Participate in the development processes of all communities in which the company operates, either by direct intervention or through dialogue and cooperation with institutions.
Although Barilla provides people with products for everyday use that are inextricably linked
to their wellbeing, the biggest impact on the community is noted where its production
plants or offices are located. Barilla owns 25 production plants and 9 wheat grinding mills
across 10 countries. It also has 8 logistic facilities in Italy.
MUTUAL EFFECTS
Working in the local area, using resources and offering goods and services constitutes
being an integral part of the local community. We are well aware of the value that these
communities confer to the company every day. For the purpose of our first Sustainability
Report, we have decided to try and measure the impact that we have on them.
JOBS
To quantify the effect we must first consider the jobs created by our local presence. The
number of direct group employees in our production facilities, mills and distribution
activities was more than 7,450 in 2008. People involved indirectly in production amounted
to more than 750. The sales force in Italy consisted of 225 employees and 399 indirect sales agents across the whole country.
1,375 people work indirectly for us in the logistic sector. To put this data into context it is worth emphasizing that we are the largest company in the locations where we own facilities, which is due more to our impact on each local economy rather than the number of total employees.
PRODUCT DONATIONS
As a food manufacturer the easiest way for us to contribute to promoting local activities
is through product donations. Almost all of our production facilities donated part of their
production to support organizations or initiatives amounting to a total of 359 tons in 2008.
Part of these donations was managed by the headquarters in Parma. We provided support
through donations to the Feeding America (United States) and Banco Alimentare (Italy)
projects, totaling 334 and 1,414 tons of products respectively in 2008.
OTHER ACTIVITIES THAT SUPPORT LOCAL DEVELOPEMENT
If we want to earn the title of members of the community, it is fundamental that we
contribute to the development and growth of the communities in which we have a local
presence. We are aware however that each community has different and specific needs. Our
factories have a fair degree of autonomy in choosing the projects to promote in favor of
local communities.
These initiatives are chosen after listening to local needs. The majority of our factories supported, sponsored or financed a series of extremely varied activities (sports events, cultural and social initiatives, etc.) throughout 2008. In America we offer our employees the possibility to use one working day each year to support charity events organized by third party enterprises and organizations. All these initiatives have the same common theme: creating social value by supporting efforts that foster aggregation and solidarity.
HEALTH OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES
It has become common practice in Italy that each year on a rotation basis, one of our
production sites, located in different parts of the country, donates infrastructures or
medical-sanitary equipment to its local community. This is financed by a fund setup
jointly between Barilla and its employees.
In addition to this initiative, in 2008 the company decided, together with public and private enterprises in the area, to support the construction of the Children’s Hospital in Parma, a scientific and care centre of excellence. The total contribution will amount to approximately Euro 8 million over a five year period.
We wish to strengthen our commitment and support for the local community in future
and aim to represent for each of these a reference point where dialogue may take place
between companies, public authorities and civil society.
AN EXAMPLE OF COLLABORATION WITH THE TERRITORY
Barilla owns the largest bakery products production site in Europe located in Castiglione delle Stiviere (Mantova). It is cutting edge in terms of technology, product quality and professionalism. In the 90’s work commenced on construction of a quarry in the area surrounding the factory. The site remained unused for years until a company presented a plan to transform the site into a landfill. Following a series of heated discussions that saw local committees, environmental associations and enterprises taking a firm stance on the matter, the project was abandoned.
The project was totally incompatible from an environmental prospect. The landfill would have been built on land where the hydrogeological factors are extremely vulnerable. This would have risked contaminating a large expanse of groundwater in the province of Mantova. Despite these issues the project was resubmitted in 2008 but faced strong reaction from the local communities. This created a team effort between the local councils, farming and commercial associations, citizens committees, environmental associations and companies.
Barilla provided a significant contribution in scientific terms thanks to its team of environmental experts. The pool of public and private enterprises worked successfully to enforce new legislation regarding the location of landfills that is effective for the whole of the Province of Mantova. Regional Resolution 8/890 of 20/01/2009 prohibits landfills from being built at the old quarry site.