Our top challenge is to resolutely pivot toward a B2B4C model. To this end, we have been taking stakes in or acquiring firms such as Nourish in the U.S., Meican in China, FoodChéri in France, Fooditude in the UK, as well as entering global partnerships with major delivery players. By developing our value proposition Vital Spaces, designed to help our clients rethink the conditions and ways of working of their employees at a time when hybrid work models are becoming the norm, we are positioning ourselves as a key player in the work-space environment.
The pandemic has impacted our consumption habits. Supporting the users of our services every day involves getting to know them better and interacting more and more directly with them. Continuing to implement our digital transformation throughout our entire value chain is therefore another major goal for Sodexo. It is a prerequisite if we are to keep being innovative. It is what our clients expect, and it is essential for increasing the perceived value of our services.
Ensuring that the allocation of our resources is systematically oriented to the most promising markets, in line with our strategic choices, is another priority for Sodexo. Being selective is what will allow us to continue our development and grow profitably over time. This, in turn, is essential to being a fully responsible company, which has been a key part of our mission since the very beginning. It will also help us accelerate the implementation of our CSR roadmap, Better Tomorrow 2025.
But of course, our teams are the first of our priorities. The pandemic has only confirmed my belief that it is above all in the field, in contact with our clients and the 100 million individuals that we touch every day, where we reveal the true value of our services. Excellence in the management of our human resources is an essential condition for our success.
Of course, identifying the future CEO of Sodexo is one of the top priorities for our Board of Directors. But in no way is “transition” synonymous with “inertia”. We are beginning a new stage of Sodexo’s development. We are taking action straight away to increase our competitiveness and accelerate our transformation to secure solid, profitable and responsible growth over the long term.
Some of the countries where we operate offer major growth potential for Sodexo. In particular, we want to boost our growth in the United States, which represents 39% of our revenues and is our leading market.
We are also accelerating the transformation of our food models. There is growing demand for organic, local and plant-based options. Production methods are changing too: we have several projects underway in areas as fundamental as responsible purchasing, centralized production and logistics optimization. And we want to offer our guests an increasingly fluid and convenient experience in terms of ordering, payment and delivery.
We are determined to manage our portfolio of services and activities more actively. Our partnership with the French company Grandir, in which we agreed, this year, to combine our global childcare activities with the expertise of a recognized sector leader, is one example of this approach. We also want to give our Benefits & Rewards Services the means to achieve full potential.
Finally, we are committed to maintaining the agility and pragmatic approach that we harnessed throughout the pandemic. Achieving the right balance between global and local levels requires any company to make ongoing adjustments, and this is especially true for a company with activities and markets as diverse as ours. We need to give our teams in the field greater freedom of action. It is a must if we are to improve our organization’s effectiveness.
Sodexo is controlled by a family shareholding. This is a strength as it guarantees the Group’s independence and stability over the long term. It enables us to perpetuate our founding mission, amazingly forward-looking when it was created back in 1966 and still completely relevant today, to improve the quality of life of our employees and those we serve, and contribute to the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which we operate.
Our family ensures the continuity of this mission and the founding values of service spirit, team spirit and spirit of progress. These are the strong fundamentals upon which we have built the success of Sodexo. They are embodied by our teams who, each and every day, are the face of Sodexo for our clients and for the users of our services. This is because we are first and foremost a company of women and men, at the service of other women and men.
This mission and these values expressed by all of our teams are the solid foundation that we draw support from as we work to accelerate our transformation. They allow us to look to the future with confidence and determination.
