BCTA MