Ito-Yokado conducts management that is mindful of all stakeholders in accordance with its Corporate Creed of “remaining a sincere company that earns the trust of our stakeholders.” In the Chinese superstore business, we formulated CSR initiative policies and evaluation indicators in accordance with Chinese government guidelines and publish CSR reports, and also actively promote CSR in day-to-day management.

Also, we established the Corporate Conduct Committee in 2021 to promote CSR in collaboration with Chengdu Ito-Yokado, Beijing Hua Tang Yokado Commercial, and Ito-Yokado (China) Investment Co., Ltd. under Ito-Yokado’s leadership.

In 2024, Chengdu Ito-Yokado’s Corporate Conduct Committee played a central role in sharing information on seven issues with Group companies through online and off-line communications. By collaborating with suppliers, we have actively promoted dialogue with customers and communicated our sustainability initiatives and values to both suppliers and customers.

The Corporate Conduct Committee focuses on ensuring rigorous corporate conduct in accordance with laws and regulations and fulfilling social responsibility of the company needed by society. We seek to achieve growth of our business in China as a whole by establishing an promotion structure centered on the committee, strengthening collaboration among various operating companies responsible for our China business, and enhancing the development of each employee.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado published its first CSR Report in July 2016 and has published a report each year since then. In preparing the report, the company refer to various indicators in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), SDGs, and ESG, with a comparison table on each included at the end of the report.

The CSR Reports are made available on the company’s website and printed copies are distributed to visitors to the company. The company also discloses the reports to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development and Reform Commission, and other governmental agencies through the China Federation of Industry and Economy.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado is committed to providing safe and secure products to its customers. Regarding food safety in particular, it has strengthened management systems from the perspectives of organizational structure, management, and education and is undertaking initiatives such as quality visualization and traceability management. The company also deployed consistent specialized food safety teams from the headquarters to individual stores and is working on safety management throughout the entire organization. As a result of these rigorous food safety management initiatives, there were no food safety incidents at any stores in 2024.

Hua Tang Yokado Commercial holds quality control training for employees in the food sales floor four times each year and strictly adheres to quality control standards. In addition, the company conducts regular inspections of facilities and equipment, sanitation management processes, and quality management system for employees, on the sales floor and backrooms. The sales floor and backroom are regularly sanitized at our own initiative, as part of efforts to provide customers with a safe and secure shopping environment.

Since 2013, Chengdu Ito-Yokado has established a food traceability system in cooperation with producers to disclose product information to customers. Chengdu Ito-Yokado independently developed "看得見的放心" and manages the quality of its products. 看得見的放心 has the same concept as "Traceable Fresh Food with Producers' Faces" sold in Japan with many customers endorsing these as safe and secure products.

In 2024, the "看得見的放心" product lineup was expanded to 251 SKUs,* and annual sales volume was 1,458,000 units, net sales were 26.43 million yuan (a year-on-year increase of 5%), and the gross profit margin reached 35.7%. In addition, 96 new product SKUs were developed, and the product renewal rate was 38.2%. These products were procured from 28 production sites located around the country including Wuchang, Dandon, Xinjiang, Guangyua, Shaanxi, Leibo, Shandong, Ningxia, Hainan, Anyue, Jianyang, Guangxi, Suining, and Yunnan.

* The smallest unit of inventory management.

In November 2022, Chengdu Ito-Yokado created a “Food Safety General Supervisors System” based on national regulations, and set management parameters for “daily management, weekly audits, and monthly schedules” at stores and the Administration Division. Through these initiatives, the company is strengthening its on-site management and inspection systems and clarifying the scope of responsibilities to appropriately manage food risks and prevent the occurrence of incidents.

In addition, in 2023, it established a management system involving food safety first supervisors, food safety superintendents, and food safety staff in stores, and has since May of that year performed special monthly food safety inspection and implemented training with invited specialists.

Since its foundation, Ito-Yokado has made “Customer First” one of the most important principles of conduct to be practiced by all employees. Providing customers with courteous and high-quality service with a humble attitude is the fundamental stance of Ito-Yokado employees.

Ito-Yokado emphasizes listening to customer feedback and has been holding Customer Dialogue Meetings since 1997. We later established a Customer Service Office and provide diverse communication channels, both online and off-line, including social media, telephone, customer dialogue meetings, and open store days. Through these channels, we gain an accurate understanding of customers’ opinions and work to resolve issues quickly.

In 2024, we collected 18,499 customer comments at stores (93.1% of the level in the previous year).

Ito-Yokado has supported youth education since opening its first store in China in 1997. In 2007, Chengdu Ito-Yokado marked the 10th anniversary of its foundation by donating 1 million yuan to support the enhancement of facilities at four local elementary schools. The schools were designated as Ito Youai Elementary Schools, and support has continued to the present. Also, the company established the Ito Benevolence Fund in collaboration with the Chengdu Next Generation Foundation in 2015 and has continuously made donations to support children in rural areas whose parents have gone to cities to work and outstanding university students since then.

In 2024, Chengdu Ito-Yokado donated 500,000 yuan to the Chengdu Next Generation Foundation, funding the 27th disbursement by the Sichuan University College of Foreign Languages and Cultures Japanese Department Scholarship Fund. The company has provided support to rural children left behind by their parents at Youai Elementary Schools for 17 consecutive years since 2007, carrying out public interest activities, such as free extracurricular education programs.

