In 2023, 11,200 trees will be planted thanks to an increase in the customer base following the acquisition of Sopron Bank Burgenland last year.

In 2019, the financial institution has committed to planting a tree equal to the number of its customers, with the help of Erdőmentők Foundation, and to plant a sapling on behalf of each new customer who opens an account. By extending its tree planting programme year after year, the MagNet Oak Forests now have altogether 50,000 trees in the Duna-Ipoly National Park and the forests surrounding Esztergom, plus more than 11,000 saplings have been committed by the end of 2023.

More information:

https://www.magnetbank.hu/en/magnet-oaks

SPAR Hungary supports several organisations and causes relating to healthcare, social benefit, education, culture, sport, and animal welfare every year. They also support Hungarian small businesses by putting their products on the shelves of SPAR stores.

The company organises and sponsors charitable initiatives throughout the whole year.  Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary explained: “Our company spent more than 224 million forints on supporting worthy causes last year. We are proud of all our initiatives and our customers as well who always take these opportunities and support our charity campaigns.” The retail chain has been working together closely with the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta for 26 years. Their shared mindsets, ideas, and initiatives resulted in several returning charity campaigns, and thanks to new initiatives, the list of beneficiaries continuously grows. The charity organisation received almost 47.4 million forints worth of financial support and donations with the help of SPAR Hungary and their customers in 2022. Donation cards purchased by customers made up 24.7 million forints of this total. As a result of the joint charity collection campaigns, they distributed 143 tonnes of food and more than 58 000 items of school supplies to those in need.

Twelve tonnes of dry pet food for animals in need

SPAR Hungary and the Országos Állatvédőrség Alapítvány (National Animal Rights Foundation) arranged a two-day national pet food donation campaign called “Mancs a bajban!”  (Paw in trouble!) in May 2022 for the second year. The activists of the animal protection organisation collected more than 10 000 kg of dry food for dogs, 3500 cans, more than 1700 kg of dry food for cats, 2700 cans, 4400 pouches and 1400 kg of cat litter at selected INTERSPAR stores. The company involved customers with the “Paw in trouble!” pet food donation campaign to help four-legged friends in trouble, whilst trying to raise awareness for the importance of responsible pet ownership and animal protection, as well as providing people with a deeper insight to the invaluable work of NGOs. On top of this SPAR Hungary has been supporting the work of local animal shelters, zoos, and wildlife parks for more than ten years by donating their surplus and not for sale animal products to them.

SPAR employees’ children enjoyed happy camping adventures

As one of Hungary’s biggest employers, SPAR Hungary gives their employees’ children the opportunity to go summer camping. Every single year over the last decade – except for 2020 because of the pandemic – SPAR has arranged camping for employees’ children, spending more than 200 million forints since 2013 to support the joyful holidays of 4000 kids in different camps, all of which are a minimum 5-days long. As well as being a great adventure for these children, the camping opportunity means a great deal of help in planning the summer holiday period for the employees of the SPAR Group.

School supplies for disadvantaged children

With the ‘Joy to Give!’ (Adni Öröm!) school supply donation campaign during summer, customers get a chance to support disadvantaged children at the start of the school year by purchasing donation cards at INTERSPAR stores as well as buying notebooks, stationary items, pencil cases, school bags, PE bags, and other useful supplies and hand them over to the volunteers of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta in the stores. The charity organisation distributes the donated supplies, and the equipment they purchased with the money raised at the beginning of September to the families in need. The initiative was launched by SPAR in 2021 in partnership with the charity organisation and became a tradition returning in 2022. Customers donated more than 58 000 items of school supplies and more than 2 million forints worth of donation cards to support the campaign this year. SPAR Hungary topped up the donations with an additional one million forints. The Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta helped about 1,500 children to have new school supplies, PE accessories, and other necessary school equipment with the support of SPAR’s customers in 2022.

Equal Opportunities Run and donation campaign at the SPAR Budapest Maraton® Festival

Last year in October there were thousands of participants from 800 Hungarian locations and 83 different countries at the 37th Spar Budapest Maraton® Festival.  A special feature of the event was the 10th FODISZ Equal Opportunities Run. This event invited people living with disabilities, reduced mobility and young people who want to express their solidarity with them to run a symbolic 500m race. The aim of the programme is to give children living with disabilities, who don’t necessarily do such activities on a daily basis, the chance to experience the joy and excitement of the competition. During the 2-day program aimed at promoting sports, there are also several charity campaigns organised.

Joy to Give! returns before the Christmas holidays

The joint charity campaign between the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta and SPAR, ‘Joy to Give!’ Christmas charity campaign helped disadvantaged people in need to be able to share the joy of Christmas for the 26th consecutive year. The volunteers of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta were present in the selected SPAR and INTERSPAR stores before Christmas to collect non-perishable food donations. Continuing the tradition, donation cards were available for purchase from the 1st of December in stores and the SPAR online shop. During the festive season many people want to show their solidarity and empathy; according to a survey conducted at the request of SPAR Hungary, 43% of the respondents said that they can almost see the faces of those they are helping when they donate, and most people prefer to do more personal donations. To help SPAR’s customers to express these feelings, the store chain provided the option to send messages on big greeting cards or online to the people receiving their donations which made the whole experience even more personal. ‘Joy to Give!’, the joint campaign between the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta and SPAR Hungary, contributed to the creation of gift bags made from 143 tonnes worth of food donations in 2022. This amount helped making the Christmas period brighter and merrier for 19 500 families.  The customers of SPAR’s online shop raised more than 7.3 million forints in donations to contribute to the campaign and help build these gift bags.

The cost of 200 000 aluminium cans donated to children’s holiday camps

SPAR Hungary customers help significantly reduce environmental pressure and simultaneously support the holidays of children in need if they return used aluminium cans to the purpose-built machines. The process is very simple; when customers return their used aluminium cans to the selected collection machines by SPAR and INTERSPAR stores they need to press the donation button at the end to be able to donate the value of the returned cans to charity. Thanks to the initiative there were 200 000 cans collected in 2022, which is equal to more than three tonnes of recyclable aluminium. The amount that was raised is close to one million forints and will be used by the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta to fund the holidaying of disadvantaged children.

More and more Hungarian products for shoppers

SPAR Hungary is committed to supporting Hungarian farmers, family enterprises, domestic agriculture and processing industry – promoting Hungarian producers, products and innovations is a cornerstone of its business philosophy. They are supported by the Hungaricool product competition, which started in 2019, for exciting high-quality products made in Hungary, which are newly developed or, if they already exist, are not yet widely available in retail chains. For customers this provides the opportunity to have access to more and more good quality, locally sourced products every year. The Hungaricool product competition was organised for the fourth time in 2022, and as well as SPAR, the original creator, K&H Bank played an even more active role last year. They offered personal financial advice and financial support for the winners who were also supported with marketing aid and training courses by the SPAR Supplier Academy. The main goal of this is to equip Hungarian small businesses with the knowledge on how to build a brand which promotes further product developments and customers can benefit from this as well. Following the past three Hungaricool rounds so far, 26 winning suppliers are present on the shelves of the retail chain with a total of more than a hundred products. SPAR also supports local small-scale producers with their Regional Treasures program which provides them with a spot on their shelves. When customers buy products with the red apple logo on them, they support the small-scale producers of the different Hungarian regions.

SPAR Helping Hands Programme

SPAR Hungary is happy to support organisations that promote causes of significant social importance and their action campaigns whenever they can. Therefore, the store chain launched a tender system years ago which provides a transparent way and equal opportunity to support different initiatives. In 2022 there were 80 NGOs who received financial support worth of 8.5 million forints through the SPAR Helping Hands tender.

SPAR Hungary’s sustainability initiatives are updated and available using the following link: www.sparafenntarthatojovoert.hu

Runaway energy prices have created unexpected difficulties for civil society actors. For example, the Szimbiózis Foundation, which helps adults with disabilities and severe disabilities to live as independently as possible, has incurred over HUF 74 million in extra costs due to the surge in overheads and fuel prices.

The unsustainability of the situation is illustrated by the fact that several organisations operating residential homes in Miskolc, among others, have been forced to switch to wood-burning. To do this, they produced part of the firewood they needed from the Baráthegyi Majorság, which they also run, and were able to make up for this with Alteo’s financial support, which enabled them to buy an additional 100 cubic metres of firewood.

