SPAR Hungary spent a total of 736 million forints on the modernisation of three stores, one in Miskolc, one in Sopron, and another in Tatabánya. As a result of the company’s self-funded developments, the interior of the supermarkets has been modernised and their operations became more energy efficient.

“SPAR Hungary uses significant financial resources to renovate existing stores each year. I am happy to announce that our customers can now visit three renovated SPAR supermarkets in Miskolc, Sopron, and Tatabánya because of a 736 million HUF self-funded investment project. As part of our modernisation programme, it is not only our store interiors that are renewed but in line with our strategic ambitions, we also focused on environmentally-friendly and energy saving aspects during the implementation. Our customers will be greeted with a fresh and broad range and ongoing discounts in the modernised supermarkets,” shared Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR.

The SPAR supermarket under 18 Kodály square in Sopron was renovated using investment of 286 million forints. As part of the improvement the layout of the shop floor has changed, the fruit and vegetable section has become more focused, and the check-out areas were updated in line with SPAR’s latest interior design concept. In the store that reopens on the 28 November, customers will find the newly added grilled food chafers with fresh meals.  The shop floor received new refrigerators and the old freezers have been replaced by upright freezer units. The lighting of the store is powered by energy efficient LED lights and a new, environmentally friendly, CO2-based heating system has been installed. The supermarkets also received new refrigeration cabinets with doors as another energy efficient solution.

SPAR Hungary carried out a 283 million HUF investment at a busy supermarket in Tatabánya. The store at “Gál István lakótelep” will welcome back customers after reopening on the 28th of November with a reverse layout. The entrance was moved to the previous check-out area followed by the fruit and vegetable section, the bakery products, deli area, dairy section and finally the freezers. The deli section now has grilled food chafers to welcome customers with fresh meals. The shop floor received new freezers and the check-out zone has been refurbished as well. The store has also been equipped with energy saving LED lighting and the heating of the building is provided by a new, environmentally friendly, CO2-based system.  The new fridges equipped with doors act as further means of energy efficiency.

Under 9-11 Klapka György street in Miskolc the SPAR store was renovated from a budget of 167 million forints. The design of the shop floor follows SPAR’s minimalistic concept and was also equipped with new service counter fridges. The store also updated its check-out area and installed new drinks fridges. As a result of the investment the store has become more transparent and provides a convenient shopping experience. The shop floor of Miskolc store, which reopened on the 31st of October, is lit by energy efficient LED lights which will help cost reduction.

Compocity is a hardware-enabled gamified software solution that turns waste into impact, aligns with ESG and SDG goals, and drives tangible community-powered local greening actions via a B2B system.

Continuing our commitment to innovation, we are excited to announce two new developments designed to foster employee engagement and support sustainability initiatives:

• The CompoBot’s new display is even more engaging: New features allow for the display of custom names and logos on the home screen, as well as real-time information.
• App quiz feature: The latest version of our mobile app includes a quiz feature that allows users to playfully expand their knowledge of composting and sustainability through themed daily and weekly question sets.

📈 Growing Our Sustainable Reach:
As part of our mission to expand the corporate sustainability transition, we are delighted to announce that our services will launch in Bucharest and Vienna in 2025. While developing our service locations, we will incorporate additional strategic cities, with future pilot projects planned for London and Warsaw in the second phase. We aim to involve as many businesses as possible in the sustainability movement, positively impacting communities and ecosystems in key urban areas. Together, we can continue the transformative, mindset-shifting, and tangible value-creating work of ESG compliance.

Here’s to Many More Achievements Together!
We look forward to what we’ll accomplish together in the coming years as we expand and deepen our shared commitment to ESG principles. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or ideas; we’re always here to help!

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Warm regards,
The Compocity Team
Compocity Website

In line with tradition, at its International Green Finance Conference, MNB (Hungarian National Bank) presented the Green Finance Awards to financial institutions leading the way on sustainability issues. At the sixth edition of the event, Allianz Hungária Zrt. won the Green Insurance and Pension Fund Award. When judging the Award, the MNB primarily took into account the level of assets under management in ESG related  funds available, where Allianz Hungária’s performance is outstanding.

Allianz Hungária places great emphasis on taking sustainability into account not only in its own operations, but also in its insurance and investment portfolio, whether it is product development (e.g. insuring electric vehicles), solutions to support green transition (e.g. insuring solar and wind farms) or even green investment funds.  A few weeks ago, the insurer launched two dark green asset funds, which are backed by sustainable investments in companies that pursue environmental or social goals, thereby actively promoting sustainability objectives through their portfolios. The light green funds also promote environmental or social aspects, but do not necessarily have sustainability as their sole objective; rather, they encourage responsible behaviour by the issuing companies. Allianz Hungária currently manages approximately HUF 29 billion in the latter category of asset funds, which represents 12.5 percent of the net asset value of all funds of the insurer.

