Avocado toasts are rarely served at the Souque family at home.
The daughters decided that, although they actually like to eat the berries.
But they learned that they use a lot of water in their production.
At the dining table at home, Lionel is reminded that pomegranate seeds and raspberries are only acceptable if they have not been transported home in plastic packaging.
Otherwise there will be a ruffle in the family.
Philipp Krohn
Editor in business, responsible for “People and Business”.
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“Issues that otherwise only play a role in my job are now a topic of conversation in the family at breakfast or dinner,” says Lionel Souque, who is the REWE Group's executive board chairman in his professional life.
That is why he has to develop strategies during his work on how one of the leading German supermarket chains can get away from plastic waste.
On the other hand, he has to justify himself to his daughters at home if he is not quick enough.
Youth increased the pressure by saying, “We want to know what your next steps are.
And fast! ”, Souque describes the expectations.
Like him, there are some managers who use their business models to advance or slow down sustainable development. Allianz boss Oliver Bäte explained the partial withdrawal of Europe's largest insurer from coal investments with discussions at home. In an interview some time ago he said about an encounter with Fridays for Future initiator Greta Thunberg: “Greta and I had a very interesting conversation that was similar to the one we had with my two children. They say, 'You think you'll always get through. But you have to heal the earth. "
Other leading managers have also referred to their dialogues with their own children in newspaper conversations. Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr told the Handelsblatt that he was discussing the role of the aviation industry with his children. But they understand the contribution air traffic makes to international relations. Michael Durach from the mustard manufacturer Develey saw in the shining eyes of his children the starting point for a sustainable transformation of his company. And father of three, Emmanuel Faber, who was Danone boss until March, told Spiegel about the climate protests: “This is a constant topic at home. My children are annoyed by the arrogance that young climate protectors are sometimes shown. "
For this article, the FAZ asked a dozen managers and associations whether they would like to talk about the domestic debates on sustainability and their conclusions. But apart from Rewe boss Lionel Souque and the family entrepreneur Lutz Goebel with his adult daughter Eva Valentina Kempf, nobody accepted the offer to talk to. Perhaps the family perspective was too private for them. Or do the managers use such interview questions to give their commitment to sustainability a little more emotion than there is in them?
This intergenerational dialogue on a topic that emotionally affects the younger generation more than the older remains an instructive insight into the minds of decision-makers.
“Not because my wife and I read particularly clever and educational books about it on the sofa in the evenings,” says Souque about where his daughters' priorities come from.
"But quite simply because it was and is a topic always and everywhere, from pre-school education to elementary school to secondary school."