The Philippines’ Binalot Fiesta Foods has won the international HeroBrand Awards for its social good projects in local communities.
The HeroBrand Award is an international award that aims to recognize and publicize companies that are making a difference in their communities and are regarded as heroes who inspire those around them.
“Heroes inspire us, they shape our culture and create history. Heroes elevate us emotionally. They strengthen us physically. Heroes change the way we see the world. They encourage us to transform ourselves for the better. Heroes give us hope.
“Hero Brand Awards celebrates those in business world who in their deeds, create social changes that make our world better,” explains the HeroBrand Awards site.
Binalot Fiesta Foods won the HeroBrand Awards for Established Hero given to larger corporations who demonstrate a commitment to social good in their communities and beyond.
The restaurant chain that practices the Filipino dining practice of using banana leaves as environment-friendly packaging materials to wrap meals was named one of the four major awardees for HeroBrand Awards 2020, along with winners from Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Binalot Fiesta’s social good projects which give back to communities that support the company and provide assistance to those in need are under the DAHON program, the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm runs projects that address issues on the environment, livelihood, education, poverty alleviation, and calamity relief, all aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
- Leaf of Faith is one such program that sources banana leaves from marginalized farming communities. These banana leaves are used to pack meals that are sold in Binalot stores. For over a decade, it has provided small-time banana farmers with an added opportunity to profit from the banana trees growing in their backyards while ensuring that Binalot has a steady and reliable source for all its stores across Metro Manila. Binalot, after all, is famous for its classic Filipino meals wrapped in a banana leaf — stamping the traditional Filipino brand in a modern fast-food setting.
- The Eggciting Harvest program is another DAHON livelihood project that introduced salted egg production to a community located in the foothills of Nagcarlan, Laguna. It aims to improve further the economic condition of the farmers and their spouses. It has enabled the matriarchs to supply Binalot with high-quality salted eggs to its stores. This allows them to earn additional income while in the comforts of their community.
The BAYANI program covers relief operations during disasters such as typhoons. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Its recent efforts have focused on soliciting pledges from companies and individuals to provide hot meals to both medical and non-medical frontliners in different hospitals in the country. Hot meals are prepared and delivered to the donor’s chosen institution. Or, the choice of donees may come from the program’s list of hospitals, quarantine facilities, government agencies or depressed areas where the packed meals are needed. Binalot’s disaster response aims to contribute to the recovery and resilience of the affected Filipino communities.
DAHON has received several citations including the once-in-a-lifetime Centennial Prize in the worldwide 2007 UPS Out-of-the-Box Small Business Contest and the Intel-AIM Corporate Social Responsibility Award (IACRA) at the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility in 2010.
The homegrown fast food chain showed Pinoy resiliency amid the new normal brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Binalot has been expanding into the Asian market and the UAE.
SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below to the Philippines’ Binalot Fiesta for winning the HeroBrand Awards for social good projects.
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