We support the communities that enable our success
To achieve our purpose of uplifting lives every day, we’ve made it our responsibility to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable through the Group’s charitable foundation, the #ActForChange Fund, and other CSI programmes and initiatives in partnership with community organisations.
The communities we serve are always at the core of our business, and our CSI strategy and social investment initiatives are aligned to our purpose, values and priority to be a force for good. We promote the wellbeing, safety and sustainability of our communities, and seek ways to address their needs by pioneering access to affordable goods and services, and creating economic opportunities.
Our community investments include programmes to focus on hunger relief and food security, youth unemployment and enterprise supplier development.
Join us as we #ActForChange:
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67 million meals | |
| IN FOOD DONATIONS | ||
 |
6 490 | |
| UNEMPLOYED YOUTH TRAINED VIA RRP & YES | ||
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R13.5 million | |
| SPENT ON SUPPLIERS THROUGH SHOPRITE NEXT CAPITAL | ||
* Our contributions for FY2023
Hunger relief and food security
Our core socio-economic focus is on food security and hunger relief. We aim to fight hunger, build resilience within communities, and support long-term socio-economic transformation. Some of our initiatives include surplus food donations, the development of food gardens, and urgent disaster relief by way of our mobile soup trucks.
Furthermore, we provide much-needed nutritional support to Early Childhood Development (ECD) education centres, and also collaborate with our suppliers and partner organisations to assist our network of beneficiaries to support beneficiaries.
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273 264 | |
| MEALS SERVED PER DAY | ||
| Through our community programmes, including ECD's | |
|
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73 474 kg | |
| PRODUCE | ||
| Harvested through 222 community food gardens | |
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The Group’s surplus food donations serve a dual purpose: we help communities in need while reducing the environmental impact of surplus food being wasted. In the last financial year, we donated R226 million surplus food and goods (FY 2023) and foresee our surplus food donations increasing to R250 million in the next financial year.
Adequate nutrition is essential for learning. We provide support to improve the circumstances of children in selected Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres at a critical time in their development. In the last financial year, we supported 114 ECD centres, benefitting 7 287 children (FY 2023). The meals we provide are designed to nourish physical health and growth, and boost mental concentration. We aim to serve at least 1.3 million meals at ECD’s in the coming year (FY 2024).
In addition, we also provide skills and development training to aid ECD practitioners in providing safe and stimulating day-care centres.
As part of our ongoing care for our communities, we offer support when natural disasters occur. Since its inception in 2007, our mobile soup kitchens have served more than 61.1 million* meals to those in need. We are often among the first to respond to communities in distress by providing hunger relief and served 7.1 million hot meals in the last year (*FY 2023) and aim to increase this to 7.5 million in the coming year.
Youth unemployment and skills development
We invest in and train both employed and unemployed youth who are interested in pursuing a career in retail. This is mainly done through pivotal Group programmes such as our Retail Readiness Programme (RRP), the Youth Employment Services (YES) Initiative, and our extensive bursary programme. These programmes provide individuals with the skills required to secure jobs in the retail industry.
Enterprise supplier development (ESD)
By supporting local SMMEs, we help to create a transformed and inclusive society. Our network and scale enable us to grow Small, Medium and Micro enterprises (SMMEs) into larger-scale suppliers by providing them with access to market. Our focus lies on growing expenditure on SMME suppliers, particularly black-owned and black women-owned businesses. As these businesses grow, more employment opportunities are created within communities.
As part of our ongoing enterprise supplier development (ESD) initiatives, we also provide vital aid to farmers through seasonal growing programmes and access to our distribution centres.