Companies with Social Added Value
The Sustainability Mag has been on the lookout for companies with an increased social purpose. From soups to fight against social exclusion to environmentally friendly shoes, many companies decide to try their hand at the rules of "social business". Here are five game-changing initiatives!
Mouthwatering soups in the making
Launched in September 2018 in Brussels, enVie is a company from Belgium which mission is to reduce social exclusion and food waste by investing in people's potential and resources. By doing so, they have helped many individuals to get back to work after long-term unemployment. Using extra stock of fresh vegetables supplied by local producers, they are now very well trained to cook some delicious soups.
IN FIGURES
- In one year, 8 people have been trained
- 50.4 tons of vegetables not wasted
- More than 130 000 bottles of soup sold
A yogurt that gives you lions' strength!
A joint venture between the Danone group and Grameen Bank, Grameen Danone Foods aims to provide primary dairy products at affordable prices (€0.10) for the local Bangladeshi population. One child in two suffers from malnutrition in the country; therefore, the team has developed a yogurt enriched with vitamins and minerals, the Shokti +. A significant source of income for many inhabitants is also an income for inhabitants of the surrounding villages: small farmers sell their milk to the company, and women with few resources sell the yogurts in each household.
IN FIGURES
- 100,000 yogurt cups sold every day
- 300,000 beneficiaries
- 475 farmers living better thanks to the sale of their milk to Grameen Danone
- 250 micro-entrepreneurs women
Positive impact shoes
As a sneaker creator, Veja is committed to creating products that respect people and the environment. This commitment stretches from production to design and sale: use of natural materials from organic farming and agro-organic agriculture, fair trade supplies, integration, and even awareness-raising among other fashion actors. The founders' idea? "Make greener, more economically responsible sneakers by removing the advertising." A concept that works well, as Veja already proudly has proven it with excellent results.
IN FIGURES
- Operating in 50+ countries
- More than 2 million pairs sold
- 34 million euros turnover
The "Programme Malin" (Smart program)
According to a UNICEF report, one child in five lives below the poverty threshold in France. Yet child nutrition products represent a high cost for these families. Malin is a social and health innovation project aimed at improving the nutrition of children between 0 and 3 years old and their families in France. One of the specific features of this approach is to be able to connect the association's missions to the business of large companies in order to make adapted and quality products accessible in traditional consumer channels. For example, Malin and Blédina have co-developed a system of discount vouchers to make products adapted to children's specific diet accessible in supermarkets with discounts of 30 to 50%. A partnership closely linked to the strategic stakes of the partner companies. Benjamin Cavalli, Director of the Programme stresses the importance of the issue: "The 0-3 age group is a key period for building an individual's health DNA and food plays a key role in this. It is the duty of everyone, including large companies, to invest in this period, which is conducive to behavioural change, to make healthy, quality food accessible to all."
IN FIGURES
- Around 11,000 families enrolled in the program by the end of 2017
- Saving of €15-20 per month on their child food
Tech for good
The Vodafone Foundation supports projects of public interest and invests in the local communities in which it operates. Its scope of action? Health, education, and disaster relief technology. Vodafone provides schools in refugee camps with tablets having internet access so they can benefit from more educational content.
IN FIGURES
- More than 53 million euros invested each year
- 175 programs realised
- Presence in 75 countries
To be read also in the dossier "Social Business":