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We have strong and diverse brands that are part of our unique history but our secret ingredient for success is our people.
Human Rights Framework
Respect for human rights is fundamental to the sustainability of Coca Cola HBC and the communities in which we operate. We are committed to ensuring that people are treated with dignity and respect.
Coca-Cola HBC is an active member of internal and external Labour Relations & Human Rights networks to foster a beneficial exchange amongst industry peers and associations. One example is the Engaging Business Forum organised by The Coca-Cola Company in their headquarters in Atlanta. The Forum brings together leaders from business, civil society, government and other critical stakeholder groups to discuss candidly the most challenging issues in business, human rights and labour relations.
Our Human Rights Policy is guided by international human rights principles, encompassed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the United Nations Global Compact and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights such Our Policy covers diversity, vulnerable individuals and communities such as refugees and minorities, freedom of association and collective bargaining, safe and healthy workplace, workplace security, slavery, forced labour and human trafficking, child labour, environmental impacts, work hours, wages and benefits including equal pay commitment. Our Supplier Guiding Principles are also aligned with our Human Rights Policy and we expect our partners to respect the same workplace values as we do. Our Code of Business Conduct and Human Rights Policy apply to every subsidiary and joint venture which the company controls therefore we apply a comprehensive due diligence process related to Human Rights also in connection with mergers, acquisitions and JVs, following detailed internal M&A Guidelines.
Regular reviews ensure that we adhere to all applicable laws and regulations, our Code of Business Conduct and internal standards. Certification on a regular basis confirms that we are in legal compliance, processes are well implemented, targets are set and reached, and reporting is timely and accurate. In addition, we have a well-publicised whistleblower system in place, with all cases investigated.
In 2024, we refreshed our Human Rights Policy strengthening commitment behind equal pay and behind vulnerable individuals and communities.
In addition, we refreshed our Human Rights Training (mandatory for all employees) to further strengthen awareness and knowledge about this vitally important area. Additionally, in 2024, we reinforced our commitment to employee wellbeing by hosting dedicated sessions in local languages across our regions, highlighting the support available through our EAP, which is available to more than 26,600 employees. Since these sessions, we increased EAP utilisation to 1.37% (1.01% in 2023) and improved engagement with the EAP app. Our Wellbeing Hub features a wealth of resources, including our mental health policy, stress management booklets for managers and employees, and other wellbeing-focused materials. This commitment earned us high commendation in the European Wellbeing Excellence category of the TELUS Health 2024 Wellbeing Awards.
Workplace Accountability Audits
Our due diligence compliance model is driven through an external audit process.
Workplace Accountability Audits (Supplier Guiding Principles audits in our manufacturing operations) are conducted with a minimum cycle of every three years in Coca-Cola HBC’s plants.
The audit cycle is defined based on the audit outcome, with yearly follow up conducted for manufacturing sites with orange or red status. For all audit findings in all plants, mitigation or remediation process are required and implemented. (Green status means zero findings (no risk); yellow means low risk; orange means medium risk and red means high risk.)
Workplace Accountability Audits are conducted through an internationally recognised and accredited auditing organisation. The audits cover our own processes and employees, contractors and others who are not employees such as staff of third-party service providers, (eg for security or canteens). Identified risks and mitigation plans are reviewed regularly by senior management.
Workplace accountability audits cover: Laws and regulations; Modern Slavery; Human Trafficking; Child Labor; Forced Labour; Abuse of Labour; Collective Bargaining; Wages and benefits; Equal pay commitment, Working hours and overtime; Business Integrity; Work Environment; Health & Safety; Environment; and Demonstration of compliance. The audits specifically cover our own employees, children, migrant workers, minorities, women, indigenous people, and third-party contracted labour in our premises.
New acquisitions are internally assessed for compliance to the SGPs, as part of the acquisition process, which includes relevant monitoring and enforcement activities related to Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking, Child Labour and Human Rights generally, to the extent applicable to the target’s business and supply chain, including the steps taken by the target entity to ensure slavery, human trafficking, child labour and other human rights violations are not taking place in any of its supply chains and in any part of its own business. During the integration period the assessment on compliance to the SGPs continues internally and is covered by the external audit process upon full business and process integration.
