‘Enhancing Business Community Relations’ Tetra …‘Enhancing Business Community Relations’...

‘Enhancing Business Community Relations’ Tetra Pak East Med Case Study

January 2003

Property of UNDP/UNV and thThe views expressed in this re

“Soon after establishing our office in Lebanon we recognized the opportunity to marry together our desire for growth of the local dairy industry and our desire to play an active role in supporting the local community. We were able to live up to our mission for industry leadership and good corporate citizenship without a conflict of interests.”

Brett HewlettManaging Director, Tetra Pak East Med

This case study is one of ten that were chosen as part of the Enhancing Business Community Relations Project. The purpose of this study is to document successful experiences as learning tools in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility in Lebanon. Following their mother company’s footsteps, and with the words ‘Corporate Citizenship’ engraved in their mission statement, Tetra Pak East Med has developed a wide range of projects, mainly dealing with environment and health in order to support their community. This case study was chosen to provide a learning experience of how a company can integrate a concept known as ‘Cause Related Marketing’ or ‘Social Marketing’ in a manner that yields significant impact to the community and the company as well. The enclosed case study was written based on a detailed inquiry including a series of one-on one interviews and focus group discussions with various stakeholders (employees and community members), as well as collection of documentation on your company’s operations and social activities through secondary sources, company documentation and media sources. The findings and recommendations reflected in the document are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of UNDP/UNV or the New Academy of business. It is important to note that these cases were written as examples of positive initiatives that have contributed to community. They do not constitute a comprehensive assessment of the company’s socially responsible behaviors. The ‘Enhancing Business Community Relations’ project is a joint initiative between The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the New Academy of Business. Implemented in seven developing countries, the purpose of the initiative was to collect and document information on business-community practices as perceived by all stakeholders, build partnerships with them and promote corporate social responsibility practices. It is also intended to enhance international understanding of business-community relations through information sharing and networking with other countries especially those participating in the project - Brazil, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa and Lebanon.

I hereby agree that I have read this case study

________________________ Brett Hewlett

Managing Director, Tetra Pak East Med

* Official signature can be found on original document. For a copy, please consult with UNDP/UNV

e New Academy of Business 1 port do not necessarily reflect those of UNV/UNDP or the New Academy of Business


January 2003

1- Introduction

Lebanon is need of the private sector’s help in trying to overcome many of its problems. As an example, the agricultural sector in the country is poorly developed and the lack of employment in poorer rural communities has become a major issue. Recent investments in the dairy manufacturing sector where intended to address this, however, consumers have not been so eager to switch to the locally made products. Lebanese consumers have developed a preference for expensive imported products. In Lebanon, there is also a lack of education and awareness of health and nutritional issues among children in schools as well as at home. The appeal of popular snacks results in poor eating habits amongst Lebanese youth.

As a leading supplier to the dairy industry, Tetra Pak East Med recognized that if they were to grow their business they had to support their local customers to promote the merits of a healthy diet based on locally produced, good quality dairy products. By doing this they would be serving their business interests and also be playing a valuable role in serving the local community.

The need to better educate Lebanese children about healthier eating habits has moved Tetra Pak to initiate a school-feeding program called ‘Captain Mike’. ‘Captain Mike’, a cartoon character and the mascot for this initiative, is printed on carton packages produced by Tetra Pak. This initiative aims to encourage healthy regular milk consumption among school children whilst developing educational lessons that cover different subjects.

One of the reasons why this case was chosen was due to the creativity in the implementation of Tetra Pak East Med’s community projects, through a concept known as Cause Related Marketing (CRM). CRM is a commercial activity by which businesses and charitable causes build a partnership to market an image, product or service for mutual benefit. It provides companies with a means to demonstrate social responsibility directly with their customers. It is a tool for addressing the social issues of the day through providing resources and funding, whilst at the same time addressing business - marketing objectives. The end result is that consumers have a more positive image of companies that are seen as doing something to make the world a better place. Such a perception can be a valuable differentiator in markets where price and quality are becoming increasingly important. 1 The ‘Captain Mike’ initiative is a great example of CRM because through the partnership that was created by Tetra Pak and the Lebanese Development Association (LEDA), the initiative provided a lot of benefits to the community while enhancing Tetra Pak’s visibility and ultimately financial returns.

