Social Inclusion

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

On numerous occasions, our volunteers have taken to the field alongside Special Olympics athletes competing in various national and world competitions. During these days of unity, volunteer colleagues from Coca-Cola HBC Italia and Coca-Cola Italia who participated in the corporate volunteer program supported the athletes and encouraged them to take on this great challenge.

Every year, on the occasion of the Milano Relay Marathon—a non-competitive city relay race that allows runners to run as a team for a charitable cause, supporting the projects of nonprofit organizations—we continue to involve our colleagues at the Milan office in supporting the many local organizations with which we are affiliated.

For over 20 years, we have been a partner of the Fondazione Banco Alimentare ETS: a collaboration that, over the years alone, has made it possible to distribute food equivalent to over 16 million meals, thereby supporting policies aimed at combating food waste, poverty, and social exclusion.

This approach is brought to life through activities with social and cultural impact, which we carry out through product donations and the commitment of our employees. In addition, during the Christmas markets at our factories in Oricola, Fonti del Vulture, Marcianise, Lurisia, and Gaglianico, we raised additional funds for the Fondazione Banco Alimentare through the sale of Coca-Cola products at the employee-only Christmas markets. We are not alone in this effort: throughout the year, we have supported the Foundation through partnerships with Amazon, Autogrill, Bar Atlantic (Esselunga), and MD.

We are deeply committed to combating gender discrimination, and our dedication to creating a welcoming and merit-based workplace is further underscored by the gender equality certification we received from the startup IDEM, which recognized the company’s efforts to better value female talent.

With the goal of engaging women and promoting career growth opportunities for them in technical and scientific fields, we are continuing existing initiatives such as GIRLS in STEM—an award sponsored by the Coca-Cola HBC Italia Foundation and presented to five female students as part of the “Impresa in azione” program developed by Junior Achievement—who demonstrate outstanding leadership skills, entrepreneurial spirit, and expertise in STEM disciplines.