Tetra Pak Expands of Support for School Milk Programmes Worldwide

Through its Food for Development Office (FfDO) Tetra Pak works in close partnership with governments, development agencies, NGOs, local dairies and farmers to deliver almost six billion packages of milk to 50 million children in schools in over 50 countries around the world.

30 sep 2009 --- On the occasion of World School Milk Day, celebrated on 30 September in more than 40 countries worldwide, Tetra Pak has announced its support of two additional school milk programmes - in Ecuador and Morocco - as well as the expansion of existing programmes in Romania, Thailand, Mexico and Iran.

Through its Food for Development Office (FfDO) Tetra Pak works in close partnership with governments, development agencies, NGOs, local dairies and farmers to deliver almost six billion packages of milk to 50 million children in schools in over 50 countries around the world.

The total number of milk and other nutritious drinks supplied in Tetra Pak packages to school feeding programmes worldwide rose from 5.1 billion in 2007 to 5.7 billion in 2008 – a ten per cent increase. Volumes supplied to countries including Haiti, India, Russia and Thailand, rose by 22 per cent during this period, from 2.3 billion to 2.8 billion.

“It is very encouraging to see how governments, local business and NGOs value the importance of school milk programmes and are continuing to support programme growth,” said Ulla Holm, global director, Tetra Pak Food for Development Office.

“School feeding programmes can have a considerable impact on the local community and economy. Not only do they improve the health and learning capabilities of children, they often act as a catalyst for agricultural and economic development,” she said.

The new school milk programme in Ecuador, launched in June 2009, provides enriched UHT milk to 120,000 children in the cities of Guayaquil and Quito. Tetra Pak provides technical support to the programme funded by the government and managed by the Ministry of Education’s Programa de Alimentación Escolar by sharing its expertise in such areas as logistics, product handling and storage.

The Moroccan initiative, managed by Fondation de Centrale Laitière pour la nutrition de l’enfant, a non-profit organization set up by the dairy Centrale Laitière, is focussed on two regions, targeting nearly 4,000 students in 37 primary schools with fortified milk. The long-term goal is to extend and scale up the programme throughout the country.

The Romanian school milk programme has grown dramatically since its inception in 2002. From reaching one million schoolchildren ages 6-9 years-old in its first year, the programme now includes schoolchildren up to the age of 15 years and reaches more than 2.6 million children throughout the country.

The school milk programme in Thailand, which began in 1985, is one of the longest running and most successful of it kind. In 2008, Tetra Pak in cooperation with its partners supplied 1.8 million children with over 460 million packages of milk– 100 million packages more than the previous year.

Supported by Tetra Pak since 1960s, the Mexican programme has also seen significant expansion and now it covers more than four million children with more than 760 million packages of milk provided in school.

In 2009, following the decentralisation of the school milk feeding programme in Iran, Tetra Pak strengthened its relationship with the School Feeding Committee and now partners with the UN's World Food Programme on a number of school educational activities in Tehran and across the country. Initiated in 2001, the Iranian school milk programme is the largest state-funded programme in the world, covering 11.5 million students. Thanks to the programme, over 350 million Tetra Pak packages were delivered to children in school in 2008.

“School milk programmes play a vital part in our business strategy and our commitment to dairy customers around the world to make food safe and available everywhere. We expect to see further expansion of these programmes in the coming years,” Ulla Holm concluded.