“Allianz was founded 134 years ago with a mission to help make the future of its customers, employees and society as a whole more predictable and secure by managing risks properly, and has been committed to sustainability from the very beginning,” said Gergely Bacsó, CEO of Allianz Hungária, at the award ceremony. In recent times, more and more people have experienced first-hand the significant impact climate change has on both individuals and businesses: it threatens people’s health, homes and incomes, while for companies it poses a serious risk to physical assets and business continuity. In Hungary, for example, in the short term, with insurers’ storm-related claims settlements exceeding HUF 10 billion in both the 2023 and 2024 summer storm seasons, nearly as much was spent on storm damage payments in the last two years as in the five-year period 2016-2020 combined, and more than HUF 40 billion was paid to farmers for drought damage in 2022.

“All these events pose significant challenges for insurers: we need to take proactive steps to manage risks effectively and pay increased attention to risk mitigation and prevention”, said Gergely Bacsó. He added: – “We need solutions that integrate the broad spectrum and aspects of sustainability in order to protect the values and future of our customers and our communities.”

It is no coincidence that one of the cornerstones of the Allianz Group’s climate change strategy is to consciously prepare for the risks associated with climate change. In addition, the Group is actively supporting its customers in reducing the damage and risks of climate change and is taking targeted action to create a low-carbon economy. Last September, the Group published its highly ambitious transition plan, which sets out the intermediate targets it aims to achieve by 2030 in order to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions in its investment portfolio and in its property and liability insurance businesses by 2050.

Creating confidence for tomorrow

Although much of the public tends to identify sustainability as environmental protection, it is a much more complex, multi-faceted area that insurers need to integrate into their decision-making mechanisms, product development processes and overall organisational operations. At the award ceremony, Gergely Bacsó also said that at Allianz Hungária, almost one in ten employees is actively involved in sustainability and green finance, whether they work in finance, legal, risk management and underwriting, product development, claims, operations support, marketing or HR. The CEO also spoke about the sustainability-related programmes and initiatives that are emphasised in the company’s workplace culture and that they are looking to open up to customers in the future.

Allianz pays particular attention to social aspects, actively engaging with its employees, customers, business partners, NGOs and policy makers. This includes education to promote prevention awareness – which can help improve risk management for customers at an individual level – and to emphasise the importance of financial education and self-care.

Gergely Bacsó called the award inspiring, which strengthens the Allianz Hungária team in its efforts to do more and better for the future of all of us. He said:

„At Allianz, we believe that the power of partnerships can multiply our sustainability impact, and we hope to find more and more partners and supporters along the way.”

Sustainability begins with small steps, and during a brand change, there are plenty of opportunities to represent this approach and to turn a simple idea into a fantastic project with added value.  At Ayvens, which is a mobility service provider created from the merger of ALD Automotive and LeasePlan, we followed this direction and embarked on an internationally admired project, the recycling of our old marketing materials.

As the consequence of the brand change, we are unable to use our LeasePlan and ALD branded marketing materials accumulated over the years – or at least, not in their current forms. In cooperation with Ursuslupus Upcycling Production, we created the unique Ayvens bag collection from our old materials, molinos, rollups, etc. These special accessories were handed out to our colleagues as gifts on the day of the Ayvens brand launch. The speciality of these bags is that they combine three brands at the same time – the colors and the parts of ALD and LeasePlan form a new unit with the Ayvens logo label, so the tradition of our old brands and the future of the new Ayvens brand come alive in them. These giveaways also represent an emotional value for colleagues, as each employee could take with them one last physical piece of memory from the past, all with the new brand’s identity. Last but not least, each piece has an unique design, none of them are the same. In order to ensure full involvement, we also organized a workshop where colleagues could make the simple accessories they liked with their own hands.

Find out more in our video how our waste reduction efforts turned into a great team building experience and a special internal gift with an added value.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck96Prcox5g&list=PLdXM-r6XW_ueJBb7RPngKbV437v8-KuIL&index=2

There is only a week left until the 39th SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival. Hungary’s biggest and oldest running event is celebrating a milestone anniversary this year as the first mass marathon in Budapest was organised 40 years ago in 1984. There will be close to 30 000 participants from 107 countries competing in one of the categories running along the most scenic sights of the capital on the 12th and 13th of October 2024. The organisers will also welcome those who opt to do shorter or longer city tours. 

A celebration of movement – a name well-deserved as the 39th SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival is not only an opportunity for marathon runners to beat the 42-kilometre distance as well as themselves, but also a chance for everyone who wants to signal to the world, by either running a shorter distance or even walking one, how important sport and exercising are to them, and to send the whole country a message that regular exercise makes life better and happier.

Runners can choose from a total of 18 distances during the 2-day event with the shortest being the 1000-metre NESTLÉ Family Run and the longest the classic 42 km marathon. As it has become tradition in recent years, participants can also walk or do one of the SPAR City Tours, or the 2.3-kilometre Gondosóra Walk joined by the Breast Cancer Info Association this year.

Based on the entry data it can be confirmed already that the 39th SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival will set a record. There has never been this many foreigners in our country attending a leisure sporting event. About 6 000 foreign runners from 107 countries have applied already which breaks the previous record set before the pandemic with 5400 foreigners. Together with their companions there will be about 10 000-12 000 runner tourists visiting Hungary because of the event.