All our beverage manufacturing sites were audited in the three-year cycle by end of 2024. We have not identified any sites as high risk. Medium risk findings were raised in two manufacturing sites, one in Nigeria and one in Russia (representing around 3.2% of the total plants), and have been addressed through corrective action plans. The findings, in case of Nigeria were related to contract execution by third party recruiting companies, while in case of Russia finding was related to isolated gap in the area of waste management. No pending corrective actions by end of 2024.
Every human rights case which comes from either external audits or internal audits is discussed and addressed. We follow the corrective action plans immediately and re-audit to confirm the case is closed and lessons are learned. The summary of all ‘Notices of Violation’ we have received is also reported to the Board of Directors with the respective actions taken.
In 2024, Coca-Cola HBC has not been found liable for any human rights or labour violations, not has it been involved in related litigation.
We make the health and safety of our people, contractors and visitors a key priority and place emphasis on the critical importance of ensuring the well-being of everyone at our workplaces.
Mission 2025 sustainability commitments
As part of our Mission 2025 sustainability commitments, we have the following targets:
Alongside, we are monitoring other relevant H&S indicators, such as Near miss, Severe near miss, Medical treatment cases, First aid, Behaviour Based Safety (BBS) observations conducted, Safety barrier removal rate, BBS observers trained, Accidents per million km driven (APMK).
In 2024, we achieved 0.30 lost time accident rate (LTAR) per 100 FTEs, and the Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate for contractors (per million hours worked) was reported 1.31. Our key Road accident indicator, Accidents per million kilometers driven (APMK) deteriorated by 0.03 vs last year and achieved 1.66.
In Coca-Cola HBC we have implemented thorough process for assessing Occupational Health and Safety risks for all routine and non-routine activities across the organization. To register continuous improvement cycle and assuring health and safety of all employees, contractors and visitors, learnings from all incidents recorded in Coca-Cola HBC are included in this process.
All health and safety related incidents are being investigated locally by cross-functional teams of experts from different departments. Steps taken for the investigation are conducted as per “Incident Investigation training material/curriculum” included in Supply Chain Academy. The investigation teams also use Structured Problem-Solving methodology, including Fishbone analysis and 5 WHY principles. The analysis of incidents is performed in steps: 1. interviews, 2. incident preservation procedure, 3. root cause analysis, and 4. corrective/preventive action plan.
After the incident investigation, a one-page lesson learned document is created and shared locally with all respective teams. It serves as a tool for learning and prevention of similar incidents in the future. Selected one-pager lessons learned are published on a special internal platform for knowledge sharing, accessible for all.
All Business units are regularly conducting risk and hazard identification with respective corrective actions defined. Risk hazard assessment is in line with legal requirements and follows the internal OH&S management system processes.
On top of the above and to proactively prevent any at-risk situations potentially leading to occupational health incidents, severe injuries or fatalities, we have introduced new measure being reported by all our operations, called Potential Severe Injuries and Fatalities (SIFp). All SIFp identified (e.g., severe near miss, incidents etc.) trigger revision of the risk assessment and hazard mitigation measures.
To take learnings from the severe near misses, SIF potentials and all incidents, we share and publish individual lessons learned across all our operations.
H&S Programmes and initiatives
Our fleet safety training programmes aim to improve safety for all drivers within the Group. The blend of classroom and on-the-road training elements is adjusted for different groups, reflecting their relative risk classification. To reduce the number of road accidents, we have continued installing collision avoidance technologies in fleet vehicles.
In 2024, we also continued our Behaviour Based Safety programme with the inclusion of HOP philosophy (Human and Operational Principles) implemented across manufacturing and non-manufacturing locations. We have reached 99% program coverage in manufacturing, 98% in warehousing, 98% in commercial and 72% of our offices have the programme in place, too. Since the beginning of the program launch, we have trained 10,465 our employees and 3,220 contractors as behaviour-based safety observers. On last year, we succeeded to eliminate 86.1% barriers to safety identified under this programme.
