Italy’s Ferrero mobilizes for Turkey’s children

ANKARA

National basketball player Hüseyin Beşok; nutritionist Banu Topalakçı; ecologist Uğur Zeydanlı; as well as Ferrero Greece, Turkey, Malta and Cyprus Managing Director Renato Danna, delivered remarks at the panel.

Italian confectionery giant Ferrero has released its fourth Corporate Social Responsibility Report, “Sharing Values to Create Value,” at the Italian Embassy in Ankara, with a particular focus on the company’s projects for children in Turkey.

President of Ferrero Turkey Carlo Marsili, who served as Italy’s ambassador to Turkey from 2004 to 2010, said they were trying to invest in social life through the Ferrero Group’s strict Code of Ethics.

“We believe in Turkey and want to add value in terms of social well-being. Today, we are presenting the annual report on our Corporate Social Responsibility activities. In Turkey, we try to encourage our suppliers to upgrade their production standards. Besides, we are also ready to implement the educational program ‘Kinder + Sport’ which aims to facilitate and encourage physical activity for children and teenagers. We will start the activities of the Kinder + Sport program both in Trabzon and Istanbul, and then finish them in Manisa,” Marsili said at a reception hosted by Italy’s ambassador to Turkey, Gianpaolo Scarante, at the embassy on April 8 for the launch of the report.

National basketball player Hüseyin Beşok; nutritionist Banu Topalakçı; ecologist Uğur Zeydanlı; as well as Ferrero Greece, Turkey, Malta and Cyprus Managing Director Renato Danna, delivered remarks at a panel moderated by Journalist Çağatay Gökmen. The panelists explained their view in regards to healthy life and social responsibility.

“They are investing in the future, not just for today,” Beşok said, praising the initiative.

The educational program “Kinder + Sport” aims to facilitate and encourage physical activity for children and teenagers in order to prevent and combat sedentary lifestyles – a major contributor to obesity.
Marsili underlined how Ferrero overall has the principle of “sharing values in order to create values. He also noted that he already held a meeting with Turkish Youth and Sports Minister Çağatay Kılıç, asking for the support for urgent implementation of “Kinder + Sport.”

In his speech, Scarante referred to the idea of “distribution within capitalism,” in reference to Giovanni Ferrero, the chief executive officer of Ferrero.

“Ferrero has always cared deeply about social issues, the environment, food safety and the welfare of the local communities in which we operate around the world. As an example, Ferrero has started a special project called ‘Imprese Sociali,’ social enterprise, which is designed to improve the quality of life in some of the most remote regions worldwide. Think South America, India, China, and that is what I call the third direction of inspired capitalism is, to redistribute within the system the wealth generated in favor of the poorest people of this planet. And we are very committed to make that a success,” Ferrero said in an acceptance speech when the company was awarded the Reputation Institute of New York award for the World’s Most Reputable Company in 2009.

The report launched on April 8 has been externally assured by Deloitte and prepared on the basis of the parameters outlined by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a partner of the United Nations’ “Global Compact,” which was once again awarded to the Ferrero Group the A + level.