Foundation

Where it all began

In 1997 Raymond and Wendy Ackerman celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the founding of Pick n Pay.

To commemorate this occasion and to honour and perpetuate the name of Raymond and Wendy Ackerman, as well as to ensure the ongoing philosophy of philanthropy, the Board of Directors of Pick n Pay Stores Limited resolved to set aside a substantial sum of money to create a fund for philanthropic purposes. The Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation was duly established as a Corporate Foundation.

The Good Corporate Citizen

Pick n Pay was one of the first companies in South Africa to make a strong commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. This is one of the pillars on which the company philosophy is founded.

Being a “Good Corporate Citizen” defines our conduct as an organisation. The King Report 2002 defines Corporate Social Responsibility as “Business decision making linked to ethical values, compliance with legal requirements and respect for people, communities and the environment proved by a comprehensive set of policies practices and programmes that are integrated throughout business operations and decision-making processes that are supported and rewarded by top management”.

Corporate Social Investment relates to financial and non-financial investment in socially responsible initiatives. “Investment” implies that through using company assets a return would be expected. These returns may not necessarily be financial, but need to relate back to the Mission and Objectives of the “Foundation’ to reflect the success factors.

Vision

To enable South Africans to provide for their own needs whilst aspiring to better themselves and to contribute to their communities.

Mission

Make a measurable contribution to sustainable development skills by:

Enhancing and developing skills

Supporting projects that encourage entrepreneurship, self-reliance and provide employment opportunities.

Key Objectives

To make a meaningful and measurable contribution within the sectors in which we operate.

To forge strategic alliances and develop partnerships/relationships – that are open and transparent –with relevant organisations (Government/NDA/SAGA/Other Corporates and Foundations).

To focus on initiatives that compliment Pick n Pay initiatives.

To work with and align ourselves with Pick n Pay for mutual benefit.

Building a Sustainable World

The Foundation’s primary objective is to enable South Africans to provide for their own needs, while aspiring to better themselves and contribute to their communities. In this way it is our aim to make a measurable contribution to sustainable development through the enhancement and development of skills by supporting projects that encourage entrepreneurship and self-reliance, and provide employment opportunities. We believe that sustainable enterprise development can relieve conditions of poverty and unemployment through economic empowerment and uplifting the quality of life of marginalised and disadvantaged emerging entrepreneurs. One of the key success factors has been linking emerging farmers to the Pick n Pay Stores – traditionally the most challenging area for emerging farmers has been market access. Wherever possible, communities are encouraged to run their enterprises according to sound business principles, and to identify opportunities for the multiplier effect. Guidance and ongoing mentorship is provided for such.

We aim to facilitate the following:

Sustained capacity-building for small-scale farmers and other entrepreneurs in order to improve their competitiveness.

Entrepreneurs taking advantage of collective action, either as co-operatives, producer organisations or other forms of association.

Collaboration between the public and the private sectors in terms of linking small enterprises to formal markets.

Increasing the number of small-scale farmers who have access to larger retail markets.

The provision of mentors (preferably retired Pick n Pay executives and successful business people) who are assigned as decision-making support to small-scale entrepreneurs to ensure the limitation of punitive mistakes.

We continually track our progress and measure impact in order to determine whether our social empowerment initiatives are having a lasting impact on the reduction of poverty in ways that provide communities with a sense of self-worth; as well as ultimately enabling them to make their own decisions regarding their destiny. Through these initiatives our aim is to contribute to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals and discourage perpetual dependence on funding. See attached file.

How it works:

Sustainable agriculture requires three elements:
1) Short-term crops
2) Long-term crops
3) Perennials

Pick n Pay purchases the short- and long-term crops, while perennials are bought by manufacturers for processing, thus providing the farmer with consistent cash flow with which to feed dependants. In this way we combine social upliftment, commercially sound business principles, knowledge, skills transfer and mentorship, as well as access to markets. Meaningful participation in the economy is made possible by the following:

Providing technical assistance and financing emerging entrepreneurs.

Helping to build networks and markets for entrepreneurs in distressed communities.

Strengthening worker-owned enterprises and co-operative estate development.

Providing access to markets by purchasing the produce from the farmers for sale in Pick n Pay Stores.

A Franchise Model was designed as part of our long-term strategy, and this provides the perfect point of convergence between the community, local suppliers and retailers. Franchise stores are established through a partnership between the community, local suppliers and commercial banks.

Communities purchase produce from the local store which is linked to subsistence farmers close by, that receive direct supply of fresh produce. In this way everyone benefits, and the carbon footprint is reduced at the same time.