Regular health and safety awareness trainings are completed by all our employees. In 2024 we have launched a new H&S e-learning course mandatory for all our employees. Moreover, we deployed monthly awareness campaigns, so called “health and safety monthly awareness days”, where we engage with employees across the markets in different health and safety topics.
Since 2021 we launched a new The Coca-Cola Company programme called “Life Saving Rules”. It promotes 14 safety rules with specific requirements covering full scope of our processes across the entire organisation. Compliance with these requirements is being assessed on a quarterly basis in every Coca-Cola HBC relevant location – in 2024 CCH Compliance rate achieved 86.6%. Based on these assessments, each country has developed its own corrective actions addressing critical gaps and reducing risk of workplace related accidents.
H&S Management Systems
We’ve implemented our occupational health and safety (OHS) management system based on both national standards in the country where we operate and based on The Coca-Cola Company KORE requirements, which are either equal or in many cases stricter than the local regulation/requirements.
Our operations are certified in ISO 45001 certification: 100% of manufacturing bottling sites representing 100% of beverage production volume. 100% of all our direct operations are covered by the internal Health and Safety audit process to assure full compliance with the local health and safety standards and our internal requirements. This includes manufacturing plants, offices, sales offices, our own distribution centers and warehouses, the contractors working in our premises, and third-party contractors. As part of the OHS management system, regular on-site inspections are performed by the local safety teams, by central safety team and by so-called cross-border auditors (internal team of safety experts) who verify compliance, share the expertise and best practice in Risk mitigation. Our data collection and reporting system uses special software and it is in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards. The data is analyzed for safety performance indicators to ensure that operations are properly monitored and that corrective actions are taken in a timely manner. OHS performance of each facility and BU is regularly reported to the Executive Leadership Team (ELT).
We expect our suppliers to provide a safe workplace with policies and practices in place to minimise the risk of accidents, injury, and exposure to health risks. That is why our suppliers are required to acknowledge acceptance to comply with our Supplier Guiding Principles (SGPs) and with the Principles for Sustainable Agriculture (PSA), which includes: compliance with local legal and Coca-Cola HBC Occupational Health and Safety requirements; risk management through Health & Safety management plans; providing and requiring the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); providing trainings on health and safety, including the use of PPE; assuring all workers have access to drinking water, toilets and hygiene facilities and are made aware of medical care facilities.
We are committed to providing our employees with a safe and healthy work environment that safeguards their mental and physical wellbeing. To support this objective, we have a strong health and safety programme in place to drive a harmonised approach to mitigating safety risks and create a culture of continuous improvement.
We have established several Healthy working environment initiatives focusing on ergonomic workplace, illumination, noise, indoor air quality and humidity. For each of these, specific design requirements are described in our Engineering Specifications and regularly trainings are performed to the employees (e.g., via specific Toolbox Talks, Supply Chain Academy, etc). Besides, noise and indoor air control are regulated by The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) as a mandatory requirement for bottlers. Compliance to requirements is controlled by TCCC by regular on-site or virtual audits. In 2024, there were 16 H&S relevant compliance on-site audits completed by TCCC, 14 audits were in our Manufacturing plants and two Route To Market related.
Coca-Cola HBC conducts compliance assurance process through internal audits, audits conducted by TCCC and external audits as per ISO 45001 requirements and Supplier Guiding Principles (SGP).
For the evaluation phase of acquisitions and mergers related to the manufacture, storage, and distribution of products and services for CCH and its subsidiary companies, we adhere to the due diligence process. The technical aspects of due diligence include Quality/Food Safety, Engineering, Environmental, Hydro Geological, and Health & Safety considerations. Safety & Environmental Due Diligence is also a supplemental requirement under TCCC Operating Unit Governance.
Coca-Cola HBC and Emergency Preparedness
In Coca-Cola HBC we have local emergency preparedness procedures available and annually tested in each site. Testing is primarily done for fire safety and at manufacturing locations. It is also ran for the emergency spill preparedness and throughout working shifts. This testing includes assurance of employee’s safety, and people evacuation and are conducted with the collaboration with local medical and fire protection emergency services. Based on safety risk assessment for high complexity manufacturing sites, we have trained dedicated fire emergency response teams.
