Glovo has appointed Zoe Giardino as its new Director of Impact and Sustainability. She is based at the company’s headquarters in Barcelona. Giardino will lead Glovo’s work across its technology, partner network, and urban footprint. Her team will support positive impact in 1,800 cities across 22 markets in Europe, Central Asia, and Africa.

Giardino brings more than a decade of experience in impact and sustainability. She previously worked at Ipsos and Mercado Libre. At Mercado Libre, she led impact strategy across Latin America, excluding Brazil. She also helped lead the issuance of a $400 million bond for environmental investment in 2021.

Leading Glovo’s impact strategy

Giardino joined Glovo in April 2021. In her new role, she will turn urban challenges into practical, technology-enabled solutions. These challenges include food insecurity, SME digitalization, and carbon reduction.

Three pillars: Grow, Give, and Green

Glovo built its strategy around three pillars: Grow, Give, and Green. The company aims to help its communities grow alongside the business.

• Give: Glovo Access provides free technology and logistics support in partnership with NGOs and local administrations. It fights hunger and helps deliver essentials. The program has delivered 26 million meals and helped avoid 10,000 tonnes of food waste across 22 countries.
• Grow: Glovo Local helps small businesses sell, manage, and grow online. More than 11,000 SMEs have received direct support. They achieved an average online sales increase of more than 20%.

Glovo also supports riders through its Glovo+ loyalty program. The program offers fair and transparent earnings, safety gear, road-safety training, financial support, and other benefits. Online courses and in-person training help riders build financial literacy and adapt to new opportunities.

Glovos climate commitments

Glovo aligns with Delivery Hero’s climate targets. The Science Based Targets initiative validated those targets in 2024. The goals call for a 50.4% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. They also call for a 58.1% reduction in Scope 3 emissions intensity per million euros of gross profit. The company uses 2022 as its base year.

Giardino will help Glovo move toward cleaner logistics. The plan includes more non-combustion vehicles and electric vehicles. It also includes better route optimization, more renewable energy, and sustainable packaging.

Glovo is already advancing decarbonization projects. In Uganda, more than 25% of riders use electric vehicles through a collaboration with Zembo. In Italy, electric vehicles deliver 45% of Glovo orders. Optimized routes handle 20% of orders. Half of Glovo facilities use clean energy. Partners have received more than 20.4 million units of recyclable packaging.

Investing in community impact

Giardino will oversee the continued growth of the Impact Fund. The fund reinvests a small part of every customer order into projects in Glovo communities. Since 2021, Glovo has invested more than €8 million in impact and sustainability projects.

Leadership perspectives

Glovo co-founder Sacha Michaud says:

“Glovo has a significant social and economic impact across the more than 1,800 cities where we operate. Driving positive impact for our communities, couriers and SME partners is part of our DNA and a core responsibility of a modern company. Since she joined, Zoe has demonstrated an ability to successfully develop and implement strategies and programs, embedding positive impact in Glovo’s core business. We’re pleased she’s at the helm of this key vertical and look forward to seeing the results of her and her team’s work.”

Zoe adds:

“My focus has always been on working with businesses to help them deliver improvements and progress in order for impact and sustainability to be integrated in the core of their strategy. Glovo’s technology, partners, and urban presence put us in a unique position to help build more connected, fairer, and lower-emission cities. I feel a great sense of responsibility in spearheading our overall Impact efforts. We as a team are driven to make a great deal of difference in the years ahead, anchored in all the great work done so far.”

Experience for an urban future

Giardino holds a degree in business economics and a master’s in urban economy from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. Her experience with urban environments supports Glovo’s work in roughly 1,800 cities worldwide.

For more information about Glovo’s impact and sustainability commitments, read the latest Impact Report.