OUR STORIES
Nurturing the Next Generation of Children with Entrepreneurship Development Program
Asahi Group is actively engaged in bolstering meaningful connections and building new ones through collaborative projects with stakeholders and community support activities. One of the key primary focus areas on sustainability is centered around "Communities".
One notable initiative in this regard is the Goodday KidSTART program, initiated by the Goodday Milk brand. The brand is a product of Malaysia's Etika Group of Companies, which not only markets and produces Goodday Milk but also manages the Asahi Group's non-alcohol beverages and dairy product business across Southeast Asia.
In order to deepen consumers’ connection with our brand, Goodday Milk launched the Goodday KidSTART program, designed to instill financial literacy in children and ignite an entrepreneurship spirit.
In the milk industry, the purchasers (parents) and consumers (children) of the product often differ. Instead of narrowing our focus to solely target either group, we aspire to build brand equity among both parents and children. Our goal extends beyond nourishing children’s bodies; we also strive to support their mental growth.
Goodday Milk designed the Goodday KidSTART program with the following two objectives:
・Cultivate brand equity through this interactive events and consumer engagement.
・Provide children with opportunities to learn about financial matters, develop an entrepreneurship mindset, take responsibility, and contribute to the local communities.
Launched in Malaysia in 2022, the Goodday KidSTART program was designed to foster children's creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. The program attracted 340 children from across the nation, offering them the opportunity to develop and present their own business plans. The initiative aimed not only to encourage their imaginations but also to provide them with real-world experience and knowledge in entrepreneurship and financial literacy. The participating children had the unique opportunity to present their business plans to real investors, thereby transforming their entrepreneurial dreams into reality.
Eight winners were awarded a total of 51,000 ringgits (approximately 1.6 million yen) to bring their business plans to life.*Unit of currency in Malaysia. 1 ringgit = 31.2 yen (as of March 29, 2024)
The primary objective of this program is to ignite children’s interest in entrepreneurship and support their passion for starting their own businesses in a way that positively impact their local communities.
Financial Literacy: A Building Block to Entrepreneurship
The Goodday KidSTART program recognizes the critical role of financial literacy in fostering entrepreneurship. Statistics show that only 30% of Malaysian families start teaching their children about money between the ages of 7 and 10. To address this, the program aimed to equip children with not just the knowledge but the hands-on skills about money, enabling them to make informed financial decisions as they grow.
Awards for Socially Impactful
The program evaluated ideas based on their potential benefits to the local community and the social impact they could make. A young girl of 10 years old received the Grand Prize for her innovative concept. She proposed an app designed to aid cognitive recovery, inspired by her wish to help her grandfather regain his cognitive abilities following a stroke.
Other notable ideas included CocoCool, a second-place proposal on developing a coconut water extraction and cooling system aimed at making fresh coconut water readily accessible to the public while supporting local coconut vendors. The third-place proposal was an idea for subscription-based science and learning packages, designed to make science and learning feel more accessible and fun for children.
These ideas all shared a common goal in addressing local community challenges and providing invaluable solutions.
Through the Goodday KidSTART program, Goodday Milk plays a pivotal role in fostering entrepreneurship among children, contributing to local communities, and strengthening brand equity.
The Goodday KidSTART program is slated to become an annual event, with the goal of consistently enriching the communities around us. We aim to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of children, cultivating their intellectual and emotional development.
Asahi Group remains dedicated to contributing to local communities by supporting the development of people and their communities.