Lotte Duty Free Inks Pact with Shared Growth Committee
Lotte Duty Free has signed a business agreement with the Shared Growth Committee for the 2023 Supplier ESG Support Project that helps small and medium-sized partner suppliers.
As part of the agreement, Lotte Duty Free will contribute KRW50m (US$37000) in cooperation funds and select customised indicators for each company in accordance with the ESG standard guidelines for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The SMEs will be supported with ESG education to help them practice ESG management. The travel retailer has also implemented online training for all partners to complete.
Following completion of the consulting process, companies with ESG compliance will be issued a ‘ Certificate of ESG Excellent SMEs’. Suppliers who have obtained certification will be provided with incentives such as bank interest rate preferential treatment, export support service benefits, environment and energy consulting, and technical support from the Korea Institute of Energy Technology.
Lotte Duty Free has been holding an ‘Open Small Business Consultation Day’ once a month since April for local brands wishing to enter the online and offline channels, and a ‘win-win’ academy programme is also being conducted for employees of partner companies and brand promotion employees. In addition, the company has created a win-win fund worth KRW50bn with IBK Industrial Bank to support loan interest rates.
Lotte Duty Free CEO Kim Joo-nam said: “We are pleased to participate in the Shared Growth Committee project for small and medium-sized suppliers,” adding, “Lotte Duty Free will continue to carry out various activities to strengthen the competitiveness of its partners, and furthermore, we will strive to establish the ESG management foundation in the entire duty-free industry.”
Meanwhile, in 2021, Lotte Duty Free established the ESG Value Pursuit Committee, declaring its ESG management vision of becoming the “Most Loved Travel Partner.” Based on this, the company is striving to reduce carbon emissions by installing solar power generation facilities at logistics centres located in Yeongjong-do, Incheon, and replacing bonded transportation vehicles transporting duty-free goods with electric vehicles.
In addition, the company is reducing disposable items by replacing inflatable air caps with tarpaulin bag packaging materials and replacing exchange vouchers issued when purchasing duty-free shops with smart receipts.
Source: DFNI Frontier
