Mondelēz International Partners with Food Business Incubator, The Hatchery Chicago

Photo credit: Food Business News

Mondelēz International has announced a partnership with The Hatchery Chicago, a non-profit food business incubator, as it ramps up its innovation efforts to lead the future of snacking.

The partnership is one of several investments the company is making as part of SnackFutures, the company’s innovation and venture hub aimed at unlocking snacking growth opportunities around the world.

Through the new partnership, Mondelēz International and the SnackFutures team will be able to connect with the local food and beverage start-up community and work together to accelerate and scale innovation. Mondelēz International will work with The Hatchery Chicago to offer educational opportunities and mentorship to entrepreneurs active in Chicago’s thriving food and drink scene.

“We are truly impressed with the talented start-ups coming out of The Hatchery and are excited to be part of this journey. As the world’s snacking leader, it is increasingly important for us to collaborate with the best and brightest talent in advancing the future of snacking,” said Tim Cofer, Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer of Mondelēz International. “With SnackFutures, we want to disrupt the food industry by testing new ideas and scaling what works. Working with The Hatchery food entrepreneurs will help us push the boundaries of what is possible in snacking as we continue to build our ecosystem of partners while also giving back and offering guidance to new companies.”

As one of the largest food incubation spaces in the U.S., The Hatchery helps local entrepreneurs build and grow successful food and beverage businesses through three major areas of need: access to production space, financing and resources. Housed in 67,000-square-foot facility in the East Garfield Park neighborhood in Chicago, it provides job training and placement programs, creating sustainable economic growth and new job opportunities.

“At The Hatchery Chicago, we believe collaboration accelerates innovation and increases the rate of success for companies – big and small,” says Natalie Shmulik, CEO of The Hatchery Chicago.

“Through this partnership with Mondelēz International, we’re creating even more opportunities for our entrepreneurs and community members to access the mentorship and industry expertise that will help them take their business to the next level.”

A key pillar of the company’s consumer-centric growth strategy, SnackFutures is designed as an independent hub that brings three core tenets of growth under one umbrella to accelerate innovation: invention of new brands and businesses; reinvention of small-scale brands with large-scale potential, and venture investments with start-up entrepreneurs to bring emerging brands and strategic capabilities.

Supported by an unconventional ecosystem of best-in-class internal experts and external partners around the globe, SnackFutures seeks to collaborate in three key strategic areas: well-being snacks, premium snacks, digital platforms and capabilities. Check https://www.snackfutures.com/ for more information on how entrepreneurs and partners can submit innovative ideas.

Public-Private Partnerships Are Key To Addressing Childhood Obesity

The Mondelēz International Foundation on Monday announced the publication of a new study on the impact of Mondelēz International Foundation healthy lifestyles initiatives in the June edition of Food and Nutrition Bulletin.

Conducted by Dr. Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Professor of Public Health & Director, Office of Public Health Practice at the Yale School of Public Health, and funded by the Foundation, the independent analysis titled “Innovative healthy lifestyles school-based public-private partnerships designed to Curb the Childhood Obesity Epidemic Globally: Lessons Learned from the Mondelēz International Foundation” identified key factors that have led to successful public-private partnerships across seven countries.

For more than nine years, the Mondelēz International Foundation has partnered with non-profit organizations across the world to support the delivery and evaluation of school-based healthy lifestyle programs. The findings published today provide learnings on how future public-private partnerships seeking to promote healthy lifestyles and help curb the risk of obesity can successfully be established.

“The Foundation and its partners around the world have created an effective framework for healthy lifestyle school-based public-private partnerships,” said Pérez-Escamilla. “As outlined in the paper, there is strong evidence that shows programs across all five continents are having a positive impact on nutrition and physical activity knowledge and practices.”

Qualitative data used to evaluate the Foundation’s partnerships was collected from two program evaluation workshops in 2013 and 2016, as well as from the Foundation’s annual country reports and project report, and interviews with key leaders from each program.

“Through effective partnerships with locally based organizations, we’ve transformed the lives of millions of children and families around the globe by improving nutrition knowledge, physical activity and access to fresh produce,” said Sarah Delea, President of the Mondelēz International Foundation. “We’re inspired by the change we’ve seen in those programs and hope that Dr. Pérez-Escamilla’s study in Food and Nutrition Bulletin will inspire others to make an impact through public-private partnerships.”

Supporting this review, data from program reports and surveys commissioned by partner organizations between 2014 through 2016 also indicated solid progress in both knowledge and behavior change. Specifically, across the Foundation programs, there was a twelve-percent increase in understanding what good nutrition is, including knowing the number of fruits and vegetables to eat daily; a six-percent increase in physical activity to at least 30 minutes daily; and an eleven-percent increase in eating more fruits, vegetables and other fresh foods, as part of the gardening programs.