2- Organizational profile “Visions are like rainbows -glistening but unattainable. Most of them remain in the realm of hope and fancy. But every once in a while, somebody manages to turn dreams into facts- a vision becomes reality”. The history of Tetra Pak is an example of such a process. Starting in 1929 with a clear vision, the founder of Tetra Pak, Swedish born Dr. Ruben Rausing, and Erik Arkerlund, began Sweden’s first factory specialized in packaging. Privately owned, covering 165 countries and currently with over 18,000 employees, Tetra Pak is the largest packaging company in Europe.2

1 www.crm.org.uk/step/step 2/about.com

Property of UNDP/UNV and the New Academy of Business 2 The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of UNV/UNDP or the New Academy of Business

2 www.tetrapak.com

http://www.crm.org.uk/step/step 2/about.com


January 2003

The company offers the widest possible range of packaging alternatives from cartons plastic bottles. Founded on a very simple idea, that a package should save more than its costs, Tetra Pak makes food available in lightweight packages that are safe, hygienic and made by clean industrial processes.3

Tetra Pak has been supplying Lebanese industry since the early 60’s. However, it only established an office here in August 1998. The Beirut (Tetra Pak East Med) office’s work spreads extensively in spite of its size. Its operations mainly include providing packaging solutions for liquid dairy and juices. Among their major customers is The Lebanon Fruit Juice Company - Bonjus, Liban Lait - Candia, Interbrand - Libby’s, Gandours The Dairy - Dairiday, Liban Jus – Maccaw & Danish Iceberg, SMLC - Mr. Juicy. Tetra Pak paperboard is imported from different countries such as Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Italy among others. 3- Tetra Pak and the community

3.1- A Global Outlook

It is very evident from Tetra Pak’s mission that the community is a large part of the company’s strategy. Whether it is towards the environment, or in their everyday work, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) also known as ‘Corporate Citizenship’ is an integral part of Tetra Pak’s global and local agenda. As a globally active company, Tetra Pak seeks to take responsibility for its global customers, to know their needs and to respond to them in optimum ways. As a result, the company’s social programs are based on these needs and are usually supplemented in the ‘Cause Related Marketing’ perspective. Whether raising environmental awareness, or creating school feeding programs that increase the amount of liquid to be packaged, Tetra Pak continuously helps social causes while simultaneously benefiting its business and overall revenues. The following sections provide brief examples of how the c

3.1.1- Environmental Initiatives

Globally, Tetra Pak takes active measures to ensenvironmentally friendly. As a result, at every stage indesign and purchasing, to transportation, filling, consin place to assess the overall environmental impact. Tetra Pak seek to achieve environmental excellencecustomers and the public. Through a program that tea

Property of UNDP/UNV and the New Academy of Business The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those

3 www.tetrapak.com

Tetra Pak’s Vision: We commit to making food safe andavailable, everywhere. Tetra Pak’s Mission: We work for and with our customers toprovide preferred processing andpackaging solutions for food. We apply our commitment to innovation,our understanding of consumer needsand our relationships with suppliers todeliver these solutions, wherever andwhenever food is consumed. We believe in responsible industryleadership, creating profitable growth inharmony with environmentalsustainability and good corporatecitizenship.

Source: www.tetrapak.com

ompany applies this concept.

ure that its activities and products are the products and services lifecycle, from umption and disposal, careful actions are According to the company, not only does , but also to instill this concept among its ches customers how to join in helping

3 of UNV/UNDP or the New Academy of Business


January 2003

their environment, clients are offered environmental services that include the provision of expertise in recovery and recycling. 4

3.1.2- School Feeding Programs

Globally, Tetra Pak has also engaged in supporting health and education. This has been attained through school-feeding programs that aim at providing better nourishment for children, as well as awareness and education on different health and environmental issues. To supplement the efficacy of such a program, Tetra Pak has relied much on its recently established “Food For Development Office”. This office has been established as a link between the various international agencies and NGO’s to be able to offer assistance and guidance for the implementation of such programs. When asked why Tetra Pak has become involved in such programs, Tetra Pak’s Global Director, Mr. Christer Ronnegard replied: “While children represent a nation’s future, it is industry that represents a nation’s current health, and school feeding programs do much to promote and develop agricultural industry.”

“Of course, there is a commercial benefit to Tetra Pak. We take a long-term perspective

and believe that these activities are an investment in the children’s, the countries’

and our futures.”

Mr. Christer Ronnegard, Global Director Food For Development Office

3.2- Tetra Pak East Med, Lebanon’s social program

Following their mother company’s footsteps and inspired by the social responsibility engraved in her activities, Tetra Pak East Med in Lebanon continuously initiates or partners in projects that help the community. Such programs tackle a wide range of issues, but mainly environmental and health related (through school feeding programs). Since the company’s establishment in Lebanon, it has partnered and consulted many NGO’s, organizations, UN agencies, and community members that have expertise in the field to implement various initiatives as follows:

Under the heading of environmental activities, Tetra Pak does its best to abide by and in some cases exceed the requirements of the global environmental policy locally. This policy, which is hung on the company’s walls, is very visible to employees and visitors alike, acting as a daily reminder to care for the environment. A corporate team that visits on a yearly basis audits the company’s environmental practices. In addition, Tetra Pak has partnered with other organizations to implement environmental awareness initiatives such as the ‘Go Green’ project initiated by a local restaurant chain - Schtroumpf in partnership with UNDP/UNV, FTML- Cellis, and Coca-Cola. A significant amount of networking resulted from this initiative, which led Tetra Pak to team up with an NGO called Cedar Environmental to try new recycling methods such as breaking down cartons into compost.


