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HMSHost International donates more than one billion litres of clean drinking water to people in Indonesia and Vietnam
Schiphol, 22 MARCH 2022 – On World Water Day, HMSHost International, global market leader in the food and hospitality industry for people on the move, is especially proud to celebrate their long-term partnership with Dutch-based water charity, Made Blue. The partnership works towards providing remote communities access to clean drinking water in the form of purified water supply systems by matching drink consumption from HMSHost’s Schiphol operations with a donation.
The availability of clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, however over 771 million around the world people lack access. The partnership can today announce a total donation of more than 1.2 billion litres of water to communities in Indonesia and Vietnam amongst others since the beginning of the partnership in 2014. This represents the provision of ten years of water supply for nearly 17,000 people. The impressive impact has built up through donating four litres of clean drinking water for every beverage served at HMSHost International’s operations in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
Bas van Asten, VP Commercial at HMSHost International: “As an international company serving travellers from all over the world, we feel a responsibility to find ways to impact the communities around us in a positive way. We care for the Planet and nurture People. Through our partnership with Made Blue Foundation, we create a link between our operations and providing a basic human right; fresh drinking water to remote communities.”
Machiel van Dooren, co-founder of Made Blue Foundation: “We've calculated the average water footprint of a drink served at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol being 4 litres of water: that same amount is being made available as clean water in developing countries for every drink consumed. We're very excited about the HMSHost International Made Blue partnership that launched in 2014 by now has delivered such massive impact."
In addition to the clean drinking water, the partnership impacts greatly on the environment. Together they have prevented around 8,400 tonnes of carbon emissions and saved 179,000 trees from being used as firewood, by taking away the need for remote communities to clean polluted water by boiling over an open fire. Building on that is the nearly 600 million items of plastic waste that has been prevented through bypassing the need for purchased bagged or bottled water.
The HMSHost International and Made Blue partnership currently focusses on realising access to clean water and hygiene for the Dien Quang municipality in the Ba Thuoc district, Vietnam. This municipality is mainly inhabited by the Muong – a minority group in Vietnam. Our joint effort aims to provide 3,572 people with clean drinking water and thereby improve their health and quality of life. Earlier in the partnership communities in Bandung, Indonesia have been supported and we are currently looking into expanding impact in the Asian region.
As part of the Autogrill Group, HMSHost International has been pursuing sustainability initiatives for many years. With the climate crisis and social challenges prompting an increase in commitments, the Group recently announced their new vision of sustainability, ‘Make It Happen’ based on three strategic pillars; We nurture People, We offer sustainable Food Experiences and We care for the Planet.
