NETHERLANDS. Albert Heijn to deliver completely emission-free to customers and stores by 2030

First European retailer to make green electricity available to partners in the chain

Albert Heijn is opening the new charging station at the distribution centre in Pijnacker today. The supermarket has a total of 270 charging stations for 74 trucks and 250 delivery vans in the Netherlands, making it the largest electric vehicle fleet in the Netherlands as a retailer. Albert Heijn already drove 2.5 million kilometres electrically last year and will double this number in 2024. With this, the supermarket is well on its way to supplying all customers and stores in the Netherlands and Belgium emission-free by 2030. In addition, the supermarket is the first European retailer to make sustainably generated energy available to strategic partners. An important step towards achieving the target of a 45% CO2e reduction in scope 3 emissions.

“Making better food accessible together. For everyone.’, Albert Heijn’s mission, is our compass with which we want to make a meaningful contribution to a healthy, social and more sustainable society,” says Rob Heesen, Director of Business Development & Partnerships at Albert Heijn. “That is why we are working intensively with partners to significantly reduce CO2e emissions and solve challenges in the energy transition. With the climate goal of net zero by 2050 in the chain, from country to customer, we started this journey back in 2017 with our first electric truck.”

Largest electric vehicle fleet in the Netherlands

With the investment in the renovated charging station in Pijnacker, a third of the total supply from the distribution centre is now electric. In total, Albert Heijn now has 10 charging plazas for trucks and delivery vans spread across the Netherlands. This growth is necessary to sustainably supply all stores and customers by 2030. With 74 trucks now, 100 in 2024 and 180 in 2025 and more than 250 electric delivery vans, Albert Heijn is the largest electric carrier in the Netherlands as a retailer. For example, the supermarket currently supplies more than 200 stores and thousands of customers fully electric every week, and this number is increasing every day.

After the four major cities, Albert Heijn will now also supply Gouda, Leiden and Delft and all 32 stores in the environmental zone of Rotterdam. This is done from the distribution centre in Pijnacker. Home delivery in these regions is also carried out electrically. In the second half of 2024, another 10 cities will be added, namely Amersfoort, Assen, Nijmegen, Maastricht, Zwolle, Deventer, Tilburg, Dordrecht, Apeldoorn and Eindhoven. This puts the supermarket ahead of the Zero Emission legislation.

First European retailer to make sustainable energy accessible to the entire chain Since 2010, Albert Heijn has been (re)building its own stores into gas-free stores: 95% is now off gas.

From 2021, Albert Heijn will only use Dutch wind energy. In addition to all these initiatives, all Albert Heijn partners have switched to green electricity since 1 December 2023. This is a major step towards the ambition of a 45% CO2e reduction compared to 2018 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

Albert Heijn also invests in its own energy generation. This is partly due to the 50,000 solar panels on the roofs of distribution centres, Home Shop Centres and shops.

In order to achieve a complete CO2-free energy chain, energy consumption from new sustainable sources is necessary. To achieve this, Albert Heijn is working on initiatives to reduce emissions in its own operations and those of suppliers. That is why Albert Heijn will get a large part of its sustainable energy needs in the future from the most ecological wind farm in the North Sea, Ecowende.

The collaboration with Eneco for this was announced earlier. This partnership between Eneco and Albert Heijn is now being expanded so that Albert Heijn is the first European retailer to ensure that its partners, suppliers of fresh produce, have access to this sustainably generated energy from the Ecowende wind farm.