The Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) 2023 is pleased to honor 78 outstanding business leaders and enterprises for championing sustainable and responsible business practices. Presented by leading regional NGO Enterprise Asia, the AREA is the most reputable award recognition program recognizing organizational efforts in creating a culture of compassion, integrity, and in being socially responsible corporate citizens. The AREA serves as a badge of excellence to spur further innovation and best-practicefor sharing about the organization and the world at large.
Suntory Beverage & Food Thailand Co., Ltd. (SBFT) was among the recipients who were conferred with the Health Promotion Award. SBFT was established in 1974 and became part of the Suntory Group in 1990. Its products include BRAND’s Essence of Chicken, BRAND’s Bird’s Nest, and BRAND’s Fruit Essence. The company has delivered quality products to consumers around the world by manufacturing over 350 million bottles a year for export to more than 20 countries.
“BRAND’s Young Blood” is a project that has been established since 1997 by SBFT, in cooperation with the National Blood Service Center under the Thai Red Cross Society to help alleviate the problem of insufficient blood reserves, especially in emergency situations such as a pandemic or during the annual festive period wherein a lot of road accidents occur.
This project aims to promote and invite students as well as the general public to routinely donate blood to increase the blood supply for saving human lives by inspiring them to change their behaviors and values. In addition, SBFT shares knowledge of how to prepare oneself before a blood donation session to get quality blood from a healthy donor through various activities and contests.
While 1 unit of blood donated (450 CC) can save 3 people’s lives, it can also be used to produce many more blood products (red blood cells, blood platelets, and plasma) to treat more patients with various diseases. Since its inception, the project was able to receive donations of more than 1,687,608 units of spare blood or approximately 759,423,600 million CCs. This blood is distributed to all hospitals in need all over the country.
During the contests, blood donation knowledge is distributed to the younger generation who joins the activities of making educational media in the form of infographics, posters, VDO clips, and computer games. All of these works are widely used by the Thai Red Cross, partnered universities, and SBFT to educate more people in broader areas.
To cultivate “the giving value” in youths is a long-term mission. SBFT believes that these values and beliefs can be passed on from one generation to the next, developing a culture of empathy and open-heartedness. The company will continue to support this activity and drive to turn people into catalysts for change in the visited universities, becoming the seeds of goodwill that will spread throughout society.
To add value to this project, SBFT will expand the scale of its communication efforts. The company plans to invest more in the contest results (i.e. VDO clips, games), making it attractive enough to broaden its reach nationwide. Recently, the company has developed a short movie to inspire people to express their giving nature by donating blood to save people’s lives using the one of previous VDO winners in this project to be re-produced by an expert. This movie will also be a tool for any bureau that would like to help the Thai Red Cross tackle any blood shortage issues in the future.
About Enterprise Asia
Enterprise Asia is a non-governmental organization in pursuit of creating an Asia that is rich in entrepreneurship as an engine toward sustainable and progressive economic and social development within a world of economic equality. Its two pillars of existence are investment in people and responsible entrepreneurship. Enterprise Asia works with governments, NGOs and other organizations to promote competitiveness and entrepreneurial development, in uplifting the economic status of people across Asia and in ensuring a legacy of hope, innovation and courage for the future generation. Please visit https://www.enterpriseasia.org/ for more information.
About Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA)
The Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards program recognizes and honors Asian businesses for championing sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship in the categories of Green Leadership, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Social Empowerment, Corporate Governance, Circular Economy Leadership, Corporate Sustainability Reporting, and Responsible Business Leadership. For more information, visit: https://enterpriseasia.org/area/.