4 Please refer to Appendix-2 or to www.tetrapak.com for further details.

http://www.tetrapak.com/


January 2003

Examples of school-feeding programs include a collection of ‘Captain Mike’ activities such as the actual initiation of ‘Captain Mike’- the award winning school-feeding program, which aims to help less privileged children get their daily portion of good nutrition. Through this program, the company was able to create a project in partnership with an NGO concept in a very creative manner, which not many other companies in Lebanon have done before. As a result, the focus of this case study will be the implementation of the ‘Captain Mike’ program as outlined in section 4.0. To encourage healthy eating and environmental awareness, the company’s latest initiative was to set-up the first animal zoo in Lebanon. The actual zoo was an animal shelter run by ‘Message of Peace’, a charitable association, which is managed, and run by physically and mentally challenged staff. For a six-week period, children and their parents enjoyed participating in a wide variety of animated lectures on healthy eating and the environment, and most importantly interacting with the local producers who actually make their products.

So why does Tetra Pak East Med engage is such activities? As Ms. Kelly Boucher, the Regional Director for the Middle East food for Development Office at Tetra Pak puts it: “Our constant aim is to align business goals with environmental considerations in a way that balances benefits and long term goals and that makes a contribution to sustainable development.” She added: “It is a company’s responsibility to help its community, mainly because thissustainable development and also beccompany. By being more involved inconsumers needs are, which will ultim

4.0- Captain Mike

To better understand the trends related tresearch on the dairy industry in Lebanonthe need to increase the consumption ofeeding program ‘Captain Mike’ in Januarand nutrition programs were, and are international and non-governmental organmost popular programs in both private and

Property of UNDP/UNV and the New Academy ofThe views expressed in this report do not neces

5 http://www.school-milk.com

“It is a company’s responsibility to help its community, mainly because this will contribute to the community’s

and company’s sustainable development and also because such a process is a cycle that reflects back on

the company. By being more involved in the community, you are able to find exactly what the customers needs are, which ultimately serves the

company in the long run.”

Ms. Kelly Boucher Regional Director –

Middle East food for Development Office – Tetra Pak

will contribute to the community’s and company’s ause such a process is a cycle that reflects back on the the community, you are able to find exactly what the

ately serve the company in the long run.”

o milk production and consumption, Tetra Pak initiated . After studying the Lebanese market, research showed f milk. This lead to the launch of the five-year school y 2001.5 In Lebanon, a number of school-based health still being implemented in coordination with national, izations. ‘Captain Mike’ is one of the most recent, and public schools.

Business 5 sarily reflect those of UNV/UNDP or the New Academy of Business


January 2003 What exactly is ‘Captain

Mike’? It is a comprehensive educational program, which promotes healthy eating habits among school-aged children (between 3 to 10 year olds). It was set up in a manner, which allows school aged children to have access to milk. The program not only targets children in private schools but public schools as well. Through the program, private school children, who were already paying a yearly subscription for their milk packs, contributed a small amount of money for the packs that were distributed to public schools.

In addition, to improving nutrition among children, and contributing to the reduction of poverty, ‘Captain Mike’ has an educational component. Educational material such as a teacher’s handbook with lesson plans that cover five main topics including the environment, nutrition, dairy farms, milk processing and packaging, and financial responsibility are distributed in schools. To further enhance children’s imagination and awareness, school-based environmental activities are encouraged in all their forms. Examples of these activities include teaching children to make crafts from used cartons. These crafts are displayed at a later stage in schools. Other examples consist of field visits to dairy farms where children learn about the production of milk as well as a variety of environmental issues.

So who’s this ‘Captain Mike’?

‘Captain Mike represents a cute cartoon -pirate whose aim is to catch the attention of young students ‘He is a nature

lover, environmentally friendly and physically strong because he is a regular milk drinker, and a super hero with all that pertains to health. He animates every classroom with his ideas and activities that he undertakes with the

students in order to help them acquire healthy and nutritious habits, and to teach them to preserve the

environment and become socially responsible.’

Ms. Kelly Boucher Regional Director –

Middle East Food for Development Office – Tetra Pak

More recently, the program included an environmental teachers award, which was introduced to encourage teachers to also think in environmentally friendly ways. This award was distributed in a prestigious ceremony at the UNESCO palace in Beirut. The two teachers who won the award were sent to Jordan to learn about wildlife preservation and natural resources protection. In the presence of around 450 teachers and students, an environmental crafts exhibition by many participating schools was also held. This event received a great turnout and extensive media visibility.

