"Sustainability is part of our business model and we have a mission to do good for all of us and the world around us. We are a united community of 12,000 colleagues, and today we demonstrate once again the power we have together: to build a cleaner, healthier environment and support the well-being of local communities. We are aware of our role and the impact we have on what we leave behind, which is why we are firmly committed to being an example of responsible and sustainable development with care for the environment, people, and communities. Together with the Viitor Plus Association and fellow volunteers from the team, we are planting 12,000 trees, a new forest for the benefit of the local community, the environment, and future generations," says Mircea Moga, Mega Image CEO.

The 12,000 saplings will be planted in the town of Crucea, in Constanța county, on a land that is most in need of afforestation, which will improve the quality of the soil, ensure clean air, and help biodiversity. The new forest will bring direct benefits to the local community and increase agricultural productivity by up to 50% over time.

The planting benefited from the support of Mega Image employees, who chose to get involved as volunteers within the internal "12 Good Deeds" program.

"The Adopt a Tree team is eager to increase, together with the Mega Image volunteers, the percentage of forest in a county that is more than deficient in this regard. We thank our partners for making possible the planting of this forest curtain of 12,000 saplings, and we wish that initiatives of this type will be replicated more and more often. The general context of climate change, through extreme weather phenomena and rising temperatures, but also illegal deforestation forces us to take action through actions like the one on Saturday, November 4, in Crucea, Constanța county," says Teia Ciulacu, President of Viitor Plus.

Planting takes place during the vegetative rest period and will take place until the end of the year.

In 2008, Viitor Plus started the afforestation program "Adopt a Tree" to make an important contribution to the growth and protection of forest areas in Romania and to support the crucial role that forests play in the life of the community.

Founded in 1995, Mega Image is one of the largest supermarket chains in Romania with a network that currently includes 969 stores in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Constanta, Ploiesti, Brasov, Oradea, Timișoara, Bacău, Sibiu and other cities in the country, under the Mega Image and Shop&Go brands. Mega Image is part of the Ahold Delhaize Group, an international retailer that currently operates on three continents.