Intersport Jumbo, enables customers to have their fitness levels and body ages measured. Intersport stores arrange running clinics for their customers with a physical therapist present for advice in choosing running shoes. Intersport stores provide Footbalance analyses and corrective shoe inserts to help correct foot position, a treatment needed by many.

In its Corporate Responsibility Report, Kesko has followed the A+ application level of the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) guidelines and the report has been assured. The report has been published in Finnish and English in print and in PDF format which can be downloaded from: www.kesko.fi/responsibility. The report can be ordered at: www.kesko.fi/media.

Kesko (www.kesko.fi) is a retail specialist whose stores offer quality to the daily lives of consumers. Kesko has about 2,000 stores engaged in chain operations in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, and Belarus.