What is dm doing to bring organic products into the mainstream?
We have made a general decision that the food we sell is always organic. That is why 95% of our products are organic. The remaining 5% are products such as water, where organic simply does not make sense. This means that when you reach for something on our shelves, you are reaching for organic. In addition, we always want to offer our customers the things they want. We want to inspire them every day – whether it's with new offers, with things that inspire them, that they can easily incorporate into their daily routines, and that they would like to try. To this end, we have a wealth of information, recipes, and suggestions, such as Veganuary. We want to draw attention to these products and show how they can be used. I can't say whether we are doing this in a completely different way compared to other retailers. But I notice that it gets a lot of feedback from our customers. We are very happy about that.
Most people are familiar with organic food. However, many are unclear about what exactly the term “natural cosmetics” means. Can dm provide some clarification in this area?
Our own brand, Alverde, is 100% NATRUE certified But many people don't realise what the difference is between natural cosmetics and green cosmetics. That has become very blurred. I believe that together with the certifiers, we can achieve a lot through clarifying what certified natural cosmetics actually are. We can communicate this more effectively on all our products—that's millions of products that end up in the hands of customers and then in their homes. We can communicate these benefits even better. We are already in discussions about this. I believe that regulations such as the Green Claims Regulation – in whatever form it may take – offer opportunities for natural cosmetics to once again make a difference.
What does the dm product range of the future look like?
We are retailers and naturally focus primarily on what our customers want. We see that trends such as health and healthy nutrition, natural cosmetics, and living in harmony with nature are very strong. That is why we continue to expect growth in these segments. When I look at our future product range, I see one that will delight our customers. The topics of healthy nutrition, natural beauty, and economic activity within the limits of our planet will play a very important role. We see our commercial responsibility in shaping this—but at the same time, this is also what our customers expect from us.
