A Privilege to Support our Communities

Over the last 70 years, partnering with and investing in the communities we serve has always been a core part of the way we do business.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the community networks and partnerships that we have established over the years have allowed us to support those in need, those fighting the pandemic on the frontline and our customers that continue to serve our shared communities. As we do so, keeping our colleagues safe and healthy is our number one priority and lies at the heart of our ability to continue serving our communities. Therefore, wherever they are working, our teams have the protocols and equipment that keeps them – and others – safe.

Global Commitment, Local Action

Globally, The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation together with Coca-Cola HBC and all other bottling partners provided a $120 million support package in 2020, focused on the people and organisations engaged in the frontline fight against COVID-19. As a result, each of our markets made significant donations primarily to the Red Cross but also to other NGOs to support frontline work or to purchase medical equipment. An overview of grants provided globally by the Coca-Cola Foundation can be found here.

In addition, we have so far donated almost 5 million litres of beverages to support the work of hospitals, foodbanks, testing centers and NGOs in the countries in which we operate. 

Supporting our Customers

Across our network, thanks to stringent global best health and safety practices, our production plants are authorised to remain open and producing.

You can see some examples of the additional measures we have taken at our plants in our video here.

This is in line with the essential role we play alongside our customers to keep supplies flowing to the community. Wherever it is possible, our sales teams remain on the ground, working alongside our customer partners to support them in this task.

Customer Support

The customer landscape changed dramatically in the second quarter of last year and throughout the pandemic, our salespeople have continued to serve every customer that is able to operate, whilst maintaining contact with our customers who are not. We have increased the frequency of our customer engagement, providing the best support we can offer as they face their own challenges caused by rapidly shifting demand patterns.

To reduce pressure on some supermarkets’ supply chains, in some cases we arranged direct deliveries to stores rather than to the customers’ central warehouses. When necessary, we redeploy salespeople from the out-of-home to at-home channels and have increased the remote selling capabilities of our sales teams. In parallel we have accelerated our activities in e-commerce, especially on our own ordering platform for our customers, partnering with food delivery platforms and working with our wholesale customers to develop direct-to-consumer offerings.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been by the side of our customers. As they re-open during periods of lower restrictions, we continue to provide support and build trust, supplying masks and hand sanitiser for new hygiene needs.

We have also supported customers by adapting our portfolio to meet evolving drinking occasions, for example the out of home at home. This applies to the launch of Costa Coffee in 14 of our markets in 2020 to provide a close-to-barista coffee experience at home or combining adult sparkling beverages such as Schweppes with premium spirits to create at home “Aperitivo” moments.  In Serbia, we launched the “Call it a day drink” to mirror an end of the working day experience at home with perfectly served low/no-alcohol drinks. In Greece we introduced “Cook Like a Master Chef” helping consumers improve their home cooking and drink preparation skills to give them the feeling of being in their favourite restaurant. 

Earlier in the pandemic, we made  direct donations to industry initiatives that support the longer-term recovery of the bar, restaurant and hotel sector in Austria. In the Czech Republic ​we organised a legal advisory webinar for our partners, to support with access to recovery programmes and funds. In Croatia ​via the “Raise the Bar” initiative, we provide free training to hospitality professionals and are using social media to promote home delivery platforms. In Greece we supported the Save One Seat initiative, an online booking platform aimed to help HORECA owners bring back traffic after reopening.

Reopening safely

As the countries in which we operate go into and out of lockdowns we deploy teams to support customers by building displays, filling coolers and shelves and offering marketing assistance. In total, more than 1900 employees have taken part in the MITs, providing assistance to more than 32,000 outlets. We have also  helped customers to bring trade back. For example, as restrictions were lifted in many markets last summer, we kicked off a global campaign from The Coca-Cola Company called “Open Like Never Before”. This was backed up by technology assisted traffic-driving mechanisms for customers. For example, smaller outlets could access the “Ad Creator”, which offered customers free online advertising space. And “This Coke Is On Us” connected outlets with consumers by offering the first Coke on the table for free. Across our markets, more than 1 million bottles of Coca-Cola were given away in around 8,000 outlets.

Leveraging our Supply Chain

We are also leveraging the capabilities of our own supply chain to support the provision of protective and medical equipment.  In Russia, Nigeria, Poland and Romania, we used our 3D printing capability to produce protective face shields.Watch the video to find out more here. In Ireland we have produced 10,000 special bottles for health authorities to use for the dispense of hand sanitizer. In Romania we are loaning one of our microbiological detectors to support laboratory testing for COVID-19 and in Czech and Slovakia several vending machines offer masks in shopping malls and smaller cities, with proceeds donated to charity. All of these ideas and possibilities are being shared across our markets to increase the opportunity we and our partners have to provide direct and practical support and we are opening up our logistics and transport infrastructure for authorities and those delivering to the vulnerable.

Volunteering

We are also proud of how our people are supporting communities themselves through volunteering. WATCH: How employees across markets engaged in diverse support initiatives.

For example, our colleagues in Romania teamed up with the Auchan Romania and Leroy Merlin initiative to set up a medical centre for mild cases of COVID-19. 

In Hungary, a number of our Business Developers are supporting the Red Cross by distributing donations to families in need during work time. Together with other volunteers, they deliver groceries & medicine to those in need. In Austria over 20 of our employees volunteered as virtual #YouthEmpowered mentors during the “10K Job Day”. In Greece, our people are supporting the NGO “Help at Home” in Athens and Thessaloniki to deliver food and household goods to the poor and elderly. In Czech and Slovakia, 19 of our employees are volunteering for the “Smart Quarantine Project” of the Ministry of Health, where they support the call center for contacting people that were potentially in contact with an infected person.   

In each and every one of our 28 markets, we are privileged to be able to do these things and to help those who are themselves giving so much to help others. To every single one of them we simply say a huge THANK YOU.