How Danone is promoting CSR, sustainability in Egypt?

23 / 05 / 2023

By Ahmed Abdel Qawi - - | Edited by Marwa Nassar

Danone is one of the most important companies giving a top priority to sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) since its launch in Egypt.

In an interview with CSR Egypt, General Secretary Director at Danone Egypt & Northeast Africa Ahmed Talaat said Danone has always sought to build partnerships to enhance its societal role, especially through several initiatives.

As for the company’s CSR efforts in 2023, he said the company collaborated with the Egyptian Food Bank in distributing one million yogurt cups in various governorates within the framework of offering iftar during the holy fasting month in Ramadan.

The company engaged in partnership with the Egyptian Food Bank to eliminate food waste in Egypt through Danone’s daily donation of its surplus yogurt products to the Egyptian Food Bank, in order to distribute them to poor people in schools and orphanages, as well as needy families. The donated products were used in preparing school meals for about 35,000 students, in addition to distributing the rest of the products to orphanages and nursing homes, which serve about 5,000 people, in the governorates of Cairo, Giza and Qaliobiya.

He noted that Danone has teamed up with local and international partners to support small farmers of soya beans to secure a sustainable solution for achieving self-sufficiency in local production of fodder. Under this partnership, over 2000 farmers in the Upper Egypt governorates of Beni Suef and Menya were trained within this context.

Talaat added that Danone launched in 2010 the Alban Baladna project – milk collecting centers project in Egypt – in addition to providing a variety of services to farmers. Over 8200 farmers, including 7,000 women, are registered in the project.

The Alban Baladna project – co-created with Danone Egypt and Care International with the support of the Danone Ecosystem Fund- has significant results, he said, referring to training women under the project to be community leaders and to secure access to education and services for all farmers (men and women alike). Community leaders are pivotal in this project as they share knowledge with local communities and recruit new farmers to benefit from the project. Under the project, farmers were trained to deploy best practices that increase milk yield and quality, generate increased revenue and limit their environmental impact.

In 2010, the company also launched the OMDA program – which was financed by the Danone Ecosystem Fund and Danone Egypt – with an aim to improve quality of life in rural Egyptian communities by providing access to a selection of healthy-focused products while creating jobs for micro-distributors and improving the income of small retailers. There are currently more than 310 OMDA projects distributing Danone products to around 21,000 retailers serving more than 3 million consumers.

The Omda program is currently contributing to almost 20 percent of the company’s sales, he said.

Talaat noted that the company trained more than 100 students from public and private universities nationwide in partnership with the Youth Leaders Foundation and the National Council of Women. The training is meant to help youths play a key role in society.

Asked about the company’s efforts to empower women, he said Danone Egypt has won the Gender Equality Diversity and Internal Standard – Sustainable Development Goal Award (GEEIS-SDG). This international award – organized by the Arborus Fund – positions gender equality as the driving force behind the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Meanwhile, he said Danone is the first food company to align with the objectives of the Global Methane Pledge in addition to having a comprehensive roadmap to cut carbon dioxide and methane emissions. So far, the company has reduced energy consumption of its Obour plant by more than 30% compared to 2020 in addition to cutting water consumption by 50% , he said.

He referred to the company’s development of several internal tools, including the “green track” which measures CO2 emissions in the plant in addition to another tool that measures greenhouse gas emissions at Nubaria farm.

Talaat highlighted that Danone Egypt aims to achieve a number of strategic goals going in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030, as well as Egypt’s Vision 2030, underlining the company’s commitment to positively affect people’s health, encouraging innovation, and promoting inclusive growth.

Danone Egypt seeks to realize success in business while realizing social progress, he expounded.

He added that recycling food waste is a top priority for the company in order to magnify the value of resources while curbing the negative impact on the environment.

Asked about new protocols to be signed by the company in the coming period, he said Danone always seeks to sign new protocols that contribute to achieving Danone’s sustainability goals and supporting Egypt’s goals 2030 which aim to realize sustainable and comprehensive development.

He noted that Danone Egypt seeks to improve the quality of life of the Egyptian citizens and their standards of living through its various products, he said, noting that the company partnered with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to entrench the concepts of nutrition, agricultural practices and food safety in Egypt.

This partnership was meant to support more sustainable food systems and improve the dietary pattern of consumers through the introduction of new products, he said, noting also that Danone Egypt has an R&D center for the company’s products.

Talaat added that the company is always working on developing its projects and cutting plastic waste generated from in its packaging.

Danone changes the cups from plastic to polyethylene, reducing the thickness of the plastic and recycling the packaging.

Meanwhile, he said Danone Egypt is the first company in Egypt to obtain B Corp TM Certification, which recognizes companies verified to be meeting the highest standards of social and environmental criteria and using their business as a force for good.

Danone aims to establish healthier and more sustainable food systems, in line with its vision to provide “Nutrition Solutions for a Healthier and Happier Egypt” which reflects a strong belief that the health of both people and the planet are interconnected, “One Planet. One Health.”

The company is currently considering relying on solar energy as part of the energy used to operate its plant, he noted.

As for the company’s role in confronting climate change, he said Danone Egypt supports the climate issue through pursuing sustainable solutions to reduce food waste and preserve the environment. The company takes into account environmental standards in the production process through measuring gas emissions from the production process and working on reducing them, he said.