The Foundation and its programs support Mondelēz International’s Impact For Growth platform, which is focused on four key areas where the company can make the greatest impact on people and planet: community, sustainability, well-being snacks and safety.

Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) is building the best snacking company in the world, with 2017 net revenues of approximately $26 billion. Creating more moments of joy in approximately 160 countries, Mondelēz International is a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy and powdered beverages, featuring global Power Brands such as Oreo and belVita biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; and Trident gum.  Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

The Mondelēz International Foundation is the international philanthropic arm of Mondelēz International. The Foundation is focused on three areas of action: investing in community programs that promote healthy lifestyles in at-risk communities around the world; providing humanitarian aid through cash and product when disaster strikes; and inspiring colleagues to contribute time and talent to help our local communities thrive. To learn more about our efforts,

Mondelēz International Foundation Launches Healthy Lifestyle Programs Covering 10 Countries

Sarah Delea, President of the Mondelēz International Foundation

The Mondelēz International Foundation today announced the launch of healthy lifestyle programs aimed at bringing nutrition education, active play and fresh foods to at-risk children and their families across 10 countries. This is part of the Foundation’s multi-year $50 million commitment to promote healthy lifestyles and address obesity.

New programs in Argentina, Australia, Egypt, France, Nigeria, Russia, and Ukraine, along with renewed programs in the United States, China and India, will reach an estimated 365,000 children and their families over the next three years. These programs join partnerships currently running in Brazil, Germany, Mexico and South Africa, all geared to creating school and community environments that encourage children and families to adopt lifelong healthy habits.

• New public-private partnerships in Argentina, Australia, Egypt, France, Nigeria, Russia and Ukraine
• Part of multi-year, $50 million commitment to promote healthy lifestyles and address obesity

“Making a positive impact on the people and the planet is at the core of who we are.  Since 2012, our partners and their programs have been transforming the lives of more than a million children around the globe by increasing their nutrition knowledge, physical activity and access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Sarah Delea, President of the Mondelēz International Foundation. “The addition of seven new programs further builds on our commitment to help communities thrive and improve the well-being of school-age children and their families.”

Over the next three years, the Foundation and its partners will inspire schools and communities to reach under-served children and get involved in innovative ways in the following countries:

• Argentina: Fundación Huerta Niño will reach 10,000 students in 120 schools by building organic school gardens to teach kids about proper nutrition, get them active and increase their consumption of fresh produce.
• Australia: Save the Children will focus on nutrition education, growing healthy foods and improving physical activity to over 11,000 children and families.
• China: China Youth Development Foundation will spread the benefits of nutrition and access to fresh foods through Hope Kitchens’ delicious veggie gardens and enhanced school canteens, reaching 150,000 students in 300 schools.
• Egypt: CARE will promote healthy lifestyles for children by training educators to deliver a nutrition program, renovating kitchens to teach parents how to make healthy meals and snacks. The program will also aim at designing and implementing active play curriculum that tackles cultural barriers for girls and establishing school gardens.
• France: Sport dans la Ville will expand their healthy lifestyle community partnership program to offer nutrition education, sports programs, urban gardens and cooking workshops to 5,000 children and families.
• India: Save the Children and Magic Bus are teaming up to promote nutrition education, active play, including sports development, and growing fresh foods to around 50,000 children and families across India.
• Nigeria: Helen Keller International will teach 6,000 children the importance of proper nutrition, physical activity and gardening through in-school and after-school activities.
• Russia: Doverie NGO will train 100,000 students in 230 schools on how to grow and cook healthy foods and stay active through sports and other physical activities.
• Ukraine: CSR Ukraine will train teachers to incorporate nutrition education, physical activity and gardening with more than 500 schools and 17,500 children.
• United States: After-School All-Stars will expand its middle school program to offer nutrition education, cooking classes and urban vegetable gardens to reach children and families in 170 schools in 12 U.S. locations.

Each community partnership will also track progress against a universal set of metrics that the Foundation developed in collaboration with its community partners and a public health expert from Yale School of Public Health. Metrics measure improvements in nutrition education, physical activity and access to nutritious foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

“We’re proud to partner again with the Mondelēz International Foundation to implement nutrition education and healthy lifestyle projects,” said Kathy Spahn, President and CEO of Helen Keller International. “We came together in Indonesia to improve the well-being of children and their families. We’re excited to now bring our combined expertise to Nigeria to encourage and instill healthy habits in children from an early age.”

The Foundation and its community programs support Mondelēz International’s Impact For Growth commitment, which is focused on four key areas where the company can make the greatest impact on people and planet: community, sustainability, well-being snacks and safety.