Community
Support
Our commitment to
local communities
We are committed to serving and supporting the local communities where we live and work. We want to make a difference for people who need help, by creating opportunities for them to improve their circumstances.
Our ambitions:
- We will continue our contributions to local partners in the fight against poverty
- We are committed to fighting hunger the best way we know, by providing bakery ingredients and baked goods to those in need
- We support our local communities in the best way we can, by staying close to our knowledge and resources as a bakery business
Why support local communities?
Put simply: because we are part of those communities. We need each other. Caring for the people around us creates a strong sense of purpose and helps us to know and understand our local community, strengthening our ties and maximizing our societal impact close to home
So, as part of our CSR Programme, we sponsor and support local initiatives aimed at reducing poverty or hunger. Through sponsorship and by offering our time, skills, and knowledge, we help create educational and job opportunities and protect local biodiversity and ecosystems
Check out our local commitments
Local Initiatives
While we are keenly aware of global needs and issues and support those as well, 70% of the CSR initiatives undertaken by our operating companies focus on local needs. Over the years we have developed close and productive relationships with local partners. To give just one example, consider the impact we've had in Brazil:
We donate part of the proceeds from the sale of Pão Amigo soft buns to an institute that cares for disabled people. This has enabled our partner to arrange for over 9,000 treatments during the past 7 years.
Through the “Pão do Povo da Rua” project, we support homeless people in São Paulo. So far, we have donated 2 tons of baking mixes, enough to bake over 150,000 loaves of bread and more than 180,000 cupcakes.
As part of the same project, we support the Massaria Social school with the knowledge and expertise to train students. This has already enabled 12 young homeless people to be trained as professional bakers.
Discover some local initiatives
Volunteer work
Volunteering contributes to a sense of purpose. It creates an unparalleled feeling of fulfillment. It strengthens our ties to the community and helps us to know and understand the people around us.
In Ukraine, we support the Perspectiva 21.3 project, which helps people with intellectual disabilities to lead full lives. A key part of the project is to create places where adolescents with mental disorders can work, participate in internships, and develop professional skills. Many other companies have since joined this Zeelandia-initiated project.
With the same partner, we have set up the Bake4Ukraine project, aimed at alleviating hunger among the most vulnerable people left behind in war-torn areas.
