11-03-2026 14:39    Vincent

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Carrefour Belgium and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners sign a sustainable partnership

When we talk about a sustainable partnership, of course we hope it will be long-term for both parties. But in the sense mentioned in the title of this post, CCEP and Carrefour Belgium have above all officially signed an agreement focused on sustainability. Recently, at the Carrefour store in Kraainem, I attended the official signing of a strategic agreement between Carrefour Belgium and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP). Beyond the symbolism, this meeting was an opportunity to concretely assess how climate ambitions translate into tangible actions, both in stores and in the relationship between supplier and retailer.

A clear framework: climate, health, biodiversity and engagement

At Carrefour, the sustainability strategy is based on four pillars: health, climate, biodiversity and engagement. The agreement signed in Kraainem is more specifically part of the climate pillar, with a focus on reducing indirect emissions — the famous scope 3 — which notably covers energy, transport and waste linked to products.

As the teams on site recalled, before asking their partners to make efforts, Carrefour first works on its own operations: reducing energy consumption, optimizing logistics, and continuous improvement certified notably by the ISO 50001 standard, which guarantees a structural decrease in energy consumption year after year.

As clearly stated by Pasccal Leglise from Carrefour: “What matters is to move forward. We don’t say everything is perfect. But every step in the right direction is useful progress. It is the process that must be evaluated.”

A partnership that goes beyond the commercial framework

With this Sustainable Linked Business Plan (a first in Belgium for Carrefour), sustainability is now anchored at the very heart of the commercial relationship.

The objective is clear: by 2030, Carrefour aims to reduce the indirect emissions of its products by 29% compared to 2019. After reaching out as early as 2023 to its 100 main suppliers to align with a trajectory compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, the retailer is taking a new step by integrating these ambitions into a structured and measurable business plan.

For CCEP, the goal is to find the right balance between commercial performance and environmental performance. “Reduce, reuse, recycle”: the three axes are well known, but here they become contractual.

For Geoffreoy Gersdorff from Carrefour : “We are signing something that goes beyond the annual contract, beyond negotiations and their joys and pains. We want to move forward together on sustainable and long-term programs.”

Concrete actions on packaging

Several initiatives were detailed:

• 1L returnable glass bottle: it will be gradually lightened in order to reduce its carbon footprint during production and transport.
• Stimulating reuse: testing a new cardboard pack that facilitates the purchase of six small returnable glass bottles, with less packaging and reduced weight.
• Cans: gradual increase of the share of recycled materials in the aluminium. Cans represent around 30% of the volumes sold by CCEP through Carrefour in Belgium.

From 2027 onwards, the share of recycled material will also increase in the return crates used for returnable bottles.

Local anchoring is another key lever: nearly 85% of Coca-Cola products consumed in Belgium are produced locally (Ghent, Antwerp, Chaudfontaine), which limits transport distances. For returnable glass bottles, the cycle is 100% Belgian, from filling to cleaning, with each bottle being reused up to 25 times.

In store: sustainability in practice

The visit to the Kraainem store made it possible to concretely illustrate these commitments. The teams showed how climate-related projects translate into the assortment and the organization of the store.

The Producteurs Locaux program, launched in 2012, is a strong example: more than 1,000 partner producers, a short-supply-chain logic (often without passing through the central platform), a strict charter with no derogation in negotiations, and a real willingness to place the retailer at the service of the producer. Today, these products represent around 1% penetration — still a modest figure, but significant on a national scale.

The same logic applies to the Filière Qualité Carrefour (FQC), which structures more sustainable supply chains in different categories (juices, bread, etc.), working on traceability, quality and the reduction of environmental impact.

Finally, initiatives around bulk and the reduction of packaging complete the approach: less packaging means both lower costs and a better carbon footprint.

A dynamic that is expected to expand

This Belgian-Belgian agreement is part of a broader framework: the Carrefour Group has signed a similar commitment with Coca-Cola at the global level. But here, the approach is adapted to the local context, with actions that can be monitored and progressively implemented.

Other suppliers will be encouraged to join this type of plan. But as was emphasized, this kind of collaboration cannot be decided “on the corner of a table”. It must be structured, measurable and embedded over time.

Between the lines, a clear message emerges: the transition will not be achieved through speeches alone, but through the ability of stakeholders to integrate sustainability into their economic models and their commercial relationships.

In Kraainem, Carrefour and CCEP wanted to demonstrate that a commercial partnership can become a real lever for climate reduction. It now remains to follow, year after year, the concrete translation of these commitments on the ground — and in the figures.