Together for Child Vitality
Annual Report 2010
Introduction
2010 was the most successful year of the “Together for Child Vitality” partnership with the WFP so
far. Not only did it deliver the best social gains since the partnership started in 2007 but also the most
successful business results.
Unilever’s total contribution to the WFP in 2010 was nearly €4 million, almost twice the size of the
2009 contribution. Around €1.5 million was used to provide 13 million meals for 61,000 school
children across seven countries (Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, the Philippines and
Sri Lanka).
2010 also proved to be a great year for the development and implementation of school education
programmes. Some 50,000 children in Colombia, Indonesia and Kenya benefited from nutrition and
hygiene programmes last year.
Cause-related marketing campaigns in 10 countries proved to be a great success. In addition to a
record amount of funds raised for WFP, the CRM campaign in DACH reaped a 25% growth in sales
and further strengthened its excellent relationship with customer, Rewe.
Employee engagement exceeded expectations in 2010. This was largely illustrated via the generous
response from Unilever and its employees to the Haiti and Pakistan emergency appeals.
Moving forward
2010 was also a year of looking ahead and deciding the next best steps for the WFP in the coming
years. Following much discussion and analysis, Unilever and the WFP decided that Project Laser Beam
(PLB) is the best way forward for the programme. Both organisations are keen to build on the great
success of the WFP so far and to keep the momentum going.
Project Laser Beam (PLB) is a holistic, multi-stakeholder approach aiming to eradicate malnutrition in
children, focusing initially on Bangladesh and Indonesia. Unilever and the WFP signed this new
five-year agreement at the World Economic Forum in Davos at the end of January 2011.
Together we are aiming to improve the health and nutrition of up to 500,000 children through
schools and their community with the provision of school meals, safe drinking water, improved hand
washing behaviour and job creation for women. Multi-brand cause-related marketing campaigns and
employee engagement will continue to support this partnership, raising funds for PLB.
Part (€ 550,000) of the total cash contribution of 2010 will be used to kick start the school meals
programme under PLB in Bangladesh
PLB brings Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan to life. Unilever is aiming to help more than a billion
people take action to improve their health and well being by 2020. Our future growth will come
from developing countries and so it is in our own interest to improve the health and well being of
our future consumers. As one of the biggest, most successful global businesses, with over two billion
people using Unilever’s products every day, we see it as our responsibility to bring hygiene and clean
water as well as healthy and nutritious food to a greater community.
School Meals and Nutrition & Hygiene Education
In 2010, Unilever contributed nearly €1.5 million to fund school meals for 61,000 children in
Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
This vital nourishment helps children to concentrate and perform better and also incentivises them to
attend school regularly. In short, it prepares them for a better future. The WFP and our country teams
have completed school education programmes in Kenya, Colombia and Indonesia reaching more than
50,000 children with hygiene (handwashing) and a dietary diversity campaign. Continuation of the
developed modules is under discussion with the respective authorities in Colombia and Kenya.
Colombia – during the year 40 institutions implemented their projects as part of the programme
El Arte de Alimentarte (‘The Art of Feeding Yourself’). In July 2010, the second phase of the
programme started with a roll out in 40 new schools in two other provinces of the country benefiting
2,200 children and 84 teachers.
Kenya – building on the successful campaign fronted by the cartoon character Sungura Sam, the
campaign in 2010 focused on education regarding handwashing with soap (complementing the
2009 campaign on dietary diversity). Around 25,000 children in 65 schools learnt important hygiene
lessons.
Indonesia – the country that focused on handwashing in 2009, implemented a campaign on
balanced diet last year across 55 schools in East Lombok. The project had the support of the
Indonesian Government and other international and national development partners.
Colombia: Brochure to
train teachers
Kenya: Comic book to teach
handwashing
Indonesia: Educational poster about dietary
diversity
Cause-Related Marketing
In 2010, a total of 10 countries promoted CRM campaigns: Germany, Greece, Finland, France,
Indonesia, Portugal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Switzerland raising over €500,000 of which
€386,000 was transferred to WFP in 2010. Half of the campaigns were multi-branded and the other
half was exclusively promoted by our margarine brands Rama / Blue Band. The Nordics used social
media and launched a Facebook page to leverage the partnership and to establish a consumer fan
base.
CRM campaigns have evolved over time into strategic partnerships with key retailers in some
countries. The promotion with the biggest impact in 2010 was organised by the DACH customer
marketing team. They’ve developed a repeatable low resource-intensive model with the REWE Group
in 2009, repeating it in 2010 in Germany and Switzerland. The campaign delivered an estimated 25%
growth in sales (above average promotions) and raised €370,000* for the WFP.
Based on the success in DACH, the European Customer Marketing team has been able to negotiate a
similar promotional campaign with one of the largest European buyers groups, including REWE, Coop,
Conad and Colruyt, to be executed in five European countries in 2011 and 2012.
Consumer Connect
As a creative twist to the DACH campaign, on 26 August 2010, 400 Unilever Germany employees
took to 213 REWE stores with one common goal: to talk to consumers about the WFP and to sell
margarine in support of school children in Kenya. This in-store consumer connect campaign raised
€100,000 in one day, allowing DACH employees to gain many new insights into the margarine market
and consumer demands.
* part of these funds were raised late in 2010, and not transferred to WFP before 31-12-2010, therefore not counted in
the 2010 financial overview
.
Germany: Retailer promotion leaflet
Switzerland: Promotional poster
Germany: In-store consumer connect day
Employee Assignment and Engagement
Over the past four years, secondments and internships have served as a knowledge sharing platform
between the two organisations. In 2010, Unilever seconded a senior supply chain expert to work
with the WFP Procurement team to develop a new quality assurance system and strategy to improve
delivery of safe food in WFP food programmes.
Eight students from universities in Belgium, France and The Netherlands went on a six--month
internship to WFP country offices in Kenya, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, from September 2010
through February 2011.
In 2010, for the fourth year in a row, thousands of Unilever employees engaged in activities to raise
awareness and funds for the WFP school meals programme. The total contribution of these activities
amounted to €573,000, of which about 75% is counted in Western Europe.
Participation in the two global flagship events was fantastic: 25 countries organised Walk the World
in June, while 30 countries promoted World Food Week in October. Italy for example, organised the
second edition of Roma Scende in Campo in December 2010, a fun sports game between Rome’s
leading basketball and football teams. In Greece, a team of employees raised €23,000 which was
used to renovate a WFP beneficiary school in Colombia via a local partner. The team was able to visit
the school and participate in the work. In Pakistan and other countries, employees participated in a
payroll scheme, donating a percentage of their monthly salaries.
Pakistan: Walk the World 2010
Indonesia: World Food Week 2010
Financial Overview
2010 was the most successful year for Unilever’s partnership with the WFP so far.
Our total contribution (cash and in-kind) amounted to nearly €4 million, including a remaining
€325,000 that was raised in 2009, but only transferred to WFP in early 2010.
The cash raised is a combination of corporate donations, cause-related marketing campaigns and
employee fundraising (Chart 1). The in-kind contribution equals the value of the secondments and
internships at WFP.