• Volunteer work is part of the “Elegí Ayudar” (I Chose to Help) program and includes circular economy projects, social impact, conservation actions and environmental education.
• The “FIFCO Trasciende” (FIFCO Transcends) 2022-2025 strategy develops 9 goals that include various conservation, adaptation and mitigation efforts in the face of climate change impacts.
• The company also presented a new climate change adaptation strategy and started a pilot plan for electrification of its fleet.

At the end of May, FIFCO accumulated more than one million volunteer hours. Volunteer work has been, since 2008, a pillar of its triple bottom line strategy, a strategy that seeks to create economic, social and environmental value simultaneously. The company recorded more than 1,000,898 hours dedicated to pressing environmental and social causes, which in some way are strategically related to the company’s main impacts or footprints.

Impact of 1 million hours

• Hours allocated to social purposes: +210,843.
• Hours allocated to smart consumption training: +26,733.
• Waste collected: 40,258 tons.
• Protected areas intervened through environmental volunteering: 20 national parks/reserves in 7 provinces.
• Accumulated hours as of May 2023: 1,000,898 hours.

Source: FIFCO, based on accumulated data for the last 5 years.

“For FIFCO, volunteering is a fundamental part of our culture and of our triple bottom line strategy. Solidarity, which we identify as one of our guiding principles, drives us to get involved, to seek solutions and contribute to address the most important social and environmental challenges in the countries where we operate. We celebrate the immense power behind this practice that entails not only personal growth of those who join, but constitutes, in our opinion, the most relevant force of humanity to protect our world and bring well-being to those who need it most”, commented Maria Pía Robles, FIFCO’s Corporate Relations Director.

The celebration of the one million volunteer hours takes place within the framework of World Environment Day, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary after having been declared on June 5, 1973.

As Robles explained, “We are celebrating over one million hours, because of what this number means in terms of impact. This million hours translates into more than 7,000 trees planted, more than 40,000 tons of waste recovered, 210,000 hours dedicated to populations at social risk, and more than 26,000 hours dedicated to the promotion of Smart Consumption, among others. We also celebrate the fact that this is an achievement we share with our different business partners, our employees, shareholders, suppliers, customers and communities.”

How did we do it?

Since 2017, FIFCO set the goal of executing 1,000,000 volunteer hours.

This initially involved the participation of the company’s personnel and was made available to people outside the company who wanted to join, such as shareholders, consumers, customers, suppliers and family members.

Each FIFCO employee volunteered an average of 16 hours per year. This involved all employees from the company’s different business divisions.

These volunteering activities took place in Costa Rica, Guatemala and the United States, countries where the company has operations.

FIFCO Trasciende

2022 was a key year for FIFCO after the launching of its “FIFCO Trasciende” strategy, which meant an evolution in its sustainability approaches. The company aims to meet 9 environmental, social and governance goals by 2025, including strengthening its circular economy model to optimize the use of material resources and their reincorporation to the production cycle by 60% in its beverage business; maintaining its status as a zero waste, “water positive” and “carbon positive” company; achieving that 82% of its packaging is environmentally friendly; and strengthening its leadership in sustainable development.

“FIFCO Trasciende” marks a before and after in our sustainability strategy, by adopting more rigorously the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) criteria, we aim at a new standard in sustainability. In environmental matters, we are focusing on three major agendas: Climate Resilience, Plástico 360° and the Positive Water agenda,” explained Robles.

Climate Resilience Agenda

As part of its constant strategic update on environmental issues, FIFCO presented this 2023 its Climate Resilience strategy, an evolution of its Carbon Positive program (status achieved in 2017), following a systemic approach to climate change. The agenda is comprised of three main axes: risk identification, Mitigation (efforts to measure, reduce and offset emissions) and the Adaptation and Management of Impacts resulting from global warming.

Electric fleet: An example of FIFCO’s commitment to the challenges of climate change can be seen in the start of the conversion process of the combustion fleet to electric vehicles. In May 2023, it started the pilot plan that aims to reduce hydrocarbon consumption and gas emissions, a reduction that can be quantified since the company has had a historical record of its emissions since 2012.  

Additionally, FIFCO is in the process of installing 8 electric chargers in Ciudad Florida in order to evaluate their performance and functionality during the execution of the pilot plan. Although FIFCO’s vehicle fleet is very diverse, from motorcycles to trucks and discretionary vehicles, all units are contemplated in the gradual replacement plan.

Plástico 360° Agenda

In the case of plastic, the company follows the “Plástico 360°″ (Plastic 360°) agenda, which presents a comprehensive vision that includes three major initiatives: 1) promoting packaging with less environmental impact (mainly glass and aluminum), 2) recovering post-consumer waste, and 3) a research agenda on alternative materials to plastic.

Water Positive Agenda

Regarding the water agenda, FIFCO’s goal is to maintain a positive balance, a status achieved in 2017. Water Positive entails reducing the consumption of this resource to the minimum possible and then offsetting an additional 20% of that consumption through the protection of forests and aquifers.