The Group Business resilience team is leading emergency preparedness assessment of all our operating business units. This assessment includes H&S response in emergency situations.
The health and wellness of our employees is one of our top priorities, that is why we looked for new approaches to well-being and employee support which was easily accessible to our employees in our plants, offices or when working remotely. Two of the initiatives focused on the mental well-being of our employees were the introduction of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and launching a dedicated mental-wellbeing platform to provide our people the resources needed. We also continue to provide our framework for health and dependent care and offer a range of flexible working arrangements.
Mental Well-Being
To foster a workplace that supports mental health and provides timely assistance when challenges arise, we established our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) in 2020 and introduced a dedicated wellbeing platform for employees in 2021.
Our EAP, available 24/7 in all countries where we operate, offers confidential support for a variety of personal and work-related matters, including health, relationships, and financial challenges. Delivered by a leading provider, this free service is accessible to employees and their immediate family members in their local language, with complete confidentiality.
The program offers emotional support for concerns such as anxiety, depression, stress, bereavement, and relationship issues, as well as practical advice on everyday topics like financial planning, parenting, or retirement—helping our people maintain balance both at work and at home.
In 2022, we extended targeted support to our employees in Ukraine through the EAP, including dedicated webinars on fostering resilience, supporting children and relatives, and more.
In 2024, we reinforced our commitment to employee wellbeing through a series of focused sessions across regions that highlighted the EAP’s offerings. These efforts led to increased utilization of the program and stronger engagement with the EAP app.
Our EAP also offers specialized support for managers, helping them navigate workplace challenges such as conflict resolution, effective communication, resilience building, and boosting morale.
Additionally, our well-being platform continues to grow and includes a rich library of resources such as stress management booklets and other well-being-focused materials. We have strengthened emotional connections with our people and their families through various initiatives, including masterclasses, contests, and informal meetups.
Health and Dependent Care
Our Health and Dependent Care Framework was designed to address the wellbeing needs of our employees. This framework provides our countries with the structure and flexibility required in order to offer benefits above statutory requirements while taking local demands into account.
Our Health Care initiatives are structured under three pillars (medical plans, targeted health programmes and paid sick leave) and may include medical and health insurance benefits, preventative measures such as vaccination programmes and medical check-ups, gym facilities or subsidized gym memberships and nutrition information. We have implemented mandatory medical coverage for our employees in markets where the statutory medical infrastructure is unable of covering all the needs.
Our Dependent Care initiatives are also structured under three pillars (carer’s leave, subsidies and development) and may include maternity and paternity leave additionally to the legally required minimum, subsidies for kindergarten or school activities, school supplies, family events and career days. The amount of additional leave and/or additional pay for maternity and paternity leave varies among our countries. A minimum paternity leave of five days has been implemented across all our countries.
In many of our business units, we provide lactation rooms or a private space for nursing mothers.
Our approach to wellbeing exemplifies our values while supporting our employees and allowing them to thrive.
Flexible working arrangements
We define flexible working as flexibility on when, where and how work is done. Across the company, we promote the use of flexible working to support the delivery of our business strategy.
Our approach is founded on the principle that flexible working is a win-win for employees as well as for our business. We believe that flexible working arrangements are a partnership between manager and employee. Managers trust employees to make it work and employees know they are trusted to deliver high performance regardless of their chosen location for working. Our framework allows employees to sustain energy, be more productive and help grow our company.
In response to the pandemic, we moved quickly to ensure as many employees as possible could work remotely. We continue to provide remote working opportunities to employees, while over 73% of our workforce is covered by some form of flexible working arrangement.
