We work with entrepreneurs across our value chain from seed to sip and beyond, including farmers, waste collectors and recyclers, suppliers, and retailers. Our activities enable the economic empowerment of a diverse network of customers, suppliers, and communities across our value chain. As we produce and market our beverages, we work not only with suppliers of ingredients, but are a catalyst for economic activities such as engineering and construction, transportation, facilities management, banking and financial services, ICT and marketing and other diverse services. Through meaningful engagement with these entrepreneurs and other key partners, we catalyse resources and opportunities to develop localised solutions. These entrepreneurs are often the backbone of their communities, and their success is tied to supporting their families and growing the local economy. In addition, the Company and its employees provide a market for these diverse services, who in turn are our consumers and customers.
INCLUSIVE GROWTH: SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITIES TO GROW AND THRIVE
Small businesses and entrepreneurs play a critical role in economic development and are an important source of incomes and livelihoods in local communities. Across our distribution chain, we engage every day a multitude of retail customers who play a critical role for our business as an important point of connection with our consumers. These same small businesses and entrepreneurs play a critical role in economic development and are an important source of incomes and livelihoods in their local communities. To help support these communities, we are working to provide support to retailers, farmers, suppliers, and recycling collectors across our value chain through multiple initiatives.
We are therefore concerned about the recent policy changes that have made it difficult to access these small traders who may not meet the required tax compliance requirements.
Since 2018, we evolved our retailer development program to holistically focus on business skills, financial inclusion, and infrastructure development. The Retailer Development Programme is designed to equip our retailers, particularly the small sized outlets, with basic business management skills to help improve their businesses and incomes. A total of 3,117 retailers have been trained since 2018 covering the key modules such as financial management, product handling, understanding beer business and responsible retailing and environmental awareness.
