Transport & Mobility

Development of sustainable logistics solutions

Migros has been working with the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science & Technology (Empa) on a programme to expedite sustainable and innovative solutions for the transport of goods. The aim is to develop new vehicle drive concepts with lower CO2 emissions and a corresponding fleet strategy via the research and demonstration platform "move" in the coming years.

In 2018, Migros joined forces with other companies to establish an association to promote hydrogen mobility in Switzerland. The aim with the other founding members is to set up an extensive network of hydrogen filling stations by 2023, and to put 1'000 hydrogen fuel cell lorries on the road. The hydrogen is to be obtained exclusively from renewable energy sources.

As a founding member of the project Cargo Sous Terrain (CST), Migros is committed to creating new possibilities in the area of goods transport.

From road to rail

In 2018, SBB Cargo's goods wagons covered 13.8 million km in domestic freight traffic for the Migros Group. Overview of progress:

In Cooperative Retailing, Migros remains the number one for rail freight in terms of turnover. About half of all shipments between M-Industry companies and the national and regional Migros distribution centres are sent by rail. Rail freight in Cooperative Retailing increased by a total of 1'300 rail wagons or about 39'600 t in the reporting year in comparison with the previous year.

Migros also made progress in the area of international goods transport in 2018. For example, three suppliers from the Netherlands, Italy and Scotland now send their goods by rail instead of lorry to the Migros Distribution Centre in Suhr (MVS) – some 6'800 t per year in total. This corresponds to an annual reduction of about 215'000 truck kilometres or 170 t of CO2.

CO2 offsetting for air transport

Since 2018, Cooperative Retailing has offset the CO2 emissions caused by air freight with a new model in collaboration with myclimate. Under the internal pricing model, a relevant price must be paid into a Migros climate protection fund for each tonne of CO2 generated by air transport. This money is used to launch climate protection projects in Migros' supply chain. Linking emissions to a price will also affect future purchases.

Resource-friendly lorry transport

In 2018, 97.8% of kilometres driven were covered by low-emission lorries that meet the strict Euro 5 or 6 emission standards. This enabled carbon dioxide and fine dust emissions to be reduced even further. With clever planning, fuel-efficient driving and use of "biodiesel" (fuel made from waste and by-products), CO2 emissions are also being reduced continuously.

Migros invests in electromobility

Migros is committed to environmentally friendly private transport and is a proponent of electromobility. By the end of 2018, customers at 41 Migros branches were able to charge their e-cars for free at a total of 123 parking spaces. With certificates of origin, the electricity used for charging can be declared as green electricity.