The ‘Captain Mike’ program initiated by Tetra Pak is managed and supervised by the Lebanese Development Association (LEDA). Ms. Dania Rifai, LEDA’s Executive Manager, stressed that “ ‘Captain Mike’ is not just about milk. It is a full and comprehensive educational program that not only targets children, but parents and teachers as well.”



January 2003

4.1- Partnership with LEDA

LEDA is a Lebanese based institution dedicated to building the capacity of human resources through providing necessary training and advisory services to public and private institutions, NGOs, local authorities and academic institutions. The institution handles the day-to-day management of ‘Captain Mike’ and specifically in the following areas:

• Disseminating the program in schools, the concerned governmental bodies as well as national and international donors;

• Monitoring the program’s implementation with participating schools, and • Organizing and executing relevant educational and awareness raising activities. A team of four individuals composed of a program manager, two field coordinators, and an accountant work on the implementation of the above-mentioned objectives. Starting with the first objective, LEDA handles launching of the program in schools, training teachers to teach the modules in class; coordinating with schools’ administration, etc. The NGO is also involved in disseminating information related to ‘Captain Mike’ with governmental bodies and donors. On the monitoring level, LEDA coordinates closely with various individuals within Tetra Pak East Med on issues related to networking, fundraising, environmental activities, as well as other technical issues such as package designs and orders. An annual milk pack forecast is usually projected and coordinated with Tetra Pak East Med and the dairy firm. This forecast is fed into the 5-year business plan and is monitored to ensure that everything is on schedule. On a more qualitative level, various evaluations are done on an ongoing basis through meetings with all stakeholders involved directly or indirectly with the program (sponsors, partners, school principals and teachers, parents as well as students.) Furthermore, a series of questionnaires were distributed to all stakeholders upon the completion of the program’s pilot phase. To document all this, at the end of every academic year, all program sponsors receive a final report highlighting the program’s achievements. Other internal quarterly reports are also written and shared with Tetra Pak East Med as well as Liban Lait who provides ‘Captain Mike’ with milk.

Finally, LEDA assists in organizing and executing relevant educational and awareness raising activities. Among the many awareness activities that were organized, LEDA came together with other NGOs in a workshop held on April 7th, 2002 on the occasion of World Health Day. On this occasion, around 1000 milk cartons were distributed to the attendees, followed by a presentation on the importance of fresh milk in one’s daily diet.

4.2- Captain Mike’s partners

The uniqueness of ‘Captain Mike’ lies in the pool of partners involved. These belong to various sectors that play a significant role in providing the necessary support and assistance. According to the program manager at LEDA, Ms. Rifaii mentioned that ‘all Captain Mike’s partners are acknowledged and promoted.’

There are a combination of significant partners for Tetra Pak from the private sector, government organizations and non-governmental sector. Each has been involved in providing the necessary support, encouragement and assistance to ‘Captain Mike’. This consortium of partners ranges from Credit Libanais, Liban Lait and Dairiday under the private sector; the



January 2003

Ministry of Education and that of Social Affairs under the governmental grouping; the Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club (BCRC) and the Lebanese Association for the Disabled from the NGO sector as well as the International Orthodox Christian Charities. Finally, this year, the UN agency UNICEF has been involved in the program helping to integrate a mine education component that will be at a later stage delivered to students and schools located in the Southern Liberated Area . Each partner under its particular heading / grouping, has donated considerable amounts of time, money, and counseling to help aid this project in diverse ways. 6

4.3 – Challenges faced

“Captain Mike” did encounter some difficulties and challenges, especially at the initial stages of its implementation. To start, it was quite challenging to convince schools about enrolling in the program. Even though the program management did encourage all private schools to engage in adopting public needy schools, only two out of the 40 private schools decided to get involved in such an initiative. Most of these schools preferred to use this extra ‘profit’ in extra-curricula projects benefiting their own school, while few other schools decided to provide milk for children who were unable to participate in the program due to financial constrains. Finally, after having convinced some schools of the program’s benefits, came another challenge- that of convincing parents to pay the subscription. Many parents complained that 30.000 LBP a year was too expensive and that they are hardly able to pay the school tuition.

Another main challenge to program faced was related to program funding and sustainability. Reaching the largest number of underprivileged students in poor rural areas requires the mobilization of financial resources from international and national donors. This entails time and dedicated skilled human resources to undertake this task. The program is currently able to sustain itself with funding from partners and private paying schools. The main uncertawho suffer from several socio economic probla daily basis. LEDA, hopes the governsustainability. Ms. Rifaai asserts that the gprograms worldwide. For example, in Englgovernment subsidizes school milk.

Managing partnerships and keeping partnersbeginning of the program’s implementation, national bank for a 5-year financial contributio

6 Please refer to appendix -3- for a brief description a

Property of UNDP/UNV and the New Academy of BusineThe views expressed in this report do not necessarily re

“Such programs are not only good for childrenand dairy farms involved but, also for our

governments reputation and health.”

