Before the Curtain Rises

By Karen Sharpes

Big events, such as sports events, conferences, exhibitions or festivals – which usually mean increased volumes of traffic in airports - are always an opportunity for making additional sales. That´s why these types of events are always highlighted by our teams, who then pull out all the stops to make sure the store, the stock and our staff members are ready to welcome the unusual number of customers when the date arrives.

The 26^th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), which was hosted in Glasgow, Scotland, between 31^st October and 12^th November – was one of those events. However, this one was particularly special – mainly because of the high level of media and public interest in the event, as well as the high profile attendees. As such, COP26 represented both a great showcase opportunity and a challenge for our colleagues running the store operations.

Over 100 world leaders, alongside thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens, travelled to Glasgow for the twelve days of talks; and many used Heathrow airport, Edinburgh airport and of course Glasgow airport to do so.  

With the heightened focus on climate issues at this time and many delegates passing through our stores in these locations in particular, we made sure everyone was fully prepared for any customer questions that might come our way.  

Store teams were therefore briefed well in advance and reminded of the various initiatives Dufry already has in place, as part of our efforts to make our business more sustainable. These included the following:

Green Points of Sale

Our Marketing team produced point of sale signage in the form of stickers, shelf risers and strut cards which highlighted key sustainable attributes of various products that we sell, including confectionery, beauty and selected liquor items. There were icons for each of six key categories and these were displayed alongside relevant products, to help our customers make informed choices about the products they were buying.

Carrier Bags and STEBs

An important topic to brief our staff on was the company policy when it comes to the reduction of plastic consumption, with a special focus on plastic bags, as there could well be questions from customers and delegates on this subject.

For some time now, we’ve been asking customers if they need a carrier bag rather than assuming they want one. Dufry has taken this a step further and since October 2020, the company has started the process of gradually replacing our plastic carrier bags with more environmentally friendly ones made of compostable and recyclable materials.

Plastic Security Tamper Evident Bags (STEBs) are an exception at the moment as these are required for certain airport purchases such as liquor or tobacco. However, Dufry is actively exploring recyclable or degradable alternatives which will still meet the specific aviation and airport requirements for STEBs.

Leading by example

Our business is committed, wherever possible to Reduce – Reuse – Recycle. Our local store teams are therefore responsible for ensuring that we Reduce the amount of paper we use for printing, Reuse whatever we can and Recycle all relevant materials and packaging wherever we operate.

Raising awareness on the UN SDGs

Dufry´s link with the United Nations started many year ago. However, the collaboration has been especially relevant since 2016, when both entities collaborated on several awareness campaigns linked to the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals.

The COP26 event was a great opportunity to yet again remind the world that we have specific objectives to achieve – structured under these 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – and that these objectives are not achievable without individual contributions.

To this extent, communication around these 17 SDGs was prominently displayed in our Glasgow store through pop up banners and screens, highlighting Dufry’s support of the UN Global Initiatives and that as a business, we’re committed to adopting sustainable practices wherever we can.

Charitable Initiatives

COP26 was very much focused on climate issues and how these can be addressed on a global level. Climate issues are just one important part of our global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy and whilst an isolated action might not mean much, as part of the broader approach that is defined by our ESG strategy, it has a higher value. For this reason, it was important to remind our staff of the several charitable initiatives Dufry supports as part of our corporate responsibility:

• Since 2016 World Duty Free has been one of the main commercial sponsors of The One Foundation, selling the charity’s bottled “One Water” and branded jute bags in all its UK stores. To date, funds generated via sales of these items have helped to fund installation of and improvements to water and sanitation systems in many low income regions across Africa.   
  
  
• Our very own Captain Dufry was prominently on display in both Glasgow and Edinburgh stores and 100% of the profit raised from the sale of these cute soft toys goes towards educational charities, including SOS Children’s Villages.