Be a force for good

By working together with the people around us, we want to make a difference for the better.

Our promise

Electrolux will make a positive difference in our local communities, focusing on important social needs.

The roadmap to 2020

• Establish and implement a Group approach to social investment, focusing on key strategic areas of need that fit with our business strategy.

The case for action

Through our global reach and local presence, we have the opportunity to make a positive difference, benefiting our local communities, our employees and our business.

During 2016, we developed and launched a new approach to social investment, founded on the conviction that if we focus our efforts throughout our global organization we can have a much greater positive impact. This works best where we see a natural fit between the needs of the local community and our operations. The world is facing enormous challenges when it comes to food. For example, 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year¹, 795 million people are undernourished², around 200 million are unemployed³, and 22% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the food sector⁴.

In other words, feeding the world’s growing population sustainably is one of the greatest challenges of our time. As a world-leader in kitchen appliances, we believe Electrolux has both a responsibility and an opportunity to positively contribute to issues related to cooking and food consumption. For this reason, we have decided to focus our social investment activities in the area of food. The objective is two-fold:

• Inspire better food consumption and cooking habits among consumers and professionals, by maximizing sustainable and healthy choices while contributing to a reduction of negative impacts.
• Support people in need – by putting better, more nutritious food on the table, providing advice on cooking on a tight budget, offering workplace education and supporting emergency relief efforts.

We want to achieve this by collaborating with Worldchefs, the world association of chefs’ societies, AIESEC, a global network of young leaders focusing on world issues and leadership development, as well as with local partners.

The approach

Our approach to social investment is locally owned and globally facilitated. The Feed the Planet partnership has a governing structure with partner organizations, including a Core Team and an Advisory Board. Local Electrolux project teams plan and implement the project in dialog with local Worldchefs and AIESEC members. The Core Team manages the day-to-day activities and contact with the local project teams. The Electrolux Food Foundation has a Board of Directors that reviews applications from the local project teams and makes decisions on funding.

A reporting system captures the key inputs and outcomes of the local projects.

¹ http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Factsheet_Summit.pdf, Goal 12 
² http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4646e/i4646e01.pdf 
³ http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Factsheet_Summit.pdf, Goal 8
⁴ http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf