BILLA Bulgaria Category: Responsible Business Brief History ❖ 2000 – BILLA stepped in Bulgaria and became the first international supermarket chain on the local market ❖ 120 outlets in 37 cities in Bulgaria – leader in number of stores on the local market ❖ More than 4500 employees ❖ Network of 160 stores – BILLA’s investment plans for the next few years ❖ More than 1.5 million Bulgarians do their shopping in BILLA every week ❖ Supporting local producers as establishing partnerships with farmers from the whole country and buying up their production Brief History ❖ Bulgarians’ most favorite shopping chain for 2016 and 2017, according to the only consumer rate in Bulgaria “My Love Marks” ❖ The first retail chain in Bulgaria to win the prestigious award “Customers’ Friend” – result of an independent research of the Swiss organization ICERTIAS ❖ “National Champion” in the category “Ecological and Corporate Sustainability” at the European Business Awards 2016 ❖ 8 golden medals QUDAL (QUality meDAL) for highest quality in Bulgaria in the categories: “Symbol of Quality”, “Retail chain” and “International retail chain” (2014/2015); “Fruit and vegetables”, “Fresh meat” and “Loyalty programs” (2016/2017); “Symbol and best example of top quality in Bulgaria” and “Retail chain” (2018/2019). Brief History Bulgarians’ most favorite shopping chain Customers’ Friend Business with a Cause Apart from following successful business practices, BILLA also supports significant social causes. The company’s aim is to make responsible business and to work in favor of society. Its efforts in the CSR field are focused on four key pillars: ❖ more sustainable products ❖ preserving the environment ❖ motivation and qualification of employees ❖ corporate social engagement BILLA is the one and only company in the retail sector in Bulgaria to issue a report, summarizing its achievements in the field of corporate social responsibility. The shopping chain has issued two reports so far – in 2016 and in 2017. Business with a Cause BILLA is a trustworthy partner of a number of non-profit organizations in Bulgaria, in cooperation with which it develops long-term projects in favor of society. Some of the NGOs the company works with are: Union of the Blind in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Red Cross, “I want a Baby“ foundation, SOS Children’s Villages. Protecting Environment Realizing that natural resources are limited, BILLA Bulgaria has developed a sustainable policy for minimizing the impact on environment and for increasing its energy efficiency. The company sets clear goals for protecting the environment and has achieved impressive results: ❖ Lower greenhouse gas emissions – nature friendly refrigerants were brought in all stores in Bulgaria and thus the greenhouse gas emissions were decreased with 21%. ❖ Waste=valuable resource – BILLA is the first retail chain in Bulgaria that started working actively on utilizing biodegradable waste. As a result, 28% of BILLA’s biodegradable waste was utilized and biogas was generated and later used for energy production. The company also increased the amount of recycled paper with 31% compared to 2014. Protecting Environment ❖ Energy Efficiency – BILLA is the first retail company in Bulgaria to be certified under the international energy standard ISO 50 001. The company introduced an energy management system, thanks to which it has the opportunity to set annual and long-term goals for decreasing the energy consumption and the greenhouse gas emissions. One of the major factors for the successful energy management is the innovative system, monitoring the consumption of electricity, called “ELECTRA“. It is fully automated and submits information to a web-based platform every 15 minutes, thanks to which detailed energy consumption analyses can be conducted. The system was launched in all 120 BILLA stores in Bulgaria, as well as in the storehouse in Stolnik. In 2017 BILLA achieved a relative decrease of used electricity per square meter sales area of 1 %, compared to the previous year. Despite the unfavorable weather conditions in the winter of 2017, the company also decreased the consumption per square meter sales areas of natural gas with 3.1% and of diesel for heating with 23.8%. Protecting Environment BILLA has its own energy management team that includes representatives of different departments. All employees of the retail chain have undergone special interactive trainings, related to the energy management process. The Energy manager holds meetings in the stores in case the system shows an issue and thus manages to resolve most of the problems. For More Children in Bulgaria As a socially responsible company, BILLA Bulgaria is motivated to fight one of the major problems in Bulgarian society – negative demographic trends. One of the reasons for the low birth rates is the reproductive problems many couples have. That is why BILLA and “I want a baby” foundation have united in the mission for supporting people who dream to have their own child. The retail chain and the organization have implemented two joint campaigns so far: ❖ In 2016, specially designed cards with photos of babies were sold in all BILLA stores, in order to collect funds for IVF procedures for couples with reproductive problems who could apply for the financial support. Almost 15 000 USD were raised only for a few months. 6 couples were randomly drawn and each of them received 2400 USD for an IVF procedure. For More Children in Bulgaria ❖ In 2017, BILLA organized another successful campaign, aiming to support couples with reproductive problems. Within a month, 0.5 cent of each sold BILLA brand product was donated for IVF procedures. 9 300 USD were collected in the campaign. 4 couples were randomly drawn and received a financial support of 2 300 USD. The most important result of the joint campaigns of BILLA Bulgarian and “I want a baby” foundation in 2016 and 2017 is that two of the couples supported have fulfilled their biggest dream and now have babies. One of the babies, Martina, was born on February 25th after her mom and dad had been waiting for their own child for 18 years. The other happy couple now has a lovely baby boy. Supporting Visually Impaired People BILLA Bulgaria’s major priority is making its stores easily accessible for all customers. That is why the company is a long-term partner of the Union of the Blind in Bulgaria, with which it works actively, in order to facilitate the daily life of visually impaired people: ❖ BILLA is the first retail chain in Bulgaria to introduce assisted shopping policy for visually impaired customers. The staff in all stores of the chain have undergone a special training, so that they could help and service blind people. ❖ BILLA introduced an innovative technology, in order to make its online brochures accessible for blind people. The content on the company’s website is played as a sound. ❖ BILLA regularly provides members of the Union of the Blind with special facilities such as white canes and talking blood pressure monitors. Helping People in Need In 2016 and 2017, BILLA Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Red Cross worked on a joint project, aiming to support indigent people, youths with mental disabilities, sick and lonely elderly people, single mothers with many children, etc. Specially branded shopping trolleys were positioned in all BILLA stores. All customers who wanted to support the cause could buy food products and leave them in the trolleys. Every month the retail chain donated 10 kg. of flour in each of the stores. The collected donations were given to the local branches of the Bulgarian Red Cross that distributed them to people in need. The project achieved significant results: ❖ 29 tones of food products collected since start ❖ More than 10 700 individual beneficiaries supported ❖ More than 90 institutional beneficiaries such as care homes for elderly and disabled people and family-type accommodation centers supported All Children Deserve Support BILLA Bulgaria does believe that all children deserve a safe and supportive environment. That is why the company is a long-term partner of “SOS Children’s Villages” organization that takes care for more than 600 kids and youths in foster families in Bulgaria. The retail chain regularly supports the organization through different campaigns: ❖ In 2016, BILLA donated almost 18 000 USD (12 000 USD – money and 6 000 USD – food vouchers) to “SOS Children’s Villages” and supported 203 kids and youths. The funds were used mainly for furnishing and renovation of the houses, where the children live together with the foster parents. ❖ In 2017, BILLA donated 3 700 USD to “SOS Children’s Villages”. The funds were used for covering the living costs of the children and for improving the conditions they live in. Preserving Bulgarian Culture and Historical Heritage One of the most significant CSR projects of BILLA Bulgaria is the long-term national campaign “We love Bulgaria”, whose goal is providing financial support for some of the most significant monuments in Bulgaria. Official partners of the project are the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism. The campaign has been implemented two years in a row so far (in 2016 and 2017). It is the first so large-scale campaign in Bulgaria, devoted exactly to preserving culture and historical heritage. Both in 2016, and in 2017 “We love Bulgaria” managed to unite Bulgarians around a significant cause and to focus the attention of the whole society on a really important topic. The logo of “We love Bulgaria” campaign Preserving Bulgarian Culture and Historical Heritage There are many monuments in Bulgaria in a poor condition, but the resources of the responsible state institutions are limited, so restoration sometimes seems like “mission impossible”. That is why alternative solutions need to be sought, so that these sites could be restored. “We love Bulgaria” campaign “makes this mission possible” and thus contributes to solving a serious problem such as the maintenance of the culture and historical sites.