Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV

05/05/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/05/2021 01:12

Ahold Delhaize and many partners start On Track, an innovative learning platform

Zaandam, the Netherlands, May 5 2021 - Ahold Delhaize joins forces with Albert Heijn, bol.com, Etos, Gall&Gall, the Gelijke Kansen Alliantie (Equal Opportunities Alliance), Just Eat Takeway.com, Microsoft, NL2025, Randstad Groep Nederland, RTL, &samhoud, Unilever, Videoland by RTL and VodafoneZiggo, to launch a free app called 'On Track' for anyone who is curious and wants to learn in the field of business & career, digital skills and personal development. But also about topics that people want to learn more about such as creativity, health or cooking & food*. The initiative focusses on exploring new skills, knowledge and interests, brought by different well-known professionals such as artists, authors, presenters and entrepreneurs, including Katja Schuurman, Typhoon, Ronald Giphart, and other experts.

Wouter Kolk, CEO Ahold Delhaize Europe explains: 'People's lives have changed significantly in the past year - and it is precisely in these challenging times that we are looking for fresh perspectives. The new On Track platform will contribute to this.'

'We started building the platform in recent months, based on the idea that Ahold Delhaize, in addition to its many other actions for charities, wants to do more for local communities. Research* shows that people have become less sure of their jobs in the past year and need inspiration, positivity and contact. As many as 85% of Dutch people indicate the desire to learn more. '

'We saw a natural match with the knowledge and experience that exists within our company. A total of 180,000 people work at our local brands in Europe. Every year we train and offer new skills to about 40,000 people. As we started to develop this further, On Track was born. I am very proud of the partners who immediately saw the platform's possibilities - together we can help people move forward in their personal and professional lives.'

Monaïm Benrida, program manager Equal Opportunities Alliance, an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science , said 'We can achieve equal opportunities by giving people optimal opportunities to develop and discover new things. We think it is fantastic that the business community is joining forces to make learning from the best in the business possible for everyone, in a fun and accessible way. We greatly applaud this social initiative and we are proud to be a partner of On Track from the start.'

Short videos

On Track is an app where the best professionals in the business share their expertise and experiences in an accessible and entertaining way. These so-called heroes share their passion to help users of the app to pursue their dreams, big or small, in line with the platform's slogan, 'Keep developing yourself and you will always be On Track.' The platform provides short three-minute videos, interesting assignments and in-depth content, to help users develop new insights and skills to apply in their career and private life. On Track makes learning as easy as checking your Instagram or the latest news.

Launch

The platform will go live in the Netherlands in Dutch on September 1, 2021, with the ambition to roll it out further in Europe at a later date. On Track is free for anyone to use, non-commercial and has no advertisements. The platform will be set up as a foundation named On Track EU. On Track is an Ahold Delhaize initiative that will be further developed with different partners, that will, among other things, deliver experts for the Tracks.

Subscribe

As of today, people can participate in On Track by registering here and recommend which themes are important to them. This way they can stay informed about new tracks and developments until OnTrack goes live on September 1st. On Track is made possible by various organizations and partners. Anyone who wants to contribute either personally or through their company can contact the organization at [email protected].

* Research commissioned by &samhoud, conducted between March 10-22 in the Netherlands with an age group between 16-70, N = 1000