“As a responsible, ESG-certified company, ALTEO feels obliged to help alleviate the symptoms where it is difficult to eliminate the problem in the short term, in addition to long-term energy efficiency projects,” said Anita Simon, Deputy CEO for Sustainability and Circular Economy of the company, which is listed in the premium category of the Budapest Stock Exchange.

“The humanity, acceptance and community spirit at the foundation is exemplary,” said Anita Simon. She added that it was particularly gratifying to be able to help in this difficult situation, as energy poverty has serious consequences, from health risks to social isolation and environmental damage.

To find out more about the work of the Szimbiózis Foundation, visit https://szimbiozis.net/, where you can also find information on how to support the organisation.

Every 100th new customer who opens an account under the Bank’s Nyiss és nyerj! promotion between Jan 1st- 30th of June, 2023 wins an electric scooter and every 1000th customer wins an electric bike.

By opening an account, the bank also aims to promote green, emission-free modes of transportation, as the Community Bank considers the preservation of the environment and living space to be one of its high importance missions.

More information:

https://www.magnetbank.hu/en/open-an-account-win-an-e-scooter

Behind SPAR Hungary’s constant quality retail and service activities is the continuous hard work and dedication of its employees, as well as the innovative, sustainable solutions which were recently acknowledged with prestigious awards.

Gabriella Heiszler, president and CEO, received the Klauzál Gábor Certificate of Appreciation and the Grand Prize for Hungarian Trade awarded to Szilvia Csepeli 

Every year, the European Trade Day is one of the most prestigious events in the industry, where in addition to panel discussions, the most esteemed trade awards are presented. The event was launched by the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ) with the intention of creating a tradition 18 years ago. Over the past two decades it has grown to become one of the most prestigious forums of the profession, highlighting the importance of this sector in the economic life of our country. The aim of the event is not only to bring the attention to trade as a profession, but also to recognise its outstanding representatives. Traditionally and now a staple of the event, the Gábor Klauzál Certificates of Appreciation and the Grand Prize for Hungarian Trade, the most prestigious awards are presented. SPAR Hungary is proud that this year, president and CEO, Gabriella Heiszler received the Gábor Klauzál Certificate of Appreciation for her outstanding and exemplary work for trade. It was presented to her by Dr. István Nagy, Minister of Agriculture, the main patron of the event. Similarly, on the European Trade Day, Szilvia Csepeli, head of the vegetable department at SPAR’s store nr. 170, was awarded the Grand Prize for Hungarian Trade.

Ildikó Szijjné Kállai, personnel development and HR manager named the Innovative HR Manager of the Year

For the third time, Behaviour HR magazine launched the “HR Manager of the Year” contest. The judges awarded Ildikó Szijjné Kállai, the Personnel Development and HR Manager of SPAR Hungary, the “Innovative HR Manager of the Year” award. During the competition, managers with an outstanding career path are recognised every year for their excellent performance, innovative solutions, significant contribution to the success of their company, and the creation of a stable organisational culture. This year again, the HR managers were nominated for the award via recommendation, and in the second round, they submitted their projects which were evaluated by a judging panel of well-known professionals.

LC Packaging TPI Kft., the manufacturer of SPAR’s innovative roll blankets wins special award

The National Association of Packaging and Material Handling (CSAOSZ) organised the Hungaropack Hungarian Packaging Competition for the 39th time, and this year LC Packaging TPI Kft. received a special award from the Ministry of Technology and Industry for the roll blanket; the sustainable plastic-based packaging used by SPAR Hungary. The 3000 roll blankets delivered by LC Packaging are made of 30% recycled rPP (Recycled polypropylene), and this environmentally friendly innovation was recognised by the ministry with a special award. The purpose of the competition is to showcase the development of Hungarian packaging technology and to selflessly support the fast and wide dissemination of these new products.

Advertising tools receive the POPAI-award

The Hungarian POPAI (Part of the Shop Global Network) Association granted two awards to SPAR Hungary at the POPAI Awards Hungary 2022 POP competition this year. The company won the awards with point-of-sale advertising tools together with POS Services Kft., their partner who designs and manufactures these tools. SPAR’s Spinach totem was awarded in the non-durable category, and the condiments shelf flags equipped with LED lighting won in the campaign category. These tools were designed for in-store advertising of the company’s own branded products and can be found in all of 10 of the INTERSPAR hypermarkets.