The forms of flexible working offered include:
Leave utilisation
To support employee wellbeing and ensure full utilization of paid annual leave entitlements, we have implemented a structured and transparent process through our Workday platform. Employees receive automated notifications regarding their holiday quota, prompting timely planning and use of their leave. This proactive communication helps prevent leave accumulation and encourages regular time off to support work-life balance. Managers have full visibility into their team members’ leave balances and upcoming absences through the Absences Dashboard in Workday. This enables them to monitor leave utilization, approve requests efficiently, and plan team capacity accordingly. The system also generates alerts for upcoming returns from leave and provides real-time access to absence types and balances, ensuring both compliance and operational continuity. These measures are reinforced by our internal leave policies, which outline expectations for advance planning, equitable approval.
Over the years, our community investments have evolved from standalone philanthropic initiatives to long-term, group-wide programmes closely linked to our business priorities and material issues. We took steps to align our community agenda with The Coca-Cola Company’s global priorities and initiatives. The size and reach of the Coca-Cola System has unique advantages in helping to address global challenges, including those in scope of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We have prioritised the following programme areas that are of critical importance across our markets, i.e.
We invested €8.4 million in local community initiatives in 2024. Allocating 16.9% to youth, 12.9% to waste management, 4.0% to water, 6.2% to disaster relief, 6.3% for the Ukrainian crisis and 53.7% to local programmes out of total community investment. The big amount spent on local priorities comes from our response to natural disasters (such as floods and wildfires) that happened in our territories.
We also continue to offer support to our communities in Ukraine, donating an additional €5 million to the Ukrainian Red Cross in 2024.
Five of our 17 new commitments for 2025 help to drive progress in the three prioritised programme areas of our updated community strategy:
train one million young people through #YouthEmpowered
engage in 20 Zero Waste partnerships (city and/or coast)
help secure water availability for all our communities in water-risk areas
have 10% community participants in first-time managers’ development programmes
have 10% of employees take part in volunteering initiatives
UN Sustainable Development Goals
Our initiatives in communities help advance the global objectives of good health and wellbeing, and sustainable cities and communities. Our initiatives to empower youth and women contribute to the goals for quality education, decent work and economic growth, sustainable cities and communities, and partnerships. Our initiatives regarding water stewardship, CO2 emissions reduction and waste reduction aid global progress towards the SDGs for clean water and sanitation, and climate action.
Through our flagship programme #YouthEmpowered, we have been tackling one of the most relevant societal issues in many of our markets – the employability of young people. Since introducing #YouthEmpowered in 2017, we have rolled out the programme to all of our markets, training 1,119,850 young people.
Markets with specific employment challenges, such as North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Ukraine, and Egypt, are posing particular barriers to young job seekers. In other countries with labour shortages, young people may enter the job market but without the skillset needed.
To help address this, #YouthEmpowered offers in-person and online training to support vulnerable youth, educationally underserved and those aspiring for better employment. The program aims to equip them with the skills, experience and confidence needed to transition into meaningful employment and adapt to changing work environments. In addition to training, we offer mentoring sessions alongside Coca-Cola HBC senior managers. As a result, programme participants are also able to build professional and personal networks.
By tailoring our approach to address specific needs, we leverage collaborations with renowned NGOs and local partners to ensure the highest quality of curriculum and to strengthen the reach and impact of the programme. In Nigeria, #YouthEmpowered focuses on entrepreneurship, employability, financial literacy, and life skills to prepare participants for a dynamic world. In Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the Skills4Future Platform was created by Mentors4Starters with financial support from The Coca-Cola Foundation. This modern educational platform aimed at young people who are at the threshold of entering the labour market or have already gained some work experience, the opportunity to benefit from engaging learning materials and webinars providing core knowledge in a number of practical areas, such as applications of AI in life and at work or creating an attractive CV.
In some countries, #YouthEmpowered is supporting the hospitality and tourism sectors. For example, in Greece, we collaborated with top HoReCa customers and our recognised Brand Ambassadors to offer free masterclasses to 570 bartenders and baristas, levelling up their capabilities on modern mixology, spirits, and coffee trends and techniques. In Romania, we have launched the Barmasters Academy to offer specialised hospitality training for aspiring HoReCa professionals. In Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, within the programme we have created a series of training for students at hospitality and tourism schools to ensure a better fit with employers’ current needs and demands.
