[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The first\u00a0Social Report<\/i>\u00a0issued by Esselunga dates back to 2003, but even before I joined the company in 1986, it had already established important relationships with organizations such as VIDAS, AIRC, the Red Cross, Telethon, FAI, and Banco Alimentare.<\/p>\n
In addition to the major contribution of Aldo Ferraro\u2014who was behind the collaboration with Banco Alimentare\u2014I fondly remember the local initiatives promoted by accountant Giovanni Maggioni. For instance, while I was already working in marketing, he brought the Meyer Pediatric Hospital in Florence on board as an Esselunga partner.<\/p>\n
Over time, our relationships with VIDAS, AIRC, FAI, and Banco Alimentare were strengthened and deepened.<\/p>\n
As with the commercial side of the business, all charitable initiatives were carried out with genuine passion and nurtured through relationships with people committed to meaningful and compelling causes.<\/p>\n
My role models\u2014besides the late Danilo Mainardi, with whom I carried out my first environmental project in support of LIPU (introducing storks to the Ticino Park, followed by swallows)\u2014also included Giovanna Cavazzoni (VIDAS) and Giulia Maria Crespi (FAI). I developed with both women a deep mutual respect and affection.<\/p>\n
This spirit, this passion, engaged the entire company throughout the 19 years I worked there. And not just in words: sustainability also became part of the company\u2019s identity, from organic and fair trade products to eco-friendly packaging, from energy-saving policies to the design of new stores with the lowest possible environmental impact.<\/p>\n
Alongside sustainability, there was solidarity: that deep human sense of care and compassion for others that goes beyond mere assistance\u2014or not always assistance alone\u2014and instead builds a path of real help, recovery, and opportunity, enabling people to find their own place in the world and move forward independently.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, there were four guiding pillars: support for research, solidarity, the arts, and sustainability.<\/p>\n
In Esselunga\u2019s first\u00a0Social Report<\/i>\u00a0of 2003, it is clearly stated that the company \u201cis committed to supporting social projects by sponsoring scientific research and the activities of humanitarian and charitable organizations,\u201d and to \u201ccontributing to the preservation of artistic and natural heritage through environmental protection initiatives and awareness campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n
The method was simple and effective: holders of the F\u00ecdaty Card, Esselunga\u2019s loyalty card, could donate a portion of their accumulated points to the initiative of the moment. At the checkout, customers could also purchase vouchers with pre-set amounts which, in cases such as the partnership with FAI, gave them free access to sites that had been restored and protected.<\/p>\n
Esselunga would then match the points donated by its customers.<\/p>\n
I would like to emphasize how this often brought the circle of collaboration between employees and customers to a close\u2014filled with passion and enthusiasm. I personally witnessed many cashiers encouraging customers to donate their F\u00ecdaty points to various organizations, such as VIDAS.[\/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ gap=”15″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1749714266383-9a4468a0-c712-9″ include=”68185,68186,68187,68137,68199,68195″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
For\u00a0UNICEF<\/b>, the \u201cVitamin A Operation\u201d raised \u20ac283,940 (half donated by 28,934 customers and the other half matched by Esselunga). The \u201cNevirapine in Zambia\u201d initiative collected \u20ac544,440 (again, half from 54,440 customers and half from Esselunga), helping to save tens of thousands of children from the risk of contracting HIV.
\nFor\u00a0Banco Alimentare<\/b>, Esselunga has long been donating food products that are still perfectly consumable despite minor imperfections. It also participates in the\u00a0Food Collection<\/i>\u00a0initiative: in 2002 alone, 490 tons of foodstuffs were gathered, valued at over \u20ac2 million.
\nFor\u00a0Save the Children<\/b>, Esselunga joined the \u201cWater for the Sahel\u201d project to provide access to clean drinking water for children in the sub-Saharan Sahel desert. Customers donated \u20ac165,350, which Esselunga doubled, bringing the total to \u20ac330,700.<\/p>\nHEALTH<\/b><\/h4>\n
For\u00a0AIRC<\/b>\u00a0(Italian Association for Cancer Research)\u2014an organization especially close to Giuseppe Caprotti, whose maternal grandfather Guido Venosta dedicated much of his life to it\u2014Esselunga and its customers donated \u20ac250,000 during the \u201cEuropean Week for Cancer Research\u201d (October 6\u201313, 2002). Esselunga also supports the annual \u201cOranges for Health\u201d campaign.
