GARDENIA CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: ENRICHING LIVES

Aside from our vision to become the premier company in the baking industry, Gardenia aims to be of service to the Filipino society, contributing to its welfare and development through different worthwhile activities in four categories namely health, education, livelihood and environment.

Daily Bread: Reaching out to the less fortunate
The Daily Bread Program is integrated into the company’s strategy as breads pulled out from supermarkets or outlets every day of delivery to guarantee freshness are being donated to foundations, while others are converted into fish meals. Through the Daily Bread Program, Gardenia is able to help curb malnutrition in the country. Gardenia is providing almost 10,000 loaves weekly to different sectors including special children, disabled person, out-of-school youth, public school pupils, battered women, indigents, prisoners, and many others for years now.
Gardenia prioritizes helping organizations catering to poor children in an aim to educate and mold them to be responsible and productive citizens of the country. And of course, while learning, children have to be adequately fed so they can absorb lessons better. They’re also more attentive and active in class when they’re not hungry. e-CSR: Quickly responding to victims of calamities
Likewise, Gardenia partners with Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), GMA Kapuso Foundation, ABS-CBN Foundation and other reputable organizations to promptly serve victims of calamities like floods, typhoons and fires. During the worst flooding in decades brought by Typhoon Ondoy that affected Metro Manila and surrounding provinces on September 2009, Gardenia worked with relief organizations to provide basic goods especially bread to the victims.
During the Typhoon Sendong in 2011, Gardenia donated thousands of breads and canned good products to the flood victims in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. Apart from breads, most Gardenia employees donated one day of their salary to the victims through Philippine Red Cross.
HEALTH: Health is wealth
Gardenia imprints to the mind of every individual the importance of good health by conducting free nutrition counseling in various supermarkets and offices. They extended this to different schools through the School Nutri-tour which aims to teach the kids to incorporate proper eating habit with an active lifestyle while they are still young and hopefully practice the habit, as they grow older.
Moreover, Gardenia partners with organizations that conduct medical/dental missions in different depressed areas to provide free medical consultations and medicines.
Gardenia promotes employees’ participation in its CSR activities. Fit employees are encouraged to donate bloods to blood banks (Red Cross and St. Lukes). Through this manner, employees are able to reach out to the needy and even save lives, especially during outbreaks (e.g. dengue). Donating bloods is also good for employee’s health as this help them rejuvenate their blood.
LIVELIHOOD: PROVIDING ADDITIONAL SOURCE OF INCOME
"If you give a person a fish they will eat for one day but if you teach them how to fish they will eat for a lifetime."Gardenia provides livelihood programs such as Territorial Distributorship (TD) and pedicart program to provide self-employment and/or additional source of income.
Developed to help the unemployed or recently laid off workers during the global crisis, the Gardenia Pedicart is for those who wish to venture in micro-entrepreneurship, marketing fast selling Gardenia bread products primarily house-to-house. With this livelihood program, one can earn at least P300-P350 for a half day’s work, and double the income with a second round in the afternoon or early evening. The company provided the pedicarts for free and supplied the bread daily for sale by the vendor.
The Territorial Distribution program encouraged housewives and OFWs to invest on distribution entrepreneurship without any franchise fees generating additional income.
Livelihood programs are being offered to Gardenia employees for them to augment their income. Seminars on making candle, beads, soaps, sandwiches and others are being conducted to employees and their dependents.
EDUCATION: Creating a Major Educational Plant Tour Destination in the Philippines
Gardenia also has another method of social service--its free-of-charge plant tours. It welcomes students of all levels, parents, professionals and even community organizations to visit its world class plant facility in Mamplasan, Binan, Laguna. The plant was designed to include guided catwalk tours to see modern baking untouched by hand, creating an educational and enjoyable experience for visitors. It orients visitors not only on its unique bread manufacturing process, but also on a healthy lifestyle.
The plant is currently toured by as much as 3,000 to 8,000 visitors per day, making Gardenia one of the leading educational plant tour destinations in the country. Incorporated the plant tour is the brief lecture values education through Rotary 4-way test, the value of sanitation practices and healthy eating/nutrition.
ENVIRONMENT: GREEN PRACTICES, ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO FOLLOW
With the increasing concern on our environment, Gardenia assures that its practices and processes are not harmful to the environment. It uses LPG in baking to ensure no air pollutants escape to the environment. It treats all water using its Waste Water Facility before discharging used water to the sewers: Its practices and recycling programs, and garbage segregation programs are also communicated to thousands of plant tour visitors to spread the consciousness on environmental protection.
Gardenia’s extensive reach is evident not only in selling its breads, but also in serving the community to enrich the lives of every individual. Its multi-faceted CSR is something that we can expect for years to come. | | | | | |