The second pillar of our strategy aims to ramp up and accelerate our sustainability impact.
At Sodexo, we firmly believe that food is one of the most powerful levers to reduce the environmental impact of human activities. As a global player, we have a responsibility to encourage production practices and eating habits that are healthy and respect the planet and communities. Our thousands of chefs worldwide play a pivotal role in this transition., serving as both creators of flavors and ambassadors of new, virtuous culinary practices. Training them, developing their expertise and valuing the role they play in offering more responsible food choices is central to what we do. What makes food particularly special is that it is deeply rooted in cultural identities. Incorporating this multicultural dimension is crucial for building inclusive and sustainable solutions. As such, the first International Sustainable Food Barometer, published by Sodexo in late 2023, provided valuable lessons to better understand obstacles to healthy, sustainable food and develop ways to overcome them. It strengthened our commitment to taking concrete action in delivering solutions tailored to our clients' needs. We embrace this challenge day after day with ambition and conviction.
Because reducing our carbon footprint across our value chain remains a top priority, this year we continued collaborating with our suppliers, teams and clients to optimize energy consumption, offer low-carbon meals and scale up our food waste prevention initiatives. Our waste reduction program, WasteWatch, enabled us to achieve an average waste reduction of -41%. Additionally, our carbon emissions are down by -2.5% (vs. 2023, absolute scopes 1, 2 and 3).
We have made significant progress in implementing our holistic approach to having a positive impact on people and the planet. For the second consecutive year, we achieved record-high performance in Health and Safety at work. The support we provide to our on- site employees, a key driver of employee attraction and retention, is also a high priority, as illustrated by the rollout of our global employee benefits program Vita, which will be effective in 60% of the countries in which we operate by the end of 2024. We are also advancing our efforts in terms of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, an area in which Sodexo has long excelled and continues to challenge itself to make further progress. For example, 41% of the company’s Senior Executives are women.
A key differentiator for our clients and a unique feature of the Group since it was created, our environmental, social and societal commitments make Sodexo an attractive employer for talents. These commitments also regularly earn us recognition from various institutions. As an example, in 2024 Sodexo was the only company in its sector included among the global leaders in the CDP Climate Change A list. We were also ranked among the 2024 "World's Most Ethical Companies®" by Ethisphere.
Our strategic pillars are underpinned by key growth levers. We are making progress in transforming our supply chain, with a disciplined approach to streamlining our catalog. We invested over 600 million euros in Fiscal 2024 in technology, digital initiatives and data to strengthen our direct relationship with consumers (demonstrated by a 25% annual increase in active users on our digital apps) and to embed artificial intelligence in our operations.
We are also expanding our centers of expertise and innovation to support growth across all our countries.
Thanks to all this progress, Sodexo has once again delivered a strong performance this year, reporting revenues of 23.8 billion euros, with organic revenue growth up +7.9%, and an operating margin of 4.7%, an increase of 40 basis points. Our commercial development achieved a significant milestone, reaching a record 1.9 billion euros and we are committed to achieving a client retention performance of 96% over the long term. We returned to our pre-Pluxee spin-off financial position, reducing our net debt and increasing our financial leverage, thereby demonstrating our business model's ability to generate liquidity.
None of these results would have been possible without the exceptional commitment of our teams around the world. I warmly thank all of Sodexo's 423,000 employees for their dedicated service spirit, team spirit and spirit of progress in a complex and demanding environment. Every day in every school, university, company, institution, hospital, stadium and hospitality venues where they work, our employees embody our values, share their passion and expertise, and strive to serve our consumers better.
We have made great progress over the past year. 2025 will be a pivotal year in which we will demonstrate our ability to fulfill the commitments made in 2022 and affirm our determination to transform Sodexo. Our new 2028 strategic plan will be a combination of continuity and acceleration.
I am confident that the solid foundations we have laid, coupled with our values and our commitment to innovation and sustainability, will empower us to seize the opportunities that lie ahead. These elements will shape the future chapters of Sodexo's history, which we will write by harnessing on the talents of tomorrow.
Thank you to our employees for their exceptional commitment, and to our clients, shareholders and partners for their trust and continued support.
