This spring the SPAR Supplier Academy got featured in the curriculum of the Budapest Metropolitan University. The students of the university got the chance to work on the real-life marketing issues of the participating SMEs of SPAR’s two popular supplier improvement programmes over the course of the last six months.

SPAR Hungary’s Supplier Academy has been supporting Hungarian food producers and enterprises for a long time and this year a new line of support has been added to their programmes. The suppliers who participate in the company’s Hungaricool and Regional Treasures programmes got the opportunity to receive marketing advice from the students of the Budapest Metropolitan University. The applicants got a chance to present the marketing challenges and issues their companies were facing. “Most of our suppliers that participate in our programmes find themselves in a very similar situation. They have to make some serious business decisions that will have an effect on the future of their enterprises and brands and therefore, they can really use some professional advisory,” said Attila Tollas, regional procurement team leader at SPAR Hungary who worked with full-time and part-time marketing students on the challenges of 16 different companies. As a result of the programme SPAR Hungary didn’t only help Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises to develop and progress but also provided students with a chance to improve their practical skills. The entrepreneurs were really glad to be able to involve young people with fresh eyes and different views in their decision-making process. The students enjoyed the joint work too, since they appreciate the importance of practical and real-life tasks as opposed to just theoretical learning.

“As part of the practice-orientated courses at METU we prepare our students for professional challenges and therefore they often work on different projects, some of which are mock projects and some with real companies involved during the semester,” explains Dr. Rita Lukács, head of the Institute of Marketing at Budapest Metropolitan University. She also added: “With their help the participants of the course got the chance to practise finding the solutions of real marketing challenges over the course of the semester. In these cases, their responsibility was much higher as opposed to working on mock case studies, because they helped building the marketing strategies of 16 real SMEs as part of their course a METU”.

SPAR Hungary announced a winning team amongst full-time and part-time students as well. The best project prize by full-time students was awarded to the one prepared for Virágbéke Méz Manufaktúra Kft. and the best presentation that got the highest score of the part-time groups was prepared for Funky Forest.

“I find the cooperation of SPAR and METU an outstanding opportunity as well as the option to get professional advice from students, so it was a no-brainer that I would apply,’ said the lead beekeeper of Virágbéke, Attila Gál whose enterprise is one of the participants of the Regional Treasures programme. “We are really pleased that the team working on our brand was announced to be the winner. We gained some really useful insights into the honey consumption preferences of the different age groups,” he added.

“As one of the winners of the Hungaricool product competition, we welcomed this new opportunity and were glad to provide the students with professional details. We were also very grateful to receive their invaluable suggestions and recommendations,” added Katalin Sarkadi, head of marketing at Funky Forest.

SPAR Hungary also gave out consolation prizes to the participating full-time and part-time students which means that there were altogether 20 students from METU to receive awards from SPAR.  The winning teams can be really proud of their achievements and were also invited to be featured on SPAR’s ‘I Love Hazai’ podcast.

For more than a quarter of a century, SPAR Hungary has been a strategic partner of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta and cooperates with the organisation in many areas to help disadvantaged fellow human beings. With a new joint initiative, since September 2022, they also regularly deliver daily food donations to those in greatest need.

SPAR joined the Munch food rescue app last year, which allows shoppers to rescue food that would otherwise end up in the bin. After a six-month trial period, from June this year, all SPAR and INTERSPAR stores offer shoppers the opportunity to access packages of products at up to 66 per cent off the price, depending on stock levels, using the Munch app. If the food products are not sold through Munch, good-quality goods will not be lost, because thanks to the cooperation with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service, they will be given directly to the needy, the elderly, people battling illnesses and the homeless.

“Since September last year, we have distributed almost 174 tonnes of good-quality food to people in need through our food rescue programme, with the help of the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service. The organisation currently has a permanent relationship with 27 SPAR and INTERSPAR stores. From these locations, an average of 150 crates of food donations each day, typically vegetables, fruit, bakery, meat and dairy products, are delivered to people in need,” explained Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary. He also added that in the coming weeks, three more stores across the country are expected to join the noble initiative.

While in the first month of the joint initiative, in September 2022, 423 kilogrammes of food was delivered to the needy, by March and April this year the amount had already increased to more than 30 000 kilograms, and with the addition of new stores, this number is expected to rise even further.

“Every weekday morning, a staff member from the logistics centre of the Maltese Charity on Határ Road visits the shops in Budapest, while our colleagues throughout the country do the same job. In Budapest, among other places, we deliver food to the 29 families of the Zugló Family Transition Home of the House of Inclusion, whose daily expenses are significantly reduced by regular food donations, and also to the Rimaszombati Road Social Centre, a shelter for homeless people that serves as a night shelter and daytime warming centre, where food is distributed to the residents and people in need who come in during the day. At the Zombori Road House of Care – Shelter for the Homeless, where elderly and sick homeless people are sheltered and there is also a disinfectant bathing station, the rescued food is used in a variety of ways: sandwiches are made for people who come to the baths, while the residents cook together. In rural communities, the food donation helps elderly people, families in difficult situations and homeless people with their daily needs,” said Tamás Romhányi, head of communications of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, with some examples of how food taken over from the Hungarian retail chain helps the needy.

Mielemed MPM Kft., founded in 2020 and operating as a micro company deals with trading and consultancy of three main product lines that promote and support sustainability: Miele equipment distribution, service and sale of refurbished equipment; Distribution of AirQuality AQT air filter and disinfection equipment in the comfort, industrial and kitchen areas; Distribution of Airlite AT air-disinfecting construction industry wall paints for use in commercial, industrial and residential properties.

With the technologies they represent and sell, they make a significant contribution to reducing the environmental burden of the construction industry and the buildings they operate, because they enable an outstanding level of waste avoidance and electricity savings.

Their sustainability strategy is based on four basic pillars, such as the reduction of excessive and unnecessary consumption (the use and sale of products and equipment with a significantly longer lifespan than average, they act in the direction of a circular economy instead of a linear economy); digitalization and energy saving (the technologies they represent help to save energy); social responsibility (supporting the work of civil and non-profit organizations and foundations, either by volunteering or by providing their service free of charge); and action and attitude formation (immediate action without delay, by example).

They are creating their goals for each sustainability sub-area in the spirit of these, and in their climate protection aims – as a construction industry supplier – they are also keeping in mind the “Zero Carbon Recommendation” of the HuGBC.

Their goal is to become a well-known company in the field of energy-efficient, sustainable and healthy environment technologies an in the coming years.  For this, they consider that to belong to credible professional organizations is indispensable in order to obtain scientifically based knowledge and to be able to invest their work into useful and effective methods and good practices.

The company, founded in 2020, offers a wide range of HR services, such as recruitment, executive search, niche sourcing and workforce strategies, as well as consultancy and “green strategies” solutions. All their activities are deeply influenced by their main guiding principle, sustainability. Their goal is to shape the world of talent and recruitment together with their clients in the new green economy. As they put it: “We want our grandchildren to see snow; therefore, we must “Make the world greener through the power of people and organizations”. By “transforming organizations to becoming net-zero where humanity and nature flourish while respecting, abiding and promoting the 3ple bottom-line approach of People-Planet-Profit””. Our purpose is to “Create intrinsic, sustainable ESG changes for our clients by driving its potential”. We do this by “Mobilizing our client’s internal talent through collaboration and searching for external talent to create tangible change”.

They are also committed to sustainability in their own operations. As a micro company, they mainly have personal emissions due to their service offering and operating framework. They strive to minimize these by, for example, using shared offices, cycling to work and to the clients, limiting printing on paper, and supporting remote work and flexible working conditions.

They foster a diverse, inclusive, and supportive work environment where every individual is respected, valued, and given equal opportunities to thrive.

This year, they want to be certified as a “B Corporation” so that they can be among the companies that answer the question of how business can be instruments of positive social change.

This September, they will prepare their first report on green talent.

They joined BCSDH in order to become members of a community of like-minded people and businesses.

Sustainable gastronomy is one of the main topics of METRO’s CSR activities is. METRO Hungary launched the METRO Sustainable Gastronomy Award in 2022. The prize is awarded in three categories to a person, a restaurant and an organization doing their best in the field of sustainable gastronomy. The award is presented every year in June in honor of Sustainable Gastronomy Day (18th June). This year, on June 8 10:00-14:00 the METRO Sustainable Gastronomy forum and award ceremony will be held at the METRO Gastronomy Academy in Budaörs. The accompanying program of the conference and the award ceremony is a great initiative supported by METRO: the Séf the World environmental competition cooking show organized by the Hungarian Association of Conservationists and the National Association of Caterers and Food Managers. Alternative protein sources, the upcycling method, sustainable canteens and clean energies are discussed at the forum. The highlight of the program is the presentation of the METRO Sustainable Gastronomy Awards!

The participation on the event is free, but registration is required! The detailed program is available on METRO’s website. Registration for the event: kommunikacio@metro.co.hu