From our Chairmen

All companies are under pressure to make meaningful contributions to a more sustainable society, aiming for a more positive economy; they are challenged to examine their impact on environmental and social resources.

We are ultimately responsible for the tone at the top which will cascade down to every level of the company and for overseeing the implementation of our company’s long and short-term strategic plans; these play a crucial role in fostering an environment that will support the embedding of sustainability into the strategies of the companies, for which we are the moral compass.

Our voice, attitude and decisions must signal a willingness to our companies’ management toward elevating social justice, creating business value and meeting regulatory & environmental responsibilities. We encourage and push our companies to set sustainability objectives that are in line with what makes the most sense for our businesses.

The Denis family has embraced the journey toward sustainability as this was both a natural transition and adaptation of the Group’s historical values to the world of today. We remain convinced that we all have a duty to do our part in search of positive impacts to protect our planet and be proud to be able to pass it on to future generations.

For our 160th anniversary in 2022, we decided to change our corporate identity, which now includes our main ESG objectives in our logo and in our external communication. This demonstrates a frm commitment to our long-term strategic plans, such as achieving carbon neutrality by 2040 and using only recyclable packaging in our factories by 2030.

Experience of the long term for a company like ours and of this age allows us to be credible in our choice of objectives and to have the ability to achieve them.

For family shareholders, sustainability could ultimately be defned as the greatest desire to leave the most appropriate legacy for future generations :

- a successful Group that our employees are proud to work for in a safe environment and that shares our values

- trusted, high quality and innovative brands that our customers are proud to buy from generation to generation, and

- a sustainable Group with over 160 years of history and experience that we are proud to own and pass on to future generations.

The 5th generation descendants of founder Etienne Denis are indeed very proud to sign this sixth ESG report. We would like to take this opportunity to thank once again each and every employee and partner for their tremendous efforts, support and creativity in continuing with us to make this sustainability journey possible. The recognition of our efforts proves the importance of this journey and motivates us all the more to go the extra mile.