With the introduction of the new sustainability reporting model, S Group’s annual review was also renewed, as most sustainability‑related reporting has moved to the new statement. In addition, SOK’s corporate governance report has now been published as a separate release. Previously, it was part of the Group’s annual and sustainability review. The publications can be found on S Group’s website.

Determined work to develop services that benefit customers, sustainability and wellbeing at work

“Our long-term work to develop our services, as well as our strong investments in Finland, continued last year. This work was guided by our updated Group strategy, with a clear focus on increasing member value. In addition to ever more relevant multichannel services, we paid a record amount of monetary benefits to our co‑op members, well over half a billion euros,” says Hannu Krook, CEO of SOK.

S Group’s ambitious sustainability work and investments in developing work and workplace wellbeing continued in 2025.

“I am particularly proud that, in times like these, we employ so many young people in a wide range of roles, starting from their important first steps in working life. It is also great to see that the results of our work community surveys and our reputation as an employer remained strong. In terms of sustainability, the carbon negativity target for our own operations was met ahead of time, and we were the first Finnish retail sector operator whose new Net Zero 2050 climate targets were approved as science-based”, Hannu Krook sums up.

S Group aims to lead the way in sustainability in its business areas. The biggest impact comes from working together. Cooperation projects continued to be an important part of the retail group’s sustainability work in 2025.

“Last year, we expanded our Big Deal value chain partnership programme to cover not only climate, but also nature and human rights. I’m also proud of our collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä and Sitra. The tool and guide launched for calculating companies’ biodiversity footprints are freely available for all companies to use. In addition, we are involved in developing the nature value market through restoration projects,” says SOK’s Chief Sustainability Officer Nina Elomaa.

S Group chose to prepare a sustainability report that follows the EU’s ESRS standards as closely as possible, even though the legal requirement for the retail group will not take effect for a few more years.

“The use of sustainability data was refined in 2025, and targets aligned with EU sustainability reporting were integrated into S Group’s management. Reporting raises the requirements for the accuracy, availability, reporting and use of sustainability-related data across S Group,” Nina Elomaa explains.

Here are some of the actions and results from 2025 that we are proud of:

Wellbeing through cooperative activities

• Record-breaking EUR 558 million in Bonus and other cash benefits to co-op members. In the 2020s, around three billion euros in monetary benefits have already been paid to co‑op members.

• Nearly 112,000 people joined S Group’s cooperatives in 2025. Modern cooperative enterprise is also becoming increasingly appealing to younger age groups.

• Nearly 700 million euros in investments in Finland and in the development of services. Investments in the 2020s already total more than 4.3 billion euros.

• S Group’s tax footprint was nearly two billion euros. We supported children’s and young people’s hobby activities, sports, culture and social wellbeing with around EUR 6.1 million.

High level of job satisfaction among young people

• 18,000 young people gained important first experiences of working life with us through summer jobs and internships.

• Our employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) was +39, which is 19 points above the Finnish general benchmark. The score measures employees’ willingness to recommend us as an employer.

• The work community survey score remained at a high level and exceeded the Finnish general benchmark by 5.4 points. S Group companies once again achieved excellent results in the Finland’s Most Inspiring Workplaces ranking.

• In Universum’s ranking of Finland’s most attractive employers, respondents with higher education in business, as well as those with upper secondary education, ranked S Group as the second most ideal employer.

• Pioneering development work in common shift planning. The operating model increases employees’ wellbeing at work and opportunities to influence their work. In 2025, a total of 5,000 employees participated in the selection of their shifts.

Our pioneering sustainability actions in 2025

• Our new Net Zero 2050 climate targets were validated as science‑based (SBTi), making S Group the first company in Finland’s retail sector to receive such approval.

• We achieved carbon negativity in our own operations.

• We launched the Big Deal 2.0 partnership programme to address major shared sustainability challenges. The collaboration expanded from climate to nature and human rights.

• S Group, the University of Jyväskylä and Sitra published an open database and guide to help companies calculate and reduce their own biodiversity footprint.

• New pilot project on nature restoration was launched in Pielavesi, Finland. S Group aims to restore 500 hectares by 2035 through forest restoration and measures that reduce eutrophication in water bodies.