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Lavazza & Save the Children partner to provide job skills to marginalised youth
Conducts coffee training to youth from Kolkata
The multi-year partnership between the Turin, Italy based company and the international organisation has given rise, in the heart of India, to the project “New Horizons: Empowering adolescents and youths in slums of urban Kolkata”, aimed at giving new perspectives to a community in one of the poorest districts of the Indian metropolis
Chennai/Kolkata, India (November 7th, 2017) – Lavazza, Italy’s leading coffee roaster continues to build on its partnership with Save the Children through the initiative “New Horizons: Empowering adolescents and youths in slums of urban Kolkata” aimed at combating social and economic marginalization and providing a better future to the youngsters from impoverished background in the city of Kolkata. This pilot project has stemmed from the strong relationship with the NGO and represents the first time that the Turin-based company has taken direct action in India.
The initiative – which was made possible also thanks to a contribution of coffee machines used for the training by WEGA[1] – took place between October 30th and November 4th in Kolkata. Lavazza and Save the Children aspire to offer the marginalized adolescents a new outlook on life. The goal is to aid children coming from situations of abuse and exploitation and help them enter the labor market through training for jobs suited to the restaurant and hotel sector.
The NGO selected 15 disadvantaged youngsters between 18 and 30 years of age to be offered training courses run by a Lavazza trainer from the Turin Training Center and then to receive advice from local professionals, as part of a process designed to introduce them to labor market.
“This initiative is further confirmation of Lavazza’s commitment to protecting children’s rights by offering young people new opportunities, for a future that lives up to their aspirations,” commented Mario Cerutti, Chief Institutional Relations & Sustainability Officer, Lavazza Group. “We are more than proud of our long partnership with Save the Children, since it lets us promote and support initiatives that truly improve the conditions of communities in the most disadvantaged areas of the country and offer them tools to build their own future. Coffee is our mission and we see an extraordinary opportunity in being able to share all of our expertise in this area, while also concretely laying the foundation to improve the lives of the young people who will participate in the project.”
“For many years now, Lavazza has been at Save the Children’s side supporting initiatives that help the most vulnerable children, but this project in particular is the most significant to-date. For a young person who is forced to live in extreme marginal conditions, engaging in a professional skills course such as this one provides an opportunity that truly makes the difference and can dramatically improve lives. In this sense, Lavazza for us is a private partner who not only has the vision of helping others, not only with financial resources but also by sharing their professional skills and competences, helping to build projects with a real sustainable impact,” says Valerio Neri, CEO of Save the Children Italy.
Social sustainability has always been one of the values that have guided Lavazza in all its activities in the countries throughout the world where the company operates. First through its non-profit Giuseppe and Pericle Lavazza Foundation and then directly, since 2001 Lavazza has been working alongside and supporting Save the Children through a number of projects in countries such as India, Ivory Coast and Myanmar, as well as providing emergency aid in Italy, Nepal and Haiti. Today, Lavazza has decided to make a step forward in the relationship between non-profit organization and donor and started working with Save the Children on an ongoing project capable of creating a long-term plan, including through the development of good sustainability practices adopted by the company.
Lavazza Group – Sustainability as part of corporate DNA
Lavazza has always paid particular attention to sustainability. In 1996, it began to collaborate with Slow Food — a relationship that still continues today — with a focus on the protection of product quality and respect for biodiversity. The year 2004 saw the creation of the Giuseppe and Pericle Lavazza Foundation. This non-profit organization aims to benefit coffee-growing communities through its work in the social and environmental arena both in Italy and abroad in partnership with organizations such as ICP (International Coffee Partners) and Save the Children. With Oxfam, a world leader in rural development projects, the Foundation also supports coffee-growers in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, whose positions it has strengthened by laying the foundation for long-term improvement of their economic and social conditions.
In the early 2000s, Lavazza established its partnership with Rainforest Alliance, a relationship that has been later developed around the sustainability project ¡Tierra!, the first of its kind independently carried out by Lavazza and focused on three fundamental aspects: the quality of the end product, the attention to the living conditions of the populations of coffee-producing countries, and the environmental impact.
Established in 1895 in Turin, the Italian roaster has been owned by the Lavazza family for four generations. Among the world’s most important roasters, the Group currently operates in more than 90 countries through subsidiaries and distributors, exporting 60% of its production. Lavazza employs a total of about 3,000 people with a turnover of more than €1.9 billion in 2016. Lavazza invented the concept of blending — or in other words the art of combining different types of coffee from different geographical areas — in its early years and this continues to be a distinctive feature of most of its products.
The company also has over 25 years’ experience in production and sale of portioned coffee systems and products. It was the first Italian business to offer capsule espresso systems.
Lavazza operates in all business segments: at home, away-from-home and office coffee service, always with a focus on innovation in consumption technologies and systems. Lavazza has been able to develop its brand awareness through important partnerships perfectly in tune with its brand internationalization strategy, such as those in the world of sport with the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and those in fields of art and culture with prestigious museums like New York’s Guggenheim Museum, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Venice, and The Hermitage State Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
As the company continues on a strategic globalization path, the Lavazza Group has acquired local jewels in key markets such as France’s Carte Noire (2015), Denmark’s Merrild (2015) and North America’s Kicking Horse Coffee (2017). Additionally, in 2017 the Group amplified its distribution reach with the acquisition of France’s Espresso Service Proximité and Italy’s Nims.
About Lavazza India (Fresh and Honest Café Ltd)
Fresh and Honest Café Ltd is a 100% subsidiary of Lavazza, which is one of the leading Coffee company in India operating in away from home channels – HoReCa , Corporate Offices, Vending and has significant presence in the premium modern trade space. In the home segment, it offers Il Mattino Vivace, Qualità Rossa, Crema E Gusto, Club, and Caffè Espresso.