Ms. Dania Rifaai Executive Manager

Lebanese Development Association (LEDA)

inty remains for public schools and poor students ems and are not able to purchase milk cartons on ment would take over to form some kind of overnment takes on an active interest in such and, and several other European countries, the

motivated at all times is not an easy task. At the Tetra Pak and LEDA succeeded in committing a n amounting to US$ 50,000. However, the bank

bout the program’s partners

ss 8 flect those of UNV/UNDP or the New Academy of Business


January 2003 decided to withdraw within the second year, since it did not really perceive the immediate benefit

from this contribution and had higher expectations in the short term.

The last challenge that was mentioned was related to the milk taste itself. As children in Lebanon were used to the taste of powdered milk, which is more condensed and thick, LEDA had to invest more effort and time to have students get used to the taste of the new locally produced liquid milk. The majority of students older than 8 years firmly rejected drinking it. As a result, management decided to focus the program on younger children aged 3- 8 years, hoping that they will constitute the ‘liquid milk drinker generation’ within five years.

5- Assessment of the Captain Mike program

Most of Tetra Pak’s business activities revolve around its mission statement. The question here becomes, how have Tetra Pak’s community activities, whether ‘Captain Mike’, environmental awareness initiatives, or any others, contributed to achieving this mission? How have they impacted the community and ultimately the company’s operations? How effective were they?

5.1- Advocacy and awareness

Starting with awareness, during its first year of implementation, the program included a campaign targeting 3500 parents. In cooperation with the Lebanese Osteoporosis Prevention Society, the program has currently met with more than 7,000 parents and teachers on all subjects dealing with healthy nutrition for children, dental hygiene, osteoporosis prevention and the environment.

In 2002, 7,000 students in 46 schools across Lebanon were provided with a daily portion of ‘Captain Mike’. The program also reached an additional 22,000 students in 89 public schools through another school feeding program being managed by the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC)7. Although still in its expansion phase, ‘Captain Mike’ has reached a target number of students much higher than expected. During an interview with LEDA, Ms. Rifaai stated that initially they had set a target of 10,000 students, however with the help of the IOCC they have already reached 30,000 students and a total of 135 schools across the country.

As can be seen from the above, the company has externally promoted its community initiatives very efficiently to various segments in the public. This has been done through printed material, presentations, participation in conferences, and media outreach.

Increase In School Milk Packs between 2000 and 2002

1,400,903

260,000

0200,000400,000600,000800,000

1,000,0001,200,0001,400,0001,600,000

2000-2001 2001-2002

Increase in the number of enrolled children between 2000 and 2002

4,500

30,000

05,000

10,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,000

2000-2001 2001-2002


7 More information on IOCC’s program can be found in Appendix –4-


January 2003

Although Tetra Pak East Med does not have a report outlining its community activities in Lebanon, like the one that Tetra Pak global and other branches do, it does have two brochures to promote its program. A brochure explaining ‘Captain Mike’ and another the ‘Environmental Teachers Award’ were widely distributed in most schools in Lebanon as well as at events that the company participates in. The ‘Captain Mike’ handbook given to teachers and students also serves as a promotional and learning tool. These booklets, and most printed material highlight important environmental messages thus raising awareness about the importance of incorporating environmental practices within every company’s strategy and day-to-day operations.

Due to ‘Captain Mike’s creativity, the School Feeding / Environment manager has been invited to various workshops and seminars to talk about it including the ‘Cause-Related Marketing’ workshop organized by the Association of Volunteer Services (AVS), the ‘Corporate Heart Colloquium’, organized by FTML, as well as a seminar at the American University of Beirut. Apart from these workshops, various presentations about the program were given to teachers, parents, etc.

Most of the company’s activities are publicized through press releases and are made available to the media for coverage. More than 25 articles were written about the program in local newspapers to date. Furthermore, several interviews were held on major national TVs such as Future Television, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) and Murr TV (MTV). This awareness in the media has helped reach a new audience, the public at large, especially those who may not have been aware of the program through schools.

Altogether, Tetra Pak East Med’s awareness strategy was quite effective because it reached a wide range of individuals. It also managed to encourage other local firms to engage in social deeds. In other words, the campaign helped raise awareness on the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in a company’s operations, in a culture that still perceives community involvement in very traditional terms such as philanthropy. To the consumer, Tetra Pak has been very efficient in transmitting its message in a very light and positive manner. An example of this is the creation of the cartoon character ‘Captain Mike’ that is printed on all milk cartons. This has been able to attract children in a very positive way. Other examples currently under discussion include various effective messages related to social issues, such as land mines, that can be written on the back of the ‘Captain Mike’ milk cartons. These have been able to reach a wide spectrum of people in a very successful manner.