Packaging plays a vital role in keeping our products fresh and safe. Sustainable packaging and waste management are important to our business, given the amount of packaging we use, the variety of pack materials we use and the need to recover and recycle them after consumption.
Read more about our Circular Packaging strategy here: Making our Packaging Circular | Coca-Cola HBC (coca-colahellenic.com)
Our Mission 2025 objective is to reduce the water we use in our production plants located in water-risk areas by 20%, compared with our 2017 baseline1. Maintaining the long-term sustainability of the watersheds around our bottling plants is important to our business and to our relationships with local communities. Coca-Cola HBC is supportive of the global 2030 Water Framework for the Coca-Cola System. The objectives include less shared water challenges, better watershed health and sustainable supply chains as well as more community water resilience.
Water reduction in our operations
In 2024, we took an important step forward and started to certify our 60 beverage production plants in all markets with a new water efficiency management standard ISO 46001. This focuses on water efficiency and sets targets to improve water consumption and means all our plants will be audited and meet the same standard.
So far, 42% of our plants have been certified and we will complete the rest by the end of 2025. We used new and innovative approaches to optimise water use in our production processes. For example, zero-liquid discharge equipment in Poland recycles water instead of discharging it into the nearby river. We then use this water in processes that do not come into contact with products or packaging.
Working with our suppliers
We measure the water consumption of our critical suppliers to assess their basin and operational water risks using the Water Risk Filter methodology. We then work with suppliers operating in high-risk areas to develop plans so they can reduce their water use.
1 We have 19 water priority locations, including Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Nigeria and excluding Egypt.
Along with our five key programme areas, we address local issues which have strategic relevance for our business. We support initiatives across our 29 countries to improve community wellbeing and health. By partnering with the Red Cross, local NGOs and foodbanks, we help vulnerable groups and people in need. In natural disasters or crisis situations, we are often among the first companies to lend a hand to emergency services and communities with in-kind or cash contributions. In addition to donating our products and emergency relief funds, we encourage our employees to act as volunteers.
We continue with our long-standing projects aimed at local community wellbeing. Our “After Us” initiative in Romania is aimed at preserving the country’s natural resources and cultural heritage. Within the programme, we carried out eco-touristic projects in The Land of Dornas where our local water brands are produced, around the Bigar waterfall in the Caras-Severin County and in Tecșești, an isolated village in Transylvania. In Czechia, following our guidance, Prague 14, our local plant's district, has adopted responsible waste management principles for all cultural and sports events. In Ireland, we continued our support of the Simon Community, Fareshare, and FoodCloud making monthly product donations to help address food poverty and reducing food waste.
We strive for long-term partnerships with nongovernmental organisations, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to maximise the impact of community programmes. In 2024, we cooperated with more than 615 local and international organisations and partners, including the International Federation of the Red Cross, Caritas, the World Wide Fund for Nature, Junior Achievement, Special Olympics and the Global Water Partnership.
Beyond our financial investments to address the pressing challenges described above, we enable our people to volunteer a portion of their work hours to support community programmes. This not only positively impacts our communities but provides learning and development opportunities and supports employee engagement and wellbeing.
Within our Mission 2025 sustainability commitments, we aim to have at least 10% of our employees taking part in volunteering activities during their work time every year and in 2024, 3,793 employees volunteered across all our markets.
| 2024 | |
| Cash contribution | €10,002,509 |
| Employee volunteering during paid working hours | €397,224 |
| In-kind, including product donations | €3,909,685 |
| Management overheads | €1,872,086 |
Founded in 2023, the Coca-Cola HBC Foundation continues our tradition of giving back to the communities we are a part of.
To help drive impact in our communities, we prioritise funding, and where relevant, advice and expertise, in the following areas:
The new foundation brings clear focus to our work and empowers us to make decisions quickly to take action where it is most needed.
In 2024, the Coca-Cola HBC Foundation donated €1.55 million to communities impacted by devastating floods in Europe and Nigeria. These grants will support projects that target local needs, for example, rebuilding houses and community centres, providing food and emergency supplies, and replacing damaged medical equipment.
