the minimum cut in on-the-ground carbon Heathrow has committed to by 2030, a target that reaches into its retail supply chain, not just its runways.

Airports are spending millions on eco store design. Product sourcing hasn't quite caught up yet.

This one's more observation than announcement. Store design and product buying still feel like two separate conversations in travel retail, even where sustainability sits high on both agendas individually. Worth sitting with for a moment, because the gap between them says something interesting about where the industry actually is right now.

This isn't a one-off, it's a pattern

Lagardère's Aelia Duty Free eco-store opened in Geneva back in 2022, sustainability embedded from the materials and furnishings through to the product offering itself. On its own, that's an interesting pilot. What makes it worth mentioning now is what's followed it. In 2025 Lagardère opened a 'Future is Local' concept store at Prague Airport, built from reclaimed wood and PET-bottle vinyl flooring by a local Czech firm, alongside a Discover London store at Gatwick built around local sourcing. Three years, three airports, the same principle each time. That's a genuine pattern, not a single green flagship kept around for the brochure.

Heathrow's own sustainability strategy, Connecting People and Planet, sets a formal Zero Waste Airport goal and, as of a refreshed waste reduction strategy published in December 2025, a renewed push behind it. Buried in the same strategy is a goal that matters more directly to us than the headline carbon numbers: a "thriving sustainable supply chain" commitment, aiming to get suppliers achieving gold standard against Heathrow's own Balanced Scorecard. That's a retailer's landlord setting an explicit bar for the supply side, not just the terminal fit-out.

Where the gap sits

Here's the tension, as I see it. Airport operators are investing real money in fixtures, lighting and biophilic design that genuinely lower a store's environmental footprint. But the products sitting on those fixtures haven't caught up at the same pace. Sustainable products get discussed, certainly, but they're not yet a default part of ranging decisions the way store design has quietly become. It's an honest gap, not a criticism of anyone, more a sign that this part of the industry is still working out where the priority sits.

No pitch this week, just an observation. If it resonates, or you're seeing something different from where you sit, I'd genuinely like to hear it, reply and let me know.

A bit more info, as always.

Adam

Commercial Director · Bitmore · adam@bitmore.co.uk