In their 2021 Sustainability Report released on Friday, Coles has announced that they have donated more than $143 million in funding and more than 35 million meals to Australians in need.
Following an increased demand for food relief due to the pandemic, the supermarket giant worked with various people to contribute up to $143 million in support to communities across Australia.
Of the $143 million, $124.4 million came from Coles in cash, in-kind support, management costs, and time.
Meanwhile, Coles’ customers, team members, and suppliers contributed the remaining $18.6 million from activities such as fundraising.
Coles’ in-kind support included more than 18 million kilograms in food donations to their national community partners, SecondBite and Foodbank, from their supermarkets and distribution centres; this is equivalent to over 35 million meals.
FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Coles Group CEO, Steven Cain, said that Coles’ sustainability achievements in Financial Year 2021 were part of its Better Together strategy to drive generational sustainability.
“Our long-term aspiration is for zero emissions, zero waste and zero hunger and we are grateful to our customers, team members, suppliers, and community partners for working with us toward these goals,” Cain said.
Apart from the donations, some of Coles’ other achievements in 2021 that were outlined in the report include:
- 80.6% of solid waste diverted from landfill
- Committed to no more giveaways of plastic or recycled plastic collectible toys
- More than 1.6 billion pieces of soft plastic returned to our supermarkets since 2011 through a recycling partnership with REDcycle
- Announced four renewable electricity agreements
- Awarded Gold Employer status in the 2021 Australian Workplace Equality LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards
- $4 million in grants from the Coles Nurture Fund to fund innovation projects for small Australian food producers;
- 15.7% improvement in total recordable injury frequency rate compared to FY20;
- Achieved their biggest year-on-year improvement in the percentage of women in leadership
- “Excellence Award” in Australian Human Resource Awards 2021 for Best Graduate Development Program.