5.2- Efficacy and capacity building

Apart from the very effective advocacy strategies outlined above, one should analyze community capacity building. The first sign of capacity building is that the program enhanced the education and welfare of the community through the thousands of children and parents that have been trained about environmental and health issues. The second is the contribution this program is making to the dairy industry’s growth. One of the major benefits in supporting the dairy industry is the increased employment opportunity for rural areas. This can only be seen as a good initiative when the economic loss to the country is high, due to imported powdered milk products.



January 2003

In terms of effectiveness, Tetra Pak was successful at pooling all its resources and focusing on the implementation of a full-fledged program as opposed to following traditional philanthropic one-time donations that most other Lebanese companies do. What’s also great about ‘Captain Mike’ is that it is being executed in partnership with LEDA, as well as other organizations, thus mobilizing as many resources as possible to help in its implementation. The weakness that lies in this partnership is that some of the partners looked at these efforts in a very traditional way and that is still a sponsorship model with no active involvement.

Last but not least, in reference to the program’s effectiveness, one important item that was lacking in Tetra Pak’s community system was the existence of a well-established formal measurement system that tracks Return on Investment (ROI) as well as consumers, employees and the general public’s knowledge and assessment of its program. This remains to be a challenge for many organizations worldwide, and especially in Lebanon. Some benchmarking tools that are currently being used include the London’s Benchmarking Group (LGB) model, which measures the impact of three main types of involvement: charity donations, social investment and commercial initiatives. Used by a Britain’s major telecommunications company, British Telecom, this model provided the company with 1) Better measurement of community contributions; 2) enhanced communication and reporting of community involvement; 3) improvements in internal management, and 4) more effective cross company comparisons.8

6.0 - Recommendations/ Areas of improvement-

While Tetra Pak’s reporting of its community programs are the most comprehensive among other corporations in Lebanon, the company can make better use of reporting its initiatives on its website, internally and externally. A complete local social report can be developed on a yearly basis, and can include summaries of each project; it’s reach; impact on various stakeholders; lessons learned; etc. This can then be shared with all stakeholders and especially partners. In addition, to all of the mentioned above, it is important for Tetra Pak to acknowledge the importance of exposing and continuously updating its employees on the ongoing process and progress of the program. The company should ensure that all its employees understand the company's environmental goals and strategies so that they can fully collaborate in obtaining as many people’s feedback as possible on their community initiatives and to gather creative project ideas from NGOs, employees, customers, and the general public. This can be done through ‘propose a project’ program via surveys, focus group discussions or via the company’s website. On a program development level, it is recommended that Tetra Pak establish a structured Corporate Volunteerism Program. At one point, UNV also held a presentation to Tetra Pak’s employees about ‘Corporate Volunteerism’, during which, some employees were interested in volunteerism but mentioned time as a hindering factor. Given employees interests, Tetra Pak can go about developing a program in a manner that takes into account employees concerns. Such a program will include establishing a clear process of carrying out employee volunteerism activities; tracking employee volunteer hours and skills learnt; establishing a measurement system to verify the company’s return on investment, linking the corporate volunteerism program to employees


8 Companies in Communities, Valuing the contribution, David Logan and Michael Tuffrey, 1999


January 2003

performance appraisals and development needs; and finally establishing a full rewarding system to recognize employees’ efforts.

Putting a measurement system in place to assess their community initiatives is also recommended in order to enhance and improve the overall effectiveness of initiatives and to track the return of investment on its community program. This can be done via establishing a tracking system to assess the financial value of media awareness; measuring consumer perception and awareness of the company’s social program through questionnaires, and doing employee satisfaction surveys, etc. International measurement tools such as the London LGB model, or any other can be consulted in this case. Such a system can yield concrete results that can then be shared as a success story.9 Tetra Pak is in constant contact with many customers and suppliers that work in a field that impacts the environment. As outlined in the company’s mission statement, suppliers and customers make up a very important stakeholder. As a result, Tetra Pak is encouraged to advocate their environmental and social responsibility message to them as well. With regards to ‘Captain Mike’, to ensure the program’s sustainability, it is recommended that Tetra Pak propose the program to the government for adoption or possibly for their active support. The company could also seek additional funds from global and local donors in order to allow the program to effectively reach all students, without having to be faced with financial constraints on behalf of schools or parents. Furthermore, Tetra Pak is encouraged to redefine levels of contributions and benefits given to each partner, in order to ensure that its partners receive the optimum benefits deserved. This, as well as continuous follow-up and involvement will keep all partners motivated and working towards achieving the same goal.

