We believe that diversity is a value and a trigger for positive energy and opportunities: the prerequisites for the hiring, employment, training, remuneration and career advancement of the more than 2,000 people who work in Coca-Cola HBC Italia are only skills, results and experience.

Our commitment to enhancing diversity and inclusion goes back a long way and is reflected in the way we do business. The inclusive work environment is the first result of this commitment. In this vein, we have become guarantors of the fundamental rights of workers, such as health insurance and marriage leave for all, even before the approval of the Cirinnà law.

We organize a series of internal training and awareness moments annually to promote an environment free from prejudices, even unconscious, related to sexual orientation, gender and disability.

Since 1968, the year when the first Special Olympics Games were held, Coca-Cola has been a founding partner and global sponsor of Special Olympics to contribute to the great mission of supporting the extraordinary abilities and potential of people with intellectual disabilities, promoting unified sports as a tool capable of bringing people together and transforming their lives.

In 2024, our volunteers took the field alongside the Athletes of Special Olympics Italy who participated in the XXXV National Winter Games: 500 athletes from all over Italy competed in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding, snowshoe running, and sports dance, in the locations of Sestriere and Pragelato (TO) and in Entracque and Borgo San Dalmazzo (CN), in Piedmont.

During these days of unity, there was great joy and emotion among the 31 volunteer colleagues (from Coca-Cola HBC Italia and Coca-Cola Italia) who joined the corporate volunteering activity, supporting the athletes and encouraging them to face this great challenge. On the occasion of the XXXV edition of the National Winter Games of Special Olympics, we collaborated with the Mercatò supermarket chain, active between Piedmont and Lombardy with about 100 stores, to promote the event inside Mercatò, Mercatò Local, Mercatò Big and Mercatò Extra stores in Piedmont and Liguria, through the provision of visibility materials, thus helping to raise consumer awareness on the importance of inclusion and to support the athletes who participated in this extraordinary sporting event as part of the Special Olympics campaign “Adopt a Champion.”

MILANO RELAY MARATHON

On the occasion of the Milan Relay Marathon 2024, the city’s non-competitive relay race that allows runners to run in teams for a charitable cause, supporting the projects of non-profit organizations, as Coca-Cola HBC Italia we ran alongside Special Olympics Italy.

In Italy, we have been among the first companies to embrace the cause of LGBTQIA+ rights, committing ourselves inside and outside the organization to concrete support for local projects and taking to the streets alongside the community for Pride celebrations in the regions where we operate, such as Milan, Naples, Turin, and with the Padua Pride Village, developing projects together in the communities with a focus on shelters.

We are deeply committed to fighting gender discrimination and our commitment to creating a welcoming and meritocratic workplace is also confirmed by the achievement of gender equality certification by the startup IDEM, which has recognized the path started by the company towards greater enhancement of female talent.

With the aim of bringing together and promoting growth paths for women in the technical and scientific fields, we give continuity to projects already active such as GIRLS in STEM, the award promoted by the Coca-Cola HBC Italia Foundation that is awarded to five female students, within the "Business in action" program conceived by Junior Achievement, who show strong leadership skills, entrepreneurial spirit and skills in the field of STEM disciplines.

We believe in sport and its values and we support it at various levels. Since 1928 we have been sponsors of the International Olympic Committee, renewing our support until 2032. We have been supporting Special Olympics for over 20 years in Italy , to contribute to the great mission of supporting the extraordinary potential of those with intellectual disabilities, enhancing sport as a tool capable of uniting people and transforming their lives. Since 1974 we have also been close to the world of football as a sponsor of the UEFA™ European Championship.