Member Article

KellyDeli launches Change for Good CSR campaign - inspired by the remarkable story of its founder

KellyDeli, owner of the Sushi Daily brand, has launched an ambitious CSR campaign ‘Change for Good’ dedicated to helping end world hunger, fighting global warming, and supporting the responsible sourcing of food ingredients.

The campaign supports nine of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its success will be rigorously measured in a bid to build upon the company’s already strong principles of working.

That ethos is inspired by the experience of founder Kelly Choi, who lost siblings to malnutrition when growing up in post-War South Korea and vowed to do everything in her power to make a difference in future.

Now, a decade after the business was founded, KellyDeli continues to live up to that commitment.

KellyDeli CEO, Silvano Delnegro, said: “We’re determined to leave the world in better shape than we found it.

“We’ve looked at where we’ll have the biggest impact and defined three areas of focus and nine priorities that are at the heart of our plan for a better future.

“The key strands are ‘planet’, ‘people’ and ’produce. This means we want to contribute to a global movement to limit global warming to 1.5C; to help create a world free from hunger; and to provide healthy food that is carefully and responsibly sourced.

“We are a growing business and we want to use our influence to make a positive contribution to the world, not just for this generation but for those to come.”

Sushi Daily, which has more than 900 counters in supermarkets across the UK and Europe, has already hit the news for its sustainability credentials when it became the first sushi brand to unveil new 100 per cent recyclable and recycled packaging in January. It also launched its ‘Forgotten Ends’ product in March, in a bid to tackle food waste. But these measures go further, especially when it comes to a partnership with the charity Action Against Hunger.

Kelly explained: “The issue of child hunger has always been close to my heart. “I am the fifth of six siblings and grew up in post-war Korea. The country had been destroyed, and my village was in the poorest part of an already poor country. Child mortality rates were high.

“Unfortunately, my family was not able to escape these horrors. I remember seeing my mum’s tearful eyes when she told me that I had lost one and then another older sibling through hunger and malnutrition. A brother and sister that I would never meet again. “To be in the position now as a successful food entrepreneur to give something back and help the less fortunate is something special.”

Kelly left home at 14 years old to escape poverty and to try and help her family, first working in a factory in Seoul, and then in Tokyo, before eventually arriving in France where she met partner Jerome Castaing. Together they launched KellyDeli.

Now her business has ambitious targets to make a difference in the world through ‘Change for Good’, including:

• To raise £450,000 in three years for Action Against Hunger (the world’s leading charity in the fight against child hunger) and save the life of over 10,000 malnourished children • To ensure sustainable and responsibly sourced fish is the norm (its fish and seafood supply has been rated 1-3 on the Marine Conservation Society Good Fish Guide.). • To source all products, not just fish, sustainably throughout its supply chain by 2030. • To use only 100 per cent recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025 (a switch to blue indigo packing has already been made in the UK and will be rolled out across Europe in October).

• To halve the company’s food waste by 2025, including by working with food banks. • To have net zero carbon emissions by 2030 (and to work towards being carbon neutral in the shorter term).

Silvano added: “We will hold ourselves accountable to these targets as we commit to a more inclusive economy: one where environmental and social challenges are an opportunity to make positive, lasting change.

“Our message is that we are building a responsible business and are keen to take our partners, colleagues, suppliers and customers on a journey. Together we can make a difference.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sushi Daily .