Finally, given that Tetra Pak seeks to support the environment, and possibly embraces some of the principles of the United Nations Global Compact. It is recommended that the company sign on to the initiative by submitting a full report of the company’s CSR program to the Global Compact Office in New York. This will be beneficial for the community, as it will allow other companies to learn from Tetra Pak’s experience. It will also be beneficial for Tetra Pak, as it will allow it to be connected to a wide network of other businesses that might have similar experiences and challenges. Not to mention, will provide the organization with a lot of International visibility. More information on the process of signing on to the initiative can be found on the Global Compact’s web site.10 7.0-Conclusion

Over the past few years, Tetra Pak has made a lot of efforts to improve its community. These efforts are very much appreciated by many. Special admiration has been attributed to the ‘Captain Mike’ program through very bright feedback from schools, parents and students. For example, in Kawthar School, the lunch break bell has been replaced with the sound of a mooing cow to indicate that it is time for milk! Ms. Rifaai stated that the success of the program was not limited to Lebanon only, since ‘Captain Mike’ has managed to catch some global attention as well. As stated,

9 Companies in Communities, Valuing the contribution, David Logan and Michael Tuffrey, 1999


10 www.unglobalcompact.com


January 2003

Ms. Rifaai was startled in to find out that they have been invited to the 2nd Asia Pacific School Feeding Conference that was held in Shanghai in November to talk about their success story

On an environmental level, although some individuals mentioned during personal conversations, that they perceive Tetra Pak’s packages to no be recyclable, the company assured that they are. However, the problem in Lebanon does not lie so much on Tetra Pak’s packages, but on the society as a whole. It is only through the existence of recyclable products, a well-informed public that makes an effort to sort such products, as well as an efficient government and/or waste management institutions that are able to provide the necessary means to recycle them, that the country will be free of pollution. In the future, Tetra Pak hopes that within a short number of years the children participating in the school feeding nutritional development will become future consumers. Hence, consumption will increase as the culture alters and different habits reside. The company also confirmed their continuous commitment to the community through creative projects. Among them, the Regional Director for the Middle East Food for Development Office recently recommended one that is very much related to the Cause Related Marketing concept. This idea is to put into action and create a café, which is in a sense a miniature Tetra Pak world. This would be modeled similar to any trendy coffee shop such as the Starbucks franchise, where Tetra Pak’s clients’ milk packages and fruit juices can be sold. This concept will also resemble an environmentally safe mini world where all the furniture and packaging would be made from recycled cartons. This idea would not only help to generate money for Tetra Pak, however would also indirectly be creating a new public image of the company, which the media would immediately be attracted to. As a result, Tetra Pak is very much encouraged to explore the idea further.



January 2003

APPENDIX – 1- Sources Used

Tetra Pak Environmental Report, 2000

Companies in Communities, Valuing the contribution, David Logan and Michael Tuffrey, 1999

Focus group discussions with Tetra Pak employees

‘Enhancing Business Community Relations’ questionnaire

www.tetrapak.com

www.crm.org.uk/step/step 2/about.com

www.school-milk.com/overview.html

www.unglobalcompact.com


http://www.tetrapak.com/

http://www.crm.org.uk/step/step 2/about.com

http://www.school-milk.com/overview.html


January 2003 APPENDIX # 2

A more extensive look at the environmental policy (Taken form Tetra Pak’s web site and various other documents)

Tetra Pak's vision is to become and remain the world's leading liquid food processing and packaging company. In order to achieve our vision, we must also be an industry leader in environmental matters. Tetra Pak believes that environmental considerations will contribute to the success of our business. Our company’s constant aim is to align our business goals with environmental considerations in a way that balances costs and benefits, helps us to sustain our competitive advantages, and makes a contribution to sustainable development. The environment is thus an integral part of our business operations and it is only common sense to address the environmental dimensions of our activities.

Tetra Pak’s primary environmental objective is to minimize the environmental impacts of our products throughout their entire life cycle by making efficient use of resources in our product development and design, in our manufacturing processes, and in our operations. We achieve environmental excellence by:

Incorporating environmental considerations into product development;

Reducing consumption of materials in all their operations; Promoting the use of recycled materials and recycling; Improving the efficiency of their processing equipment; Designing energy efficiency into their products; Marketing products that make efficient use of resources, and Meeting and where appropriate, exceeding the requirements of all environmental legislation.

According to company sources, measures are continuously taken to enhance operations. For example, cartons used in packaging, also known as aseptic cartons are 20% lighter today than they were 20 years ago. These packages also “meet the requirements of all four waste management options; source reduction, recycling, energy-from-waste-incineration, and landfills.” In an effort to meet customers’ environmental needs, Tetra Pak actively engages in getting feedback from its clients. This has demonstrated that customers’ main priorities include receiving more information about the environmental profile and re- cyclability of Tetra Pak’s packages. In order to respond to these need, and as an example of one of Tetra Pak’s various initiatives, a project was introduced in Spain that was able to help make recycling easier by facilitating waste collection and processing. Through this initiative, around 70% of Tetra Pak’s customers started using this service7. Other examples of recycling include: turning carton and plastic to creative products and crafts and recovering aluminum and polyethylene rejects. These crafts are made from beverage cartons, which are shredded into chips, and then turned into a unique material called ‘chip-tech’, using a combination of pressure and heating technology. These ‘chip-techs’ are then made into boards, then crafts, furniture and even houses. The most interesting part of this process is that no glue or water is used!

