Heineken Announces The Continuation Of Its Green Seeds Entrepreneurship Programme
Heineken Announces The Continuation Of Its Green Seeds Entrepreneurship Programme. HEINEKEN Beverages proudly announces the continuation of its Green Seeds Entrepreneurship Programme, an integral part of the Brew a Better World sustainability initiative. Honouring its entrepreneurial roots since being founded in 1864 by entrepreneur Gerard Heineken, the company remains committed to social impact through community growth and fostering entrepreneurship.
Millicent Maroga, Corporate Affairs Director for HEINEKEN Beverages, emphasised the importance of supporting entrepreneurs within communities. “HEINEKEN believes that small businesses hold the key to unlocking our country’s massive economic potential. Through the Green Seeds Programme, HEINEKEN Beverages aims to progress these enterprises into self-sufficient businesses that are not only able to survive but thrive and hopefully do business with HEINEKEN Beverages in the future.” In addition, they will be able to create jobs and generate long-term wealth for the owners of those businesses.
The Green Seeds Programme is an ongoing Enterprise Development initiative within HEINEKEN Beverages, and aims to empower small businesses by ensuring compliance with relevant legislation, providing access to markets, fostering financial inclusion and addressing the daily challenges encountered by SMEs. The current cohort places a specific focus on sustainable growth, market access, and financial development.
The Green Seeds Initiative is an integral part of the HEINEKEN Beverages Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) Programme. The programme aims to promote and support entrepreneurship for those interested in starting a small enterprise. Additionally, it offers advanced services for manufacturing optimisation and business efficiency improvement to established businesses. The company’s ESD programme provides support across all stages of the enterprise development life cycle for small businesses. Moreover, it creates opportunities for small businesses in all segments of the HEINEKEN Beverages value chain, encompassing upstream agricultural farming activities, mid-stream product manufacturing (e.g., crown caps), and downstream township business development and tavern support.
Operated over two years, last year saw numerous small businesses participating, with 17 completing the programme and graduating. An additional 23 new recruits are set to graduate at the end of 2024. Since its inception in 2019, a total of 191 small businesses have benefitted from the programme. While the programme is based in Gauteng, small businesses from various regions, including Soshanguve, Springs, Sharpeville and Soweto, have actively participated.
The Green Seeds Programme has successfully supported businesses across various industries, including the food and beverage sector, construction, education, IT, fashion, manufacturing (cleaning detergents), water purification, solar, photography, logistics, landscaping, tourism, and recycling.
