Coca-Cola's Refreshing Impact in Brazil

Leading Shared Value
Apr 15, 2014 6:30 PM ET
Brian Smith, President, Latin America Group of The Coca-Cola Company
In the new series, Leading Shared Value: Personal Reflections from Global Practitioners, the Shared Value Initiative will speak with global leaders who are driving shared value strategy within their organization. Today we interview Brian Smith, President, Latin America Group of The Coca-Cola Company. Mr. Smith will speak at the Shared Value Leadership Summit: Investing in Prosperity, May 13-14 in New York.
 

What does the success of shared value look like for you? Tell us your favorite example. 

For me, shared value success looks like the more than 50,000 youth ages 15 through 25 who have completed Coca-Cola Coletivo. Coletivo began in Brazil as a platform for self-esteem and job preparedness training for urban youth, and its initial impacts are inspiring. Approximately 30 percent of graduates begin employment within four months of finishing the program, and graduates report a 20 percent increase in their self-esteem – one of our most important impacts. We’re seeing an average income increase of 40 percent for families where a Coletivo graduate is employed, as well as tangible impacts on our business in Coletivo communities. 

The success of Coletivo Retail prompts us to think bigger. We’ve challenged ourselves to think about how our value chain, our capillarity and our ability to connect with communities can transform social challenges.

Our thinking has evolved during the last five years, and the Coletivo platform has now expanded in Brazil to seven different models focused on all kinds of demographics, from women artisans to rural acai harvesters in the Amazon. Coca-Cola Coletivo is truly a transformational shared value approach – contributing solutions to social issues that range from youth unemployment to lack of market access for agricultural commodities – in ways that strengthen our own core business.

Today, we are committed to taking this model and its potential for positive impact even further. In partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, we are refining Coletivo to scale relevant parts of the program, both across Brazil and in Latin America.

- See more at: http://sharedvalue.org/groups/coca-colas-refreshing-impact-brazil#sthash.DXhu0k8z.dpuf

In the new series, Leading Shared Value: Personal Reflections from Global Practitioners, the Shared Value Initiative will speak with global leaders who are driving shared value strategy within their organization. Today we interview Brian Smith, President, Latin America Group of The Coca-Cola Company. Mr. Smith will speak at the Shared Value Leadership Summit: Investing in Prosperity, May 13-14 in New York.
 

What does the success of shared value look like for you? Tell us your favorite example. 

For me, shared value success looks like the more than 50,000 youth ages 15 through 25 who have completed Coca-Cola Coletivo. Coletivo began in Brazil as a platform for self-esteem and job preparedness training for urban youth, and its initial impacts are inspiring. Approximately 30 percent of graduates begin employment within four months of finishing the program, and graduates report a 20 percent increase in their self-esteem – one of our most important impacts. We’re seeing an average income increase of 40 percent for families where a Coletivo graduate is employed, as well as tangible impacts on our business in Coletivo communities. 

The success of Coletivo Retail prompts us to think bigger. We’ve challenged ourselves to think about how our value chain, our capillarity and our ability to connect with communities can transform social challenges.

Our thinking has evolved during the last five years, and the Coletivo platform has now expanded in Brazil to seven different models focused on all kinds of demographics, from women artisans to rural acai harvesters in the Amazon. Coca-Cola Coletivo is truly a transformational shared value approach – contributing solutions to social issues that range from youth unemployment to lack of market access for agricultural commodities – in ways that strengthen our own core business.

Today, we are committed to taking this model and its potential for positive impact even further. In partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, we are refining Coletivo to scale relevant parts of the program, both across Brazil and in Latin America.

- See more at: http://sharedvalue.org/groups/coca-colas-refreshing-impact-brazil#sthash.DXhu0k8z.dpuf

Here is an excerpt. Read the full interview at sharedvalue.org.

What does the success of shared value look like for you? Tell us your favorite example.

For me, shared value success looks like the more than 50,000 youth ages 15 through 25 who have completed Coca-Cola Coletivo. Coletivo began in Brazil as a platform for self-esteem and job preparedness training for urban youth, and its initial impacts are inspiring. Approximately 30 percent of graduates begin employment within four months of finishing the program, and graduates report a 20 percent increase in their self-esteem – one of our most important impacts. We’re seeing an average income increase of 40 percent for families where a Coletivo graduate is employed, as well as tangible impacts on our business in Coletivo communities.

The success of Coletivo Retail prompts us to think bigger. We’ve challenged ourselves to think about how our value chain, our capillarity and our ability to connect with communities can transform social challenges.

Our thinking has evolved during the last five years, and the Coletivo platform has now expanded in Brazil to seven different models focused on all kinds of demographics, from women artisans to rural acai harvesters in the Amazon. Coca-Cola Coletivo is truly a transformational shared value approach – contributing solutions to social issues that range from youth unemployment to lack of market access for agricultural commodities – in ways that strengthen our own core business.

Today, we are committed to taking this model and its potential for positive impact even further. In partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, we are refining Coletivo to scale relevant parts of the program, both across Brazil and in Latin America...Read the full interview at sharedvalue.org.

Learn more and register for the Shared Value Leadership Summit: Investing in Prosperity.