Case study: How Dufry creates economic value for its stakeholders
With a history that goes back to its foundation in 1865, Dufry is a global travel retailer operating over 2,300 duty-free and duty-paid shops in airports, cruise lines, seaports, railway stations and downtown tourist areas. Dufry’s ESG strategy is supervised by the Board of Directors and ensures alignment of business and sustainability strategies, along with sustainable value creation for all its stakeholders.
This case study is based on the 2021 ESG Report by Dufry, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
As part of its corporate citizenship, Dufry contributes to the economic development of the economies in countries where it operates, generating long-term value for its stakeholders. Tweet This! In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Dufry took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for bondholders and lending banks
- create economic value for public authorities and communities
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Dufry has identified;
- How Dufry proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Dufry to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 ESG Report Dufry identified a range of material issues, such as corporate governance, customer satisfaction, talent management, cyber security and data protection. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Dufry.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process s of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Dufry engages with:
| Stakeholder Group |
| Employees |
| Suppliers |
| Investors |
| Airport authorities and landlords |
| Customers |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Dufry engaged with its stakeholders through its role in trade conferences and associations, one-on-one discussions and the ongoing dialogue with shareholders and other stakeholders and through regular customer surveys.
What actions were taken by Dufry to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 ESG Report Dufry reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In fiscal year 2021 Dufry paid CHF 635.4 million for employee remuneration, retirement benefits, social security payments and other personnel expenses.
- Creating economic value for bondholders and lending banks
- In fiscal year 2021 Dufry paid CHF 250.2 million in interest expenses as payments to its bondholders and lending banks.
- Creating economic value for public authorities and communities
- In fiscal year 2021 Dufry paid CHF 19.8 million in income taxes paid to public authorities and communities.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Dufry, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.dufry.com/en/sustainability/esg-report-2021
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