foreword with Saskia Egas Reparaz (CEO) and Jurriaan Pouw (CFO)

better everyday life
in a better world

We are on the threshold of a special year: in 2026, HEMA will celebrate its centenary. Over the past four years, we have worked hard to bring to life our mission 'a better everyday life in a more beautiful world'. This fits perfectly with the conviction with which HEMA was founded 99 years ago: making quality affordable and accessible for everyone. The course we have set is becoming increasingly clear. And we are therefore proud to show the results in this sustainability report.

HEMA has tremendous resilience, always managing to adapt to changing times, challenges and expectations. In recent years, in addition to quality, an affordable price and Dutch design, we have added an essential value: sustainability. Because a better world starts with structural solutions. That is why we also think it is important that sustainable products are accessible to everyone and therefore affordable.

Taking responsibility for our impact is natural for us. The products we bring to market are not only made with the best possible care for people and the environment, they are also sustainable in use, because our products are getting better and better, so they last longer. We want to say goodbye to a throw-away society as much as possible. That is why we want products and the materials they are made of to have a new life after their first use. So we look critically at our supply chain: from design and raw materials to production and logistics.

longer life

We think the grow-along romper is typical HEMA, but we have developed many more products in recent years that we are proud of. For example, a duvet with filling made of 100% recycled fibres, soft second-chance towels made of 100% recycled cotton, a notebook you can refill, children's jackets with a pass-on label for the next child, folding crates made of 100% recycled plastic and our re-wrapping paper you can keep passing on. We are also proud of the all-new range of personal care products, 100% vegan, free of microplastics and refillable. We also sourced the cocoa for our chocolate letters in 2024 through Tony's Open Chain. This is how we ensure that cocoa farmers receive a living income for their beans.

For HEMA, social and environmental factors are just as important for healthy and future-proof operations as financial results. Our goal is to transform HEMA from "a company that does sustainable things" to "a sustainable company" in the coming years. This means that we not only develop sustainable products, but that sustainability is an integral part of our operations.

Our goals are ambitious and are about environment, people and organisation. In spite of the challenges of our times, we remain true to our ambitions. We want to be at the forefront of the transition to a more sustainable economy and respond to changes in laws and regulations. We're doing this step by step.

We always stress during our talks with (inter)national governments, that a level playing field for entrepreneurs is important. Not only for healthy operations but also for sustainable business. Sustainability is not just an obligation, it is an opportunity to innovate and raise standards. Not only are we taking steps in the right direction, we also want to raise the bar for the whole sector. With almost 100 years experience in making quality accessible, we believe that a truly sustainable business is not a distant vision of the future, but something we can build today. For everyone and for the world. That's what makes HEMA really HEMA.