As a world-leader in kitchen appliances, our community investment activities focus on food – in cooperation with employees and local stakeholders.
Electrolux will inspire better food consumption among consumers and professionals, and shape living for the better for people in need in our local communities.
Feeding the world’s growing population sustainably is one of the greatest challenges of our time. 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.
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 focus our community support activities on the area of food.
Electrolux's approach to community support encourages local business units to set up projects together with employees and key partners, such as Worldchefs and AIESEC. Worldchefs organizes over 10 million chefs worldwide, and AIESEC is a global network of young leaders focusing on global issues and leadership development. Our approach strengthens our corporate culture and employee pride in working for a socially responsible employer - while promoting real impact in communities.
Action is facilitated through our Electrolux Food Foundation and our global partnership Feed the Planet.
The Electrolux Food Foundation supports and funds local and global Electrolux projects that tackle food related challenges. A Board of Directors reviews applications from the local project teams and decides on funding.
The Feed the Planet partnership, together with Worldchefs and AIESEC, supports projects with expertise, skills and resources. Local Electrolux project teams plan and implement the project together with local Worldchefs and AIESEC members.
Both initiatives aim to:
The Foundation and the Feed the Planet partnership support local projects that involve one or both of the following:
Ensuring all projects keep local community benefits in focus
Ensuring the needs and expectations of all three partnering organizations are met – Worldchefs, AIESEC and Electrolux
1 http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Factsheet_Summit.pdf - SDG 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 - SDG Goal 8
4 http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2456e/i2456e00.pdf
Electrolux will inspire better food consumption among consumers and professionals, and shape living for the better for people in need in our local communities.
| The roadmap to 2020 | Next steps |
|---|---|
|
Establish and implement a Group approach to community support. |
|
| Together with our global and local partners, explore possible project models, and replicate and scale up good projects, with the aim of maximizing societal impact. |
|
On track
Additional effort is required
Off track
Work has not yet begun
During 2017, the following ten projects were supported by funds and resources through the Electrolux Food Foundation and the Feed the Planet partnership:
|
Project |
Description |
Key achievements in 2017 |
|---|---|---|
|
Food Mission, Sweden |
Electrolux supports the Stockholm City Mission with a ‘social restaurant’ that uses surplus food, and professionally trains the long-term unemployed and recent immigrants. |
Refurbishment of the social restaurant and installation of donated Electrolux Professional appliances. The restaurant opened in October 2017. 5 people enrolled in the labor integration program in the restaurant. 20+ recipes developed based on surplus food. AIESEC volunteers created a documentary about food waste in Stockholm. |
|
Better Food, Brazil |
Training for underprivileged people (mostly single mothers) in a purpose-built kitchen at the Electrolux facility in Curitiba, to enable them to get a job in a professional kitchen. |
Building the educational kitchen at the Electrolux facility. 20 students enrolled for the ten-week program, with a curriculum developed by Worldchefs. 18 students graduated from the training in November 2017, and by January 2018, four of the graduates had been employed. Established a partnership with the Sodexo Stop Hunger Institute that supplies food for the course. |
|
#SeasonYourEx, Singapore |
This year’s food waste campaign encourages people to share what they do with expired or leftover food – with Electrolux funding the Food Bank Singapore’s van.
|
310,000 social media impressions and 3,800 number of shares/likes/comments in 2017. Chef Eric Low created 10 recipes that use some of the common leftover items in households.
20,000 SGD donated to the Food Bank. Information on food label misconceptions and suggestions for smarter grocery shopping are available on www.happyplate.sg. |
|
My Happy Plate, Malaysia |
Raising awareness among younger consumers about using leftover food, and providing food bundles for underprivileged families from public donations.
|
1,100 food bundles donated in 2017. Digital cookbook #CookForABetterFuture compiled and to be released early 2018.
One million social media impressions and 9,000 shares/likes/comments. |
|
OzHarvest, Australia |
Electrolux, in three-year partnership with OzHarvest, targets food that would otherwise be wasted to help feed people in need across the country.
|
All Electrolux sites in Australia were part of a food drive to raise donations (food and money) for Christmas. 15,000 meals, 200 kg of food, 300 000 AUD donated. Four Cooking for a Cause events and a Food Truck community event in Electrolux Australia.
|
|
Taste and Share, Poland |
Together with Worldchefs and a local food-sharing NGO, Electrolux is raising awareness about bad food consumption habits and encouraging food-sharing.
|
Held workshops for 1,500 participants, including Electrolux employees. Opened a food-sharing point in the Electrolux Kraków office with 700 employees. Launched a mobile food-sharing app and website (Taste&Share), resulting in 780 downloads in 2017. |
|
Cares Week, North America |
Electrolux Cares Week is a week of employee volunteering and giving back to our communities – particularly around tackling hunger. |
More than 8,400 employees participated USD 25,000 donated to organizations with a mission centered around hunger, more than 35,000 meals provided to individuals and families in need, and 11,000 non-perishable food items were collected and donated. |
|
Emergency Relief Program, Peru |
Electrolux employees teamed up with the Peruvian Association of Chefs, Cooks and Allies, and World Chefs Without Borders to provide food to victims of flooding in 2017. |
1,000 meals were served in Huarmey and 1,000 in Paita in June. Electrolux donated kitchen equipment to five popular restaurants in Huarmey that had lost their kitchens due to flooding. |
|
High-Capacity Mobile Emergency Relief Kitchen |
A high-capacity mobile kitchen equipped with professional kitchen appliances, for use in emergency situations such as natural disasters and refugee crises. |
World Chefs Without Borders and Electrolux collaborated to finalize the design of the kitchen. Emergency recipes developed by World Chefs Without Borders.
Development of the concept and reaching out to potential partners. |
|
Global Sustainability Curriculum |
Raises awareness of food and energy waste in the professional kitchen and food supply chain among professionals, together with Worldchefs.
|
In 2017, the curriculum has been used in South Africa, Costa Rica, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Canada, Italy and India. 225 students took part in this training in Costa Rica, Canada and South Africa.
|