A successful collaboration. Foremost is ready to drive sustainable social projects.

If you look back to the approximate past two years, you might have witnessed a continuous outpouring of kindness and assistance to each other in consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever calamity comes, Thai society is ready to offer kindness and help support each other to get through the crisis. But if you look wider and further, you would find that those critical moments aren’t the only times our society needs caring and sharing, as people in need could be found at any time and. The question is, how can we make our society a society of giving?

FrieslandCampina (Thailand) Public Company Limited, the manufacturer and distributor of "Foremost" quality milk products which have been alongside Thai society for more than 65 years, is another organisation that tries to respond to the question. Not just because it wants to help Thai society during difficult times, but also because of the organisation's commitment to being a company that operates in a meaningful and inclusive manner.

Dr. Olan Chowiwatana, Director of Corporate Relations, FrieslandCampina (Thailand) Public Company Limited, said, “Kindness is something that Foremost has always focused on. In addition, our core mission is to provide healthy and sustainable nutrition to people of all ages. We operate under two commitments: continuously improving the range of healthy consumer products and expanding the product range with essential nutrients in areas with a large number of low-income populations. This has been our approach to responsible product development and marketing for the past 65 years. On the topic of sustainability, Foremost has many projects that try to distribute our products to people in need, but this time we try to push forward the kindness to the next level by planning a long-term project and finding a way to make sharing happen sustainably in Thai society. But building a sustainable giving society requires a lot of power and resources. The strength of Foremost alone would not be able to accomplish this goal. That's why all of us need to work together, whether you’re private organisations like Foremost, business partners and most importantly, the consumers, who are the keys to making our hopes and determination come true”.

From such commitment, the project “Foremost Passes on Smiles to Thai Children to Fight Against COVID-19” was born in August last year. It allowed consumers, especially mothers across the country, to be able to pass on kindness to each other and share it with children in the month of National Mother's Day. Through the integration of the power of many sectors, including Foremost as a provider of good and beneficial nutrition, the Mirror Foundation who played an important role in distributing Foremost Omega 369 milk products to children and families in need, participating shops that made it possible for all Thai people to take part in this project of sharing, Foremost staff who donated milk to support the project and most importantly, consumers who took part in supporting the project through purchasing Foremost milk products. Every purchase of 1 crate of milk translated into another 1 crate of milk donated to children and families in need. Finally, the project "Foremost Passes on Smiles to Thai Children to Fight Against COVID-19" is able to deliver over 1,030,000 cartons of milk to children and families affected by COVID-19 pandemic in more than 50 communities across the country.

Mr. Ekaluck Lumchomkhae, President of The Mirror Foundation, said, “The Mirror Foundation has been working to deliver assistance to the society for a long time. We have been able to work for this long because of cooperation and sharing from all parties in the society, whether it is assistance from both small and large organisations, volunteer groups and individuals with helping minds. We are, therefore, very pleased to be a part of the project “Foremost Passes on Smiles to Thai Children to Fight Against COVID-19”, which focuses on providing essential nutrition to children and families affected by the pandemic, so that young people can continue to develop according to their age, even in critical situations. This kind of assistance is what our foundation believes in. There is also a concept and work that focuses on achieving sustainable results through long-term work and collaboration from all parties. Since we have been working together, I believe that this project will truly benefit those who have suffered in the long run”.

The project “Foremost Passes on Smiles to Thai Children to Fight Against COVID-19” started concretely in 2021. 2021 was the year Foremost Thailand had been in business for 65 years and also the year that FrieslandCampina celebrated the 150st anniversary of establishment of their dairy cooperative. One of FrieslandCampina’s working principles for their 150st anniversary was to drive sustainable development. Therefore, it could be said that the project “Foremost Passes on Smiles to Thai Children to Fight Against COVID-19” was another significant step for the company in giving good things back to the society besides other projects which had been continuously running, namely, the Child Nutrition Survey in Southeast Asia or SEANUTS.

To show appreciation for the kindness of Thai people, Foremost made a special video to showcase the success of sharing and reaffirm its determination to continue delivering good things back to the society in a sustainable way with everyone. You can watch this video of gratification from all of us at Foremost on Foremost Thailand YouTube channel or play the below clip: