More than 5,6m South Africans see milk offers hope for change

Tetra Pak’s annual Milk for Change campaign to raise awareness of the nutritional benefits of long life milk and donate portions of long life milk to children in underprivileged communities in partnership with non-profit Feed SA has already exceeded expectations as the campaign heads into its final 10 days. Milk for Change has already reached an audience of 5,66 million South Africans and delivered 140 000 servings as the push via the SMS line (‘Milk for Change’ to 40380) and i-Pay (via milkforchange.co.za) reaches its climax. ‘We raised 35 000 litres of long life milk,’ said Liesl Gruber, marketing director at Tetra Pak South Africa. ‘And this campaign has already shown me that South Africans are a can-do nation. While the world and our own country are beset by technology-driven business disruption and economic uncertainty, ordinary people are getting on with looking after one another where it matters. We’re proud to be playing a role in making a better future a reality for all South Africans, starting with the children.’ Milk for Change announced its intermediate success at an event in Alexandra to hand over collected milk to Feed SA on 8 August 2017. Genevieve Nathan, director of FEED SA, said, ‘As a non-profit, we cannot survive without the help of communities and corporates that help us get the tens of thousands of rands per month we need to give our kids the most important meal of the day – breakfast. We know that children cannot achieve their full academic potential, the key to their future success, without a nutritional, balanced breakfast, the most important meal of the day, which is why #MilkForChange resonates so strongly with our own vision. It is not easy growing up in Alexandra or being one of the nine million South Africans who don’t get the food they need each day, but with the long life milk from the #MilkForChange campaign we can make sure it’s not quite so hard.’ Tetra Pak South Africa MD, John Strömblad, said, ‘Milk for Change is an integral component of Tetra Pak’s commitment to the cycle of innovation surrounding the sustainable benefits of milk. Tetra Pak‘s focus is on protecting what’s good. The nutritional benefits of long life milk during the formative years of a child’s life are crucial elements to protecting our futures by promoting sustainable education at grass roots level in our communities.’ ‘We introduced new mechanics this year,’ said Gruber. ‘The SMS lines made it easy for people to donate R20, i-Pay contributed to the success of EFT donations via the Web, and Spartan Truck Hire once more stepped in to assist delivering donated long life milk cartons to Feed SA’s warehouse. Schools and corporates also brought in healthy donations considering the limited number we were able to get on board in a relatively short timeframe. ‘We also learned that schools are a crucial factor in the success of campaigns like this. School children are the conscience of our country, of the communities, they see through the clutter and strive to make a difference where it impacts most. Our message resonates strongly with them because we’re directly benefitting their peers.’