#15: The powers behind Meijer&Co. Consultancy: Eda G. Pogany
Mirjam Donáth
3 July 2024
As part of introducing the people behind Meijer&Co., meet Meet Éda G. Pogany, Advisory Board Member for the sustainability recruitment firm.
“A responsible company will look at its impact on society and the environment.”
On her academic journey, Éda Pogany studied medicine, psychology, communications, business management, and is also a certified aerobics coach. Despite her various interests and high-energy levels, she is one of the loyal kind: for the past three decades, she has been in leading roles in communications and sustainability at three multinational companies. Yet, when asked about her “title”, Éda would respond in a heartbeat: “I’m a rebel at heart.”
She has double proof.
First, her self-awareness journey taught her this through various methodologies: rebels are usually creative, tend to find solutions, and can turn bland tasks into something playful. Second, her mother’s reaction to this typology: “Goodness, child, you spent so much time and money (on this analysis); I could have told you this for free!”
In her adult life, Éda hasn’t rebelled against something but has been an activist for various things as long as she can remember. Her father, a pharmacist by training, general manager for pharmaceutical companies, and later lead officer of UNIDO was “one of those people who make the life of their children difficult if they want to keep up with him”. Yet, Éda didn’t shy away from challenging him on topics like gender equality and its cultural aspects. With his support, Éda took philosophy in secondary school, sharpening up on the art of argumentation. During one of their heated debates, her father told Éda that she should stop sharpening her tongue on him. “I laughed and said: Then why did you encourage me to take this course anyway? This kind of banter was regular between us.”
She has double proof.
First, her self-awareness journey taught her this through various methodologies: rebels are usually creative, tend to find solutions, and can turn bland tasks into something playful. Second, her mother’s reaction to this typology: “Goodness, child, you spent so much time and money (on this analysis); I could have told you this for free!”
In her adult life, Éda hasn’t rebelled against something but has been an activist for various things as long as she can remember. Her father, a pharmacist by training, general manager for pharmaceutical companies, and later lead officer of UNIDO was “one of those people who make the life of their children difficult if they want to keep up with him”. Yet, Éda didn’t shy away from challenging him on topics like gender equality and its cultural aspects. With his support, Éda took philosophy in secondary school, sharpening up on the art of argumentation. During one of their heated debates, her father told Éda that she should stop sharpening her tongue on him. “I laughed and said: Then why did you encourage me to take this course anyway? This kind of banter was regular between us.”
One of the most important goals that Éda rebels for is “a more equal world.” As a child, she experienced much inequality in the various third-world countries where she was raised. Éda was born in Havanna and raised in Africa, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. The Hungarian family eventually settled in Austria when Éda was in high school. By 20, leaving her family in Vienna, she moved back to her parental roots in Hungary. “My identity is Hungarian,” she states.
Éda also rebels for “a higher level of consciousness”. She is a firm believer in education and lifelong learning. She says that if people had a good knowledge of “how their bodies, the environment, companies, institutions, and governments work, even how plants grow, it would be so much easier to make important changes happen.”
She has a track record of the latter.
Éda also rebels for “a higher level of consciousness”. She is a firm believer in education and lifelong learning. She says that if people had a good knowledge of “how their bodies, the environment, companies, institutions, and governments work, even how plants grow, it would be so much easier to make important changes happen.”
She has a track record of the latter.
During her nearly 14 years at Coca-Cola HBC, where, for the last 3 years, she was Director of External Affairs and Sustainability for the CCHBC Group, Éda’s team launched “Coca-Cola Wake Your Body”, a campaign that spread from Hungary to all over Europe and won several awards. The goal was to move people away from the couch and raise awareness about a healthy lifestyle: “a program for society as a whole.” They got the green light from one of the leading love brands of the world to put the program’s logo on the cap of every bottle and a QR code that led to a website with science-based information about nutrition and fitness. They reached millions of consumers with sustainability messages directly. “We partnered with civil organisations and other businesses to organise a series of various sports events where everyone could try different types of sports”, Éda says with a sugar-free Coke Zero in her hands, confirming that the campaign contributed to a shift in consumer preference towards beverages with low or no calories.
“Internal influencing, convincing business leaders who are typically incentivised for short-term sales and market share increase and rarely have sustainability on their minds, to include sustainability messaging in above-the-line advertising, discussions with a CFO about how their work contributes to the company’s sustainability goals, making sure that sustainability criteria are considered in CAPEX decisions or that recycled PET is used in packaging, collecting post-consumer packaging efficiently to make that balance work: these were the kinds of challenges that I truly enjoyed and where I really felt that I had an impact on making the world a better place.”
