Kesko encourages local purchases

KESKO CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE 05.05.2010 AT 10.00 1(2)

Kesko's tenth Corporate Responsibility Report has been published. The report presents the objectives, actions and performance of Kesko's responsibility programme for 2008-2012. Kesko has followed the A+ application level of the GRI guidelines and the assurance has been provided for the report by an independent party.

More than 70% of Kesko's purchases from suppliers operating in Finland

The Kesko Group's purchases of goods totalled €6,951 million, of which purchases from suppliers operating in Finland accounted for €4,912 million.

Kesko actively increases the amount of local purchases and encourages K-retailers to purchase locally. In 2009, K-retailers' direct purchases from regions totalled €525 million. In Southern Karelia, Kainuu and Lapland, K-retailers' direct purchases exceeded Kesko's purchases.

At the end of 2009, there were 1,826 Pirkka products. Whenever possible, Kesko has Pirkka products manufactured in Finland. For example, all Pirkka milk and Pirkka soft drinks are made in Finland.

Number of organic and Fairtrade products, and products with environmental labelling increased

At the end of 2009, Kesko Food had some 850 organic products and products with environmental labelling in its selection, of which 41 were Pirkka Organic products and 73 Pirkka products with the Swan label. Anttila and Kodin Ykkönen have some 220 products with environmental labelling in their selections.

The number of Fairtrade products offered by Kesko Food grew by 25% and in the Pirkka product range by 43%. At the end of 2009, there were 150 Fairtrade products, of which 28 were Pirkka products. New arrivals to the Pirkka range included Fairtrade oranges, cocoa drink powder, dark chocolate and loose tea. In 2009, a total of 1.2 million bunches of ten Pirkka Fairtrade roses were sold.

Responsibility for personnel also covers suppliers' factory employees

The main purpose of the work and productivity programme is to improve employees' work productivity, competence, wellbeing and leadership.

The time used for training per Kesko employee increased in Finland in 2009. Over 17,000 students participated in the Master Sales Assistant training.

Kesko and K-stores have long-term projects underway to promote wellbeing at work. More than 1,000 K-retailers have already participated in the fitness training programme that aims to support their wellbeing.

Clear progress was made in monitoring the social quality of Kesko's purchasing chain in 2009. The number of suppliers included in the BSCI audit process tripled. Kesko's own monitoring team in China made 161 factory visits to the premises of 50 suppliers.

The products sold by Kesko Food generated more than €210,000 in Fairtrade premium for social development projects.

Actions to curb climate change continued

Curbing the climate change resulting from energy consumption is one of the key targets of Kesko's environmental work. Owing to carbon-free electricity, the total carbon dioxide emissions from electricity used in the K-Group properties decreased by 59% in Finland last year.

The objectives of Kesko's responsibility programme for 2008-2012 include increasing recovery and material efficiency. In 2009, a total of 28.5 million PET bottles were collected for raw material recycling, which was 58% more than in the previous year. At the end of the year, there were 624 K-environmental stores, 114 more than the year before.

Kesko has established its position in comparisons measuring responsibility

Kesko is included in the Dow Jones DJSI World and DJSI STOXX and the FTSE4Good Global and FTSE5Good Europe indexes. Kesko was placed 33rd on 'The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations' list published by World Economic Forum. In the Sustainability Yearbook 2010 published by SAM Group, Kesko qualified in the Silver Class in the food and drug retail sector and was also recognised as the qualification 'Sector Mover'.

Kesko's Corporate Responsibility Report for 2009 has been published in Finnish and English in print and as pdf versions at www.kesko.fi/responsibility. The report can be ordered at www.kesko.fi/media.

Further information:
Paavo Moilanen, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Responsibility, Kesko Corporation, tel. +358 1053 22764
Helena Frilander, Corporate Responsibility Advisor, Kesko Corporation, tel. +358 1053 23143

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.