Awards for environmental care and reputation

by Roberto Pagliari 

Over the course of its history, starting from the 1960s and in particular from the end of the 1980s, Barilla has developed a marked sensitivity for clean and sustainable production. In 1989 Barilla received the Clean Technology Award, a Special Mention in the context of the Italian National Environment Industry Competition.

In the early nineties, Barilla began a journey with schools in food and environmental education in the belief that proper nutrition and respect for nature are related to human health; with the “Healthy Nutrition – Friendly Nature” project, a collaboration was activated in order to provide adolescent children with the foundations for a harmonious and balanced lifestyle.

Following this philosophy, Barilla created the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (today BCFN Foundation) and built guidelines that can be summarized in the mission “Good for You, Good for the Planet”, setting for itself the goal of full sustainability of production as good business practice. In this area many awards were won as well, such as the Sodalitas Social Awards diploma awarded to BCFN in 2010 for its commitment to sustainability policies.

In 2011, the BCFN Foundation received the Assorel Award for the best institutional Public Relations campaign, in collaboration with Burson-Marsteller.

In 2015, the Workshop for International Communication, by Università Cattolica and the University of Udine at Gemona del Friuli, conferred to BCFN the Gamajun International Award for Communication for the promotion of an open dialogue between Science, Politics, Business and Society in order to focus the attention of the agendas of national and international opinion leaders and decision makers  major issues related to food and nutrition, for the well-being of all and with concern for the Planet (https://www.labonline.it/it/gamajun-international-award/premiati-gamajun.php).

In the same year, the BCFN was awarded the “Special Expo 2015 Awards” organized by the UK Trade & Investment association, in conjunction with Expo 2015 by virtue of its commitment to food sustainability issues.

In 2016, the Accademia dei Georgofili awarded a special mention to the Youth Manifesto for its commitment to fighting the global paradoxes on food and nutrition (2015). The Special Mention was accompanied by the following statement: “The Youth Manifesto invites us to put aside generational or geographical boundaries, to listen carefully to the younger generations who will inherit the planet and reminds us that everyone has a role to play in guaranteeing a sustainable future. In particular, the Manifesto invites us to emphasize the role of farmers, a crucial link in the food chain and central players in restoring the balance between food production, respect for people’s health, and protection of the environment.”

 Also in the same year, the President of the BCFN Foundation Guido Barilla was awarded the Vivisalute Award for his commitment in the field of health protection and social solidarity.

In 2018 the BCFN received the World Media Award in the Brand & Media Owner Partnership category for the best website https://www.barillacfn.com/it/divulgazione/food_sustainability_media_award/

The role of the media is essential to raise public awareness on the importance of issues related to food sustainability. Precisely for this reason, the BCFN Foundation and the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2016 launched the Food Sustainability Media Award, an international contest that rewards the excellence of journalism that chooses to tell about food from a different perspective, with the ability to shine a spotlight on food sustainability.

In 2018, the 8th BCFN International Forum received a nomination in the category for the Best Campaign in the Mediterranean and a Certificate of Excellence in the category “Best in broadcast media coverage” as part of the EMEA SABER Awards, a campaign organized in collaboration with INC – National Institute of Communication.

In the same year, the BCFN Foundation obtained the “Sustainable PA Award 2018. 100 Projects to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda”, for the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) initiative “Sustainable Food Systems: a Mediterranean Perspective”. The MOOC project on the theme of the sustainability of food systems was born from the need to create an innovative teaching tool that could train, inform and promote awareness among the highest number of people, especially young people and students, on the centrality of food in the Mediterranean region, with respect to the major challenges of sustainable development. The main objective is to foster education and scientific knowledge of the greatest challenges related to the issues of sustainability of food systems, a theme that concerns the countries of the Mediterranean area.
https://www.forumpachallenge.it/soluzioni/mooc-sustainable-food-systems-mediterranean-perspective

In 2020, the BCFN Foundation received the ASFS Award for Food Studies Pedagogy (team award) for “International Design Thinking co-teaching sessions on Food Sustainability and Empathy with a creative use of FSI Edu-toolkit”. This award is given to those who teach disciplines that make use of innovative and successful pedagogical techniques to reach students in the field of food related studies. 

More generally, Barilla has always looked after its reputation both nationally and globally. For this aspect, in 2006 Barilla obtained the Reputation Awards as the most respected company in the world, while in 2007 it obtained the D. & B. rating 1 – Maximum reliability index.

In 2010 Barilla obtained The World’s Most Reputable Companies plaque awarded by the Reputation Institute. Two years later a similar recognition was awarded with a plaque, placing itself in third position in the Reputation Awards 2015.