\nFor\u00a0VIDAS<\/b>\u00a0(which offers free, comprehensive home care for terminal cancer patients), Esselunga launched a fundraising campaign in September 2002 and, thanks to the generosity of its customers, donated \u20ac88,831.
\nFor the construction of a new operating room at the\u00a0Meyer Pediatric Hospital<\/b>\u00a0in Florence, from July to October 2002, Esselunga ran a fundraising campaign across its stores in Tuscany. A total of 160,049 customers participated. Esselunga again matched the donations, bringing the final contribution to \u20ac285,049.
\nFor\u00a0AMREF<\/b>, a nonprofit healthcare organization supporting millions across Africa, between April and October 2003, F\u00ecdaty Card holders who donated 500 points enabled Esselunga to double their contribution to the\u00a0Flying Doctors<\/i>, a team of physicians who, with five light aircraft, provide specialist and surgical care to 80 hospitals in remote and hard-to-reach areas of East Africa.<\/p>\nENVIRONMENT<\/b><\/h4>\n
For the\u00a0Italian Touring Club<\/b>, in 2002 Esselunga sponsored the guide\u00a0\u201cL\u2019Italia del Biologico\u201d<\/i>\u00a0(\u201cOrganic Italy\u201d), created in collaboration with Legambiente. It was the first national guide to exclusively list certified organic products, companies, and shops throughout Italy.
\nFor\u00a0LIPU<\/b>\u00a0(Italian League for Bird Protection), and thanks to the personal connection between Giuseppe Caprotti and ethologist Danilo Mainardi, Esselunga was likely the first company in Italy to launch a customer-funded initiative for the protection of swallows. This led to the creation of the\u00a0Swallow Farm<\/i>\u00a0in the Ticino Park, inaugurated in May 2002, and starting that September, involved 80 schools across Piedmont and Lombardy.
\nFor and with\u00a0Legambiente<\/b>, Esselunga sponsored the\u00a0\u201cClean Up the World\u201d<\/i>\u00a0initiative (September 2002) and committed to the \u201cItalian Quality Agriculture\u201d standards for selected Esselunga-branded products (meat, fruits, and vegetables).
\nFor\u00a0CONSORTIUM<\/b>, the nonprofit organization for sustainable development and organic education, Esselunga was not only a sponsor but also a founding member.
\nFor\u00a0WWF Italy<\/b>, under the leadership of Fulco Pratesi, Esselunga participated in several important environmental campaigns. One notable initiative from the late 1990s helped preserve four monumental trees in Italy, including a magnificent hackberry in San Gimignano.
\nFor the\u00a0FAI<\/b>\u00a0(Italian National Trust), as mentioned earlier, Esselunga has been a consistent supporter, contributing to the protection and restoration of Italian heritage sites preserved by the foundation. The collaboration with FAI began early on, nurtured by a close friendship between Giuseppe Caprotti\u2019s parents, Bernardo and Giorgina, and FAI\u2019s founder and guiding spirit, Giulia Maria Crespi. In 1989, when FAI acquired the medieval\u00a0Torre di Velate<\/i>\u00a0in Varese, Giuseppe\u2019s father contributed to its restoration through Esselunga\u2014well before the launch of the F\u00ecdaty program.<\/p>\n
Today, the guiding principles of the Guido Venosta Foundation closely mirror those I adopted at Esselunga.<\/b>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Bibliography<\/b><\/p>\n
G. Caprotti, Le ossa dei Caprotti. Una storia italiana<\/i>, Milano, 2024\/3. Esselunga has supported social, environmental, cultural, and scientific research projects by engaging customers through the F\u00ecdaty Card, enabling them to donate their loyalty points as contributions \u2014 which the company then matched.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":68184,"template":"","tags":[57],"class_list":["post-68182","protagonista","type-protagonista","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-airc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/68182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/protagonista"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/68182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68202,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/68182\/revisions\/68202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nID., Storia: Valori e principi delle Risorse Umane di Esselunga<\/a><\/i>, 22\/02\/2022.
\nID., Storia: i valori nei fatti. La responsabilit\u00e0 sociale di Esselunga<\/i><\/a>, 16\/03\/25.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"