Buying close to home

We are also committed to working with local and Women and Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE) business owners to help grow their businesses and give them access to wider markets. These initiatives also enable us to differentiate our companies by providing products that are attractive to our increasingly diverse customer base and those interested in supporting local producers.

Supplier diversity

We have organized several supplier diversity programs, particularly in the United States. Ahold USA's Supplier Diversity Development Program/Regional and Small Business Initiative department is dedicated to promoting an all-inclusive business environment, which is beneficial to our company and our suppliers and their communities.

The program assists regional, small, minority-, and womenowned businesses to develop innovative, low cost, efficient solutions that drive mutual growth. Through it, we develop partnerships with these suppliers that support them in gaining access to a wider market and joining the group of world-class suppliers serving our customers. Supporting such businesses in turn helps improve the economic health of the communities we serve and benefits our customers, particularly in multicultural communities, by bringing them products that they might not otherwise see on store shelves.

In 2007, Ahold USA demonstrated its commitment to supplier diversity by bringing on board 16 new vendors, divided equally between Giant-Carlisle and Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover. Giant-Carlisle alone has brought in 40 new WMBE vendors in the past three years. Ahold USA spent approximately €90 million on goods and services from minority- and womenowned businesses in 2007.

Supporting small, minority-, and women-owned businesses helps improve the economic health of the communities we serve and benefits our customers.

As part of its commitment to supplier diversity, in 2007 Giant-Carlisle held its first Supplier Diversity/Regional and Small Business trade show designed to strengthen the connection between agricultural, minority and retail industries. More than 50 members of the PA (Pennsylvania) Preferred program had the opportunity to market their products at this trade show. (For more information on this program see "Local buying"). Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover organized and hosted four supplier diversity Not-for-Resale vendor fairs in 2007, targeting purchases ranging from construction services to shopping cart maintenance. More than 100 WMBEs participated. The largest contract awarded to a minority- or women-owned enterprise in the Not-for-Resale category in 2007 was in excess of €18 million.

Local buying

Extending the range of our supplier diversity initiatives are "buy local" programs that support the economic development of many of our local communities by giving small businesses access to a wider market for their goods. Both in the United States and in Europe, our stores' connection to the local community is often reinforced by having locally produced fresh and specialty foods included in their offerings.

Giant-Carlisle's support of the PA Preferred Program - designed to identify locally sourced Pennsylvania products and educate consumers on where to find them - has been recognized for giving opportunities to hundreds of small companies across its market area and the state.

ICA and Albert Heijn have initiatives that not only give local suppliers a more significant presence in stores, but also bring a wider range of choice to customers. For example, ICA launched the "Local Tastes" project in 2007. During the year, the company met with a series of small local suppliers and worked with them to help find opportunities to grow their businesses.