Updated: 20 May 2025
A101 is the grocery retail brand with the most stores in Türkiye. It currently has more than 13,000 stores in every province of Türkiye, nearly 60 regional directorates and more than 1,200 suppliers, making it one of the sector's largest brands. After a sustainability unit was established within A101 in 2021, the company published its first sustainability report in 2022.
Although its website currently has a sustainability section, we see that almost no content has been published. Previous reports were not included in the section; publishing only the 2023 sustainability report made it harder to track the process.
Our online research also led us to the 2022 sustainability report.
We examined both years' reports in detail. Here are the details that stood out to us:
First, neither report disclosed any data on the carbon footprint, water consumption, energy consumption or waste generated by A101's operations. As one of the supermarket chains with the greatest number of operational centres, A101's failure to share its impact on our future severely undermines its claim of transparency.
Some of the topics mentioned in the 2022 report on energy efficiency were as follows:
In addition, only a few figures were shared about the results of energy-saving improvement work carried out within A101 in 2022.
Although the 2023 report mentions various energy-efficiency initiatives, it provides no statistical data. The report says that A101, with more than 13,000 stores and over 60 regional directorates, achieved a 4% reduction in annual per-capita consumption against a 1% reduction target through various measures at its headquarters building alone. The report claims that improvement measures were taken to reduce energy consumption across all stores and warehouses, but does not describe those measures.
Neither report provides water-consumption figures. Most of the work was limited to the headquarters building. The reports mention one project to reduce water consumption in warehouses and stores, but provide no data on the project's progress. The report also says that the 1% reduction target for per-capita water consumption, covering headquarters alone, was exceeded with a 10% reduction. No data is provided on progress in reducing the water footprint outside the headquarters building. For the following year, the 1% per-capita water-consumption reduction target was renewed to cover only the headquarters building.
The 2022 report shared various numerical figures on waste management.
The 2023 report mentions various projects and initiatives, but provides no numerical data on their progress or effectiveness.
Overall, A101's establishment of a sustainability unit in 2021, the presence of a sustainability section on its website and its publication of sustainability reports—indicating an environmentally conscious approach—are noteworthy. However, the reports omit data on waste, energy and water consumption, and carbon footprint arising from A101's operations; use no concrete, measurable targets; set no follow-up targets; describe insufficient social-responsibility projects; and show no external audit. In light of these points, A101's sustainability commitments will remain weak unless supported by more comprehensive and detailed data. While discussing projects to reduce its environmental impacts is an important step, the lack of transparent information about how those projects are implemented and what they achieve creates a lack of trust. The reports also indicate that sustainability standards for the supply chain are not adequately audited and do not say which certifications are prioritised. Social-responsibility projects should evolve into an approach that reaches a broader audience and produces concrete, long-term outcomes. Given all these shortcomings, we believe that A101, one of Türkiye's largest brands in its field, needs to put its sustainability journey on a stronger footing and make more concrete contributions to society.