In various other countries such as Spain, Brazil and France Tetra Pak has contributed to conserving the environment in numerous ways. In Spain, Tetra Pak have helped make recycling of customer waste easier by facilitating waste collection and processing. While in Brazil, Tetra Pak helped a customer to set up a system for handling and recycling of filling machine waste from several factories. Finally, in France, Tetra Pak helped a customer to analyze how it could manage filling machine waste and advised on solutions.


http://us.f139.mail.yahoo.com/ym/


January 2003 APPENDIX –3-

A brief description of ‘Captain Mike’s’ partners 1. The Private Sector:

Tetra Pak East Med: As an initiator of the project, the company provides milk packages and guidance and expertise to LEDA on ‘Captain Mike’s’ implementation.

Credit Libanais: The Lebanese bank initially provided $US 50, 000 for a five year period mainly to cover costs related to printing the program’s educational material. Liban Lait and Gandours The Dairy are both companies that manufacture and sell dairy products. As partners in the ‘Captain Mike’ project, they provide all the milk to be packaged. Private Schools: Several schools such as the American Community School (ACS), Lebanese Evangelical School, and EastWood College have involved their students in fundraising activities to provide milk packs to other less privileged students in public schools.

2. Governmental Organizations:

The Ministry of Social Affairs: The ministry assisted in sustaining the program by cooperating in including ‘Captain Mike’ packs within the Free School Canteen Project. Ministry of Education: The Educational Center for Research and Development in the Ministry of Education is able to support the program in two ways: First by disseminating the program among school principals of public schools; second by providing training on issues related to health, environment, nutrition and children’s rights. The office of the minister: The wife of the minister, Ms. Randa Berri was very supportive of the program and donated $1,000 to the program last year, and another $ 1,000 this year.

3. Non - Government Organizations: The following NGO’s have supported ‘Captain Mike’ in many different ways; some have provided financial resources to ensure that public schools also participate in the program; others promote the program to teachers, parents and students, and last but not least, some provide the necessary resources to involve underprivileged schools and students in the program.

The Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotary Club (BCRC).: An example of the above mentioned is BCRC’s sponsorship of three public schools with the provision of free milk all year along. The Lebanese Association for the Disabled: To ensure that disabled students participate in the program as well, the association supported 855 students of 8 schools in the newly liberated Southern areas. Lebanese Development Association (LEDA): Please refer to section 4.1 for more information. International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC): The NGO collaborates closely with LEDA in order to distribute ‘Captain Mike’ packs with their own school-feeding program. Please refer to Appendix-4 for more information on IOCC’s school feeding program. Lebanese Osteoporosis Prevention Society: This NGO has collaborated with IDC in organizing awareness sessions for parents on osteoporosis prevention.



January 2003 APPENDIX –4-

The International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) School Feeding Programme The International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) started its operation in Lebanon in 2001 by initiating a national School Feeding Program targeting public schools in the poorly deprived areas of Akkar, Southern Lebanon as well as Beirut and the Southern suburb. The IOCC program includes two main components: 1. Feeding component Every school day, students aged between 5 and 11 years receive either a cheese sandwich or a cake with a bottle of juice or milk. The meal provides more than 25% of daily calories required and is fortified with vitamins and minerals. - About 22,000 students covered in school year 2001-2002 in 91 schools in Rachayya, Jezzine,

Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil, Marjeyoun, Hasbayya, Akkar and Greater Beirut. - About 12,000 students covered in school year 2002-2003 in 50 schools in Bint Jbeil,

Marjeyoun, Hasbayya, Akkar and Greater Beirut. 2. Educational component IOCC contracted the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Balamand to work on the program’s educational component, which includes the following: - Educational booklet (school year 2001 – 2002): The booklet aims at transferring information

and messages related to health, environment and civic issues. The messages are presented in the form of illustrations and printed stickers for students to work on and gain knowledge from.

- School Agenda (school year 2002 – 2003): A school agenda has been designed especially for the program. The agenda included interactive educational games and riddles.

- Posters: Used at schools as part of the educational component. - Teachers’ Workshops: Attended by teachers from schools participating in the program to

become familiar with the educational program and to ensure that the teachers are well informed about it to guarantee its appropriate execution in schools.

- Community Involvement: School Directors hosted meetings in their schools with parents and other community members. The purpose of the meetings was to engage communities in the educational component of the program especially in what relates to balanced diet and hygiene. A Nutritionist and a Dentist conducted lectures and attendees were given the chance to inquire about matters related to subjects being discussed.

- Tests: to assess the knowledge of students in the beginning and at the end of the program.

In addition to that, the IOCC has provided the beneficiary schools with a school package that included a set of copybooks, pencils, pens, painting set, ruler, sharpener, eraser and a calendar designed and printed especially for the program.

Source: IOCC and LEDA


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