Today, at the Retail Annual Congress, the Retail Deed of the Year award was ceremonially presented to the Ministry of Defence's "Will to Defend" cooperation project, launched together with Coop Pank, A. Le Coq, Balbiino, Apotheka, Tere, Goldtime, Linnamäe Lihatööstus and others.
The Will to Defend project was also chosen as the audience favourite.
According to Nele Peil, CEO of the Merchants' Association, the Will to Defend project stood out for its broad social impact, timeliness and positivity. "These have been anxious times in Estonia in recent years, but the Will to Defend project is an example of how, with entrepreneurship and cooperation, people can be motivated to act. At this year's Retail Annual Congress we were looking for reasons to turn our noses from hardship toward the sun, and a project focused on getting things done was a thematic bullseye," Peil said. The jury noted that the Will to Defend project was an excellent example of successful and broadly impactful cooperation between the public and private sectors. The project is characterised by wide social engagement. It honoured the people who are the heart of realising defence capability, and made it possible for everyone in society, including companies and individuals, to contribute through consumption of the products and services created during the project.
"The readiness of Estonian companies to contribute to national defence and to support our reservists is the best example of our entrepreneurs' high will to defend. National defence can only be developed through cooperation, and we will certainly continue and expand this excellent cooperation with Estonian companies in the future as well," affirmed Mikk-Alvar Olle, head of the Ministry of Defence's Will to Defend cooperation project. He added that the Ministry of Defence's door is open to all good partners who want to join the ministry in developing national defence and supporting our defenders.
On behalf of the participating companies, Apotheka CEO Marika Pensa added: "At Apotheka we are extremely glad that such an important project is getting the recognition it deserves. For us, joining the Will to Defend project was a natural continuation of what we do, because Apotheka's mission is to take care of Estonians' health and well-being. The campaign's message, 'There is health in the reserve', fits perfectly with our day-to-day work. Reservists are such an important part of our population, and we want to give them more attention and support. By joining the cooperation project, we saw a direct opportunity to contribute to the defence of Estonia. That is why we packaged 12 of Apotheka's own products in a soldier's coat that they wear with pride throughout the year. As of today, several tens of thousands of products in soldier's coats have found a new owner, and we donate a share of every sale to the reservists' fund."
The Retail Deed of the Year is being awarded for the eleventh time. The aim of the recognition is to highlight retail success stories and bring the retail sector's impact on society to a wider audience. The winner was ceremonially announced on 9 October at the Retail Annual Congress at T1 Venue.
Previous winners of the Retail Deed of the Year:
- Viru Keskus, for transforming from a classic fashion centre into a modern, fully functional city centre
- R-Kiosk, for Estonia's first unstaffed store at TalTech
- Astri Group, for the development of Balti Jaama Turg
- Maxima, for bringing Estonia's first mobile shopping handset to market
- Pro Optika, for opening the Zeiss Vision Centre concept store
- COOP Estonia, for offering cash-back service in all COOP stores
- Rahva Raamat, for a distinctive and constantly surprising shopping environment
- Apotheka Apteegid, for a new pharmacy concept and innovative promotion of a healthy lifestyle
- Circle K Eesti (Statoil Fuel & Retail Eesti AS), for creating a positive image of the customer service worker and shaping the retail sector's reputation
- The Merchants' Association and its members, for the variable-hours contract pilot project in retail