Ito-Yokado established the Chengdu Ito-Yokado volunteer team in June 2009 to make even greater contributions to local communities. The team is made up of employees with a passion for public welfare initiatives at each store and is dedicated to undertaking social contribution measures. The members act with a philosophy of helping others, serving society, spreading love, and contributing to the improvement of corporate culture.

In 2024, a total of 35 volunteers participated in activities 24 time with cumulative participation of 112 people and a total of 315 hours of volunteer work. Each member contributes to the community with enthusiasm, embodying Ito-Yokado’s Corporate Creed and commitment to social contribution through their actions.

Ito-Yokado in China has actively promoted local employees since the opening of their stores in the country in order to create stores that are rooted in the local community, and Chinese staff are still playing an active role in each store.

At Chengdu Ito-Yokado, the ratio of Chinese employees in management positions (excluding officers) is 98.75%, and the ratio of female staff members exceeds 70%. The company consistently works to establish a fair, diverse, and stable work environment that enables female members to fully demonstrate their abilities in their respective roles.

At Hua Tang Yokado Commercial, the ratio of Chinese employees in management positions has reached 98.7%, and the ratio of female managers is 25.7% (excluding officers). The manager of the Asian Games Village Store is a woman, and the company promotes employees based on ability without regard for gender.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado established the Chengdu Ito-Yokado Human Resource Development Center in March 2023 to identify and cultivate talent, promote and embed its corporate culture and principles, and create development teams with advanced specialized technical skills. The center pursues three stages of development: development of the company, the industry, and society. Through initiatives such as building foundations, in-house training, and cooperation with specialized institutions, it strives to create organizations that learn and achieve rewarding work environments.

Hua Tang Yokado Commercial is endeavoring to supply educational content relating to the corporate creed and management philosophy, on-site employee support, and customer service as well as to deliver top-quality products and services to customers. By commending staff (meaning not only regular employees but all store staff, including partner company employees, tenant employees, cleaners, and security guards) who receive words of praise from customers in plenary meetings, it seeks to elevate the feeling of togetherness and engagement among staff.

●Classroom Training

In 2024, Chengdu Ito-Yokado Specialized Training was conducted company-wide with the objectives of increasing understanding of the corporate culture, improving on-site customer service skills, and gaining and using industry knowledge. The training was conducted a total of 142 times with 7,098 employees participating.

In addition, managerial training has been conducted continuously since 2023 for outstanding young employees no older than 35 years who have high potential to provide skills development training. The training covers corporate culture, OMO business, DX system operation, risk analysis responses, and other topics. A total of 203 employees has participated in seven training sessions.

●Practical Training

Chengdu Ito-Yokado focuses on skill level-based training for employees in fresh food departments to strengthen the practical skills of on-site employees. By reinforcing human resource development in fresh food departments and standardizing work processes, the company is working to eliminate disparities in technical skills between stores while increasing employee productivity. Through these efforts, the company seeks to respond more appropriately to customer needs and improve “profit × quality × efficiency.”

In 2024, Chengdu Ito-Yokado reinforced standardization of operations by creating product specification sheets and conducted periodic intensive training and new product development with the cooperation of outside experts. It also conducted ongoing assessment of the skill levels of employees in fresh food departments, with 247 employees taking the exam and achieving a pass rate of 78%.

●Skill Enhancement Training

Skills training courses mainly for on-site employees on customer service skills, store operation, product display skills, digital technology, livestreaming skills, and other important industry topics were conducted a total of 41 times with 602 employees participating.

●Dementia Training

Chengdu Ito-Yokado conducted systematic training three times to raise understanding of the causes and symptoms of dementia and enable employees to respond appropriately during in-store operations to customers with dementia. As a result, employees are able to provide more professional and considerate services to individuals with dementia and their families.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado has espoused the environmental philosophy of “respect for nature, adaptation to nature, and protection of nature” since 2020 and has continued efforts for sorting waste, developing environmental infrastructure, and recycling waste as Chengdu’s first low-carbon scene creation project. In 2024, the company invested 240,000 yuan to renovate energy-efficient lighting fixtures and equipment. It also reduced food waste and general waste by more than 35% year-on-year, decreased single-use plastic by more than 2%, and cut annual carbon emissions by approximately 1,794 tons.

Hua Tang Yokado Commercial is making efforts to efficiently operate the air-conditioning system that manages store temperature. By adjusting operating times and target areas as necessary in response to weather and temperature changes, it reduces gas and electricity usage. In addition, facility administrators take detailed measurements of in-store temperature and, in response to temperature changes, the operating patterns of the air-conditioning equipment are optimized. Furthermore, Hua Tang Yokado Commercial is striving to curtail electricity usage. Among other things, it has introduced energy-saving lighting equipment at all sales floors and has reduced backroom lighting usage by 50%.

In the fiscal year ended February 28, 2025, the overall energy consumption (electricity, gas, and running water) of the entire store increased due to the increase in the number of restaurants and tenant stores accompanying store renovation. Going forward, with the cooperation of each tenant, efforts will be made to reduce energy usage in the entire store.