Éda’s sustainability story started long ago at Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods company. At the beginning of the 90s, P&G was already thinking about how to do business in a rapidly changing world by being conscious about the post-consumer life of packaging, the testing methodologies of their products’ ingredients, and the treatment of municipal wastewater. “That's where I first saw that a responsible company will look at its impacts on the environment and think long term.” Éda recalls, “We were doing that already at the end of the nineties, learning every step of the way about how to get this right eventually.”
“Internal influencing, convincing business leaders who are typically incentivised for short-term sales and market share increase and rarely have sustainability on their minds, to include sustainability messaging in above-the-line advertising, discussions with a CFO about how their work contributes to the company’s sustainability goals, making sure that sustainability criteria are considered in CAPEX decisions or that recycled PET is used in packaging, collecting post-consumer packaging efficiently to make that balance work: these were the kinds of challenges that I truly enjoyed and where I really felt that I had an impact on making the world a better place.”
Éda’s sustainability story started long ago at Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods company. At the beginning of the 90s, P&G was already thinking about how to do business in a rapidly changing world by being conscious about the post-consumer life of packaging, the testing methodologies of their products’ ingredients, and the treatment of municipal wastewater. “That's where I first saw that a responsible company will look at its impacts on the environment and think long term.” Éda recalls, “We were doing that already at the end of the nineties, learning every step of the way about how to get this right eventually.”
Seven years ago, Éda moved upstream in the value chain to agriculture. “This brings me a long step closer to the earth, on which we all depend.” At the agtech company Syngenta, she has been in various roles before becoming sustainability and communications lead for EAME. They work with farmers around the world, accelerating innovation to find better solutions to address the shared challenge of climate change and biodiversity loss. They are working on technological breakthroughs to reduce agriculture’s contribution to climate change, harness its mitigation capacity, and help the food system stay within planetary boundaries. “Farmers’ work is essential in feeding an increasing world population and doing so sustainably. Producing more with fewer inputs, on less land and adopting regenerative farming practices to rebuild soil health and biodiversity are critical parts of the solution. We work every day to support farmers on this quest through continuous innovation in plant breeding, plant protection, biological and digital tools, and tailor-made agronomical advice.”
While she doesn’t change her workplaces often, Éda enjoys volunteering. She has served as a member/chairperson of non-governmental organisations such as WWF Hungary, and the Hungarian Association of Packaging, among others. Most recently, she joined the advisory board of Meijer &Co, advising on sustainability strategy for businesses, which is her speciality. Éda is the person who can connect Meijer &Co to various stakeholders, open doors, and be a sounding board for Thijmen and Imard’s emerging ideas. Éda, who has been in leadership positions for a long time, says that the best part of advising is that companies get a broader view and can make more informed decisions by listening to and understanding stakeholders' perspectives. “In this role, I feel free to share my knowledge and voice my opinion, hoping that it will add value to existing and emerging companies,” she says.
While she doesn’t change her workplaces often, Éda enjoys volunteering. She has served as a member/chairperson of non-governmental organisations such as WWF Hungary, and the Hungarian Association of Packaging, among others. Most recently, she joined the advisory board of Meijer &Co, advising on sustainability strategy for businesses, which is her speciality. Éda is the person who can connect Meijer &Co to various stakeholders, open doors, and be a sounding board for Thijmen and Imard’s emerging ideas. Éda, who has been in leadership positions for a long time, says that the best part of advising is that companies get a broader view and can make more informed decisions by listening to and understanding stakeholders' perspectives. “In this role, I feel free to share my knowledge and voice my opinion, hoping that it will add value to existing and emerging companies,” she says.
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Today, with her three sons grown up, Éda lives in a small apartment building in Budapest where she, “who else”, is the common representative for the house. On her watch, the community built a composting corner in the shared garden, and they also work together to grow tomatoes and other veggies and herbs. Asking her about her simplest, easy-to-copy sustainability habit, she mentions a note she keeps on the fridge, with a list of questions she asks herself before buying new things. Do I really need this? If YES: Can it be borrowed? Rented? Bought second-hand? “I’m keen on conscious consumption,” Éda smiles, adding that she avoids advertisements and invests her time into research instead when she requires something. “I like to make my own decisions.”
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