Sustainability one of the strengths when Volvo Cars chooses Convini

At Volvo Cars in Torslanda outside Gothenburg, full activity is ongoing 24/7. Around 23,000 people work here, both in the passenger car factory and at the headquarters with product development, marketing, finance, etc. Volvo Cars has high ambitions to create a truly good work environment for its employees. One of the strategies to achieve this is to invest in food and beverages, and this is where Convini comes into the picture. A total of five Convini stores are available in the Torslanda area, and recently another store was opened at the office in Lund and one at the test track in Hällered.

We meet Anders Ledhagen, who is clear proof that food and beverage matters are highly prioritized. He is in fact Global Food & Beverage Manager and thus responsible for providing food and beverages to Volvo Cars employees around the world, which in total includes more than 41,000 people in Sweden, Belgium, China, and the USA.

“Convini is one of the pieces of the puzzle in providing our employees with good food and beverages around the clock. We work with several actors and offer a mix of restaurants, cafés, and vending on the site. This is extra important considering that we are located a bit outside the city and there isn’t a large offering in the immediate area. The fact that the Convini stores are open around the clock suits us perfectly, since many of our employees work in shifts, both evenings and nights,” says Anders Ledhagen.

Workplace Experience – for an attractive and joyful workplace

Anders truly knows food. He is originally trained as a chef and has solid experience from previous roles, including Global Sales Responsible at IKEA Food and Food & Beverage Manager at HV71 Arena. In his current role at Volvo Cars, Anders is part of Work Place Operations where he belongs to the unit Work Place Experience.

“We want to create an attractive and joyful workplace. The vision we work towards is ‘We bring happiness’. This includes my area – food and beverages – as well as interior design, décor, training, etc. In various ways, we work to create a wonderful workplace that attracts employees and makes them enjoy being here. Our task is to challenge competing employers and attract employees to choose us. We try to find out what the younger generation wants and how we can provide it,” says Anders enthusiastically.

Convini’s sustainability efforts impress

Sustainability is a key issue within Volvo Cars and something Anders Ledhagen is especially passionate about.

“We have sustainability as a guiding principle in everything we do. That Convini invests so much in sustainability makes me really happy and it also contributes positively to our goals. I recently read your latest Sustainability Report and was truly impressed by everything you do and have done. We are striving in the same direction and that creates a joint force for a better future,” says Anders.

“Employees today are also very conscious and they expect companies to be far ahead in sustainability. Therefore, these issues are important in order to be an attractive workplace. Within food and beverages, we actively work with sustainability and have taken a long list of measures in the form of certifications, reduced food waste, etc. It helps to have a supplier like Convini to collaborate with. When we recently introduced a ban on palm oil in food and beverages within Volvo Cars and communicated this to Convini, we received an immediate response and help to sort out the few products this concerned,” Anders explains.

Many advantages with Convini

There are many benefits with Convini, and Anders highlights a few of them:

“The first thing you think of is the accessibility, that you are there 24/7 and that you offer a wide range of good and tasty products at reasonable prices. Sustainability, again, is a strong plus. Within Volvo Cars, we also try to move away from too much sugar, and we think Convini is good in that respect. Even though there is sugar in the assortment, you offer good and more healthy alternatives so that individuals can make their own choices. It is also important to highlight the user-friendliness of the purchasing process. It is so smooth to shop and rarely any hassle. I like the smart ‘wish product’ function!” says Anders.

Would you recommend Convini to a friend or contact at another company?

“Yes, I certainly can recommend Convini to others! In addition to the advantages I mentioned earlier, I also appreciate, as the one ordering Convini’s services, that refilling and service always work well. We have very good communication both with our contact person and your employees who visit us with deliveries, etc.,” concludes Anders Ledhagen.

Facts about Volvo Cars

Volvo Cars has about 41,000 full-time employees worldwide, of which around 23,000 are in Sweden. The headquarters and product development, marketing, and administrative departments are mainly located in Gothenburg. Production facilities are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), South Carolina (USA), Chengdu, Daqing, and Taizhou (China). Volvo Cars’ factory in Torslanda is a complete factory with a press shop, body shop, paint shop, and assembly plant. The factory opened in 1964 and is approximately 450,000 sqm in size. Around 1250 cars are built here per day.