The French food and drinks group Danone has issued its first social report.
The Paris-based conglomerate, which employs 76,000 people in 120 countries and owns the Volvic and Evian brands, has posted the report on the web as part of a commitment, first made in 1998, to improve its social policies.
It details various aspects of the company’s social responsibility work over the last ten years, including employment schemes for Danone workers laid off due to factory closures.
Among them is an initiative, led by Danone, to re-industrialise the valley of Ulzama in northern Spain after the company closed its plant in the Navarra region.
Danone claims that the project has led to the creation of 420 new jobs there, which is twice as many as had been lost.
It also highlights the work of its Kronenbourg Foundation, which was set up three years ago and has invested e457million (£290m) in 30 projects aimed at reviving communities in ‘abandoned economic zones’.
Copies of the report are also being made available in printed form. An English version is expected to be distributed shortly.