Bakers Delight leading franchise

The Bakers Delight franchise has topped a list of leading corporate citizens, compiled by Woolcott Research.

The bakery franchise out-performed a number of large reputable companies in a range of industries including aviation, telecommunications, major financial institutions and franchised organisations. The study measured the response of more than 1000 Australians on where they viewed the position of a cross-section of organisations in terms of corporate citizenship. Key attributes in the measurement of corporate citizenship encompassed the extent to which an organisation demonstrates not only corporate social responsibility, but also economic and ethical issues at both an organisational and community level.

According to Woolcott Research, one of the most important attributes in measuring an organisation’s corporate citizenship is its contribution to the community. Indeed, results indicate that 76 percent of Australians prefer to purchase goods and services from an organisation with good corporate citizenship. Further, 87 percent of investors also prefer to invest in a company that is a good corporate citizen, and 83 percent of workers would prefer to work for an organisation with such an ethic.

The Corporate Citizenship Study highlighted Bakers Delight’s recognition by the public of its significant involvement with the community on both a local and national level. Included in this involvement is the franchise’s partnership with Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) over the past five years. Bakers Delight and its bakery network continue to play a major support role to BCNA, housing its national office, hosting its web site, conducting fundraising activities and providing project support. The partnership has raised $740,000 in just five years.

Additionally, through its bakery network Bakers Delight donates over $25 million in bread each year to various community organisations, including the Salvation Army, while encouraging its franchisees to actively support charities and community-based organisations in their local areas.

Woolcott Research notes that the trend worldwide among customers, investors and employees is to demand a high level of corporate citizenship from organisations. In some countries governments are considering legislating that companies provide citizenship reports in the same manner in which annual reports are provided.