Watsons Taiwan bags the Sustainability Initiative of the Year accolade at Retail Asia Awards 2023

From raising awareness about female lung cancer to promoting eco-friendly consumption and reducing carbon emissions, their impressive efforts are setting a new standard for sustainable retail practices.

Watsons Taiwan, the health and beauty retail chain, has been named the Sustainability Initiative of the Year award winner at Retail Asia Awards 2023, thanks to its impressive sustainable development plan. The awards programme is a prestigious annual event that gathers the region’s best retailers and recognises the most outstanding retail initiatives

Watsons Taiwan's sustainability efforts are part of the A.S. Watson Group's ongoing commitment to sustainable development goals. The company has developed the "Watsons Taiwan Sustainable Development Plan," which includes three core concepts - "Go Smile, Go Empower, Go Green" - that align with the group's brand proposition, "The New Beautiful." 

“We understand our responsibilities go beyond just being a health and beauty retailer. We are committed to inspiring behavioural changes and establishing a more sustainable and inclusive world,” it said.

It has established a series of sub-projects under each concept, carefully considering each one to ensure it conveys a clear message that can drive positive societal change.

Under the concept of "Go Smile," Watsons Taiwan is partnering with NGOs to raise awareness about female lung cancer in Taiwan and children with cleft lip or cleft palate globally. The company has invested nearly US$300,000 in the "Love Your Lungs" campaign over the past nine years, helping 500 low-income women undergo lung cancer screening and achieving government attention to include low-dose CT screening for the lungs in national health insurance. 

Additionally, Watsons Taiwan has taken action to support children with cleft lip or cleft palate by launching the "Give a Smile" campaign, which aims to provide medical treatment to those in need.

With the goal of empowering people, Watsons Taiwan has created a friendly working environment, implemented smart governance policies, and prioritised diversity and inclusion issues, standing with women and the LGBTQI+ community by launching activities in cooperation with suppliers. This commitment to empowerment has been named "Go Empower."

In terms of sustainability, Watsons Taiwan has taken a proactive approach to creating a better lifestyle for consumers and promoting sustainability under the "Go Green" initiative. The company encourages eco-friendly consumption and promotes cross-industry and cross-vendor cooperation to implement sustainable practices. 

The "GO GREEN" areas have been set up both online and in-store, reducing unnecessary packaging on own-brand products, and launching the "#BringYourOwnBag" campaign. Watsons Taiwan also introduced an "O+O coupons" function on its APP, organised annual beach cleaning activities, launched recycling programmes with suppliers, and designed a Health and Beauty Retail recycle knowledge page called "Recyclepedia." 

The beach cleaning activity has also been held continuously for seven years since 2016, and nearly seven tons of marine debris have been collected. Moreover, since switching to reusable energy in its stores in October 2022, Watsons Taiwan has already reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 11,757 kilograms and aims to achieve 10% reusable energy usage by 2025.