As an example, in the 42 km distance every second participant will be an international guest, most of them British, Italian, French, citizens from the neighbouring countries or the Visegrád region.

“The SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival now has a four-decade-history and offers a spectacular sport experience for all participants and supporters every year. This year is a significant milestone as the 40-year jubilee symbolises the perseverance, stamina, and the power of community. Today Budapest is without a doubt one of the sport capitals of Europe. The breathtaking cityscape offers an exceptional background while the city’s love for sports provides the perfect atmosphere for this unforgettable event. “We are proud that after having organised the world’s most prestigious sport events, we can host such an international competition again this year which is not only celebrating the joy of exercise but the power of community for the 39th time,” said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs, patron of the 39th SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival.

The Celebration of Movement is putting the whole country into motion, not only foreigners. There have been entries from 1000 towns and villages so far and they are still expecting further applicants in the coming days (except for the half marathon which has already reached the maximum entry limit). The organisers are expecting about 30 000 participants in total which will make the 39th SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival the biggest and most significant leisure sport event in Hungary since the pandemic, making the whole city of Budapest very proud.

• “Regular exercise is a chance for a good, long, and healthy life and Budapest is a city that welcomes community sports and events that promote healthy lifestyle with open arms. The first Budapest Marathon was organised 40 years ago. Back then there were 700 participants from 18 countries attending the first running competition in the history of the Hungarian capital where amateurs were allowed to compete. The competition has become a community building event since then where everyone can find the challenge that best suits their level of fitness. I respect every participant who achieves the goal they set out for themselves. Let us celebrate community life, sport, and Budapest!,”  said Gergely Karácsony, mayor of Budapest, main patron of the 39th SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival.

Budapest has one of the world’s most beautiful marathon routes which explains the high number of international participants.  The festival centre will be located on the Pázmány Péter promenade. The short distance routes will be marked around the start and finish areas, but the long-distance runners will be able to admire the most beautiful sights of the city.

The marathon runners will run across the embankments on both sides of the Danube, by Parliament, under Buda Castle, over the Chain Bridge and across Liberty Bridge, enter Margaret Island, reach a section of Andrassy Avenue, see Saint Stephen’s Basilica and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences building from close by.

The 30 000 participants will include enthusiastic amateurs, record holder marathon runners with hundreds of successful competitions behind them, diplomats, actors, media personalities, equal opportunity ambassadors, old and young, families and the representatives of different professions to promote the joy of running and sport.

• “Running is the most popular sport in Hungary with a large group of supporters. The SPAR Budapest Maraton^® Festival is the biggest celebration of this form of sport. We are proud that the event has been carrying SPAR’s name for 16 years and we gladly support it because our goal is mutual; get as many people as possible to love exercising, to look after their health through their lifestyle and quality diet. This year we set up stands between the start and finish line areas with activities to involve and motivate all generations to move in a playful way. Based on the ideas of our Gen Z colleagues we will await visitors with a special reflex game and an obstacle course. The lucky players can win our own-brand, health-conscious products. We will try to motivate our colleagues – who will enter for free yet again – with a good cause. For each colleague who competes we will donate 2000 forints to support the work of the Utcáról Lakásba! (From the Streets to a Home Association),” said Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

The organiser Budapest Sports Office (Budapest Sportiroda) asks the locals of Budapest to show up to support the runners of the international caravan along the routes with applause or a few nice words. Runners will have access to refreshment stations and music spots.

“The 39th SPAR Budapest Marathon Festival has a special place in our hearts. The first marathon in Budapest took place 40 years ago, in 1984, and we would like to celebrate this jubilee in style this year. The world and the Hungarian capital have changed a lot in the last 40 years, however the joy of reaching the finish line will never change. I wish every participant, whether they will walk the shortest distance or run the marathon at the speed of professionals, that they reach the goal they set for themselves, have fun, enjoy every moment of the festival, and keep moving and exercising regularly going forward because it will make their lives better and happier,” said Árpád Kocsis, director of the Budapest Sports Office.

BACKGROUND – milestones from the history of the 40-year-old Budapest Marathon

1984. The first mass marathon in Budapest has participants from 18 countries, 25 women and 625 men reach the finish line of the 42-km distance
1985. The first time when the number of participants reached 10 000 (11 700 entries)
1986. There were then different distance categories, the event earned the Day of Running title
1987. SPAR became the main sponsor of the Budapest Marathon
1988. The first year when the number of participants reached over 15 000 (16 500)

The first year when street musicians supported runners along the route

Charity work began which has raised 209 million forints by 2023

2013. The first time when the number of entries reached over 20 000 (21 302)

2015. More than 7000 individuals entered the marathon, a record which has not been broken since

First FODISZ equal opportunities race was organised

2017. The first time the festival became a 2-day event

The first time the number of participants reached over 30 000 (32 000)

The first time when more than 5 000 foreigners entered

2018. A new record was set with 34 000 entries

2023. The event returned after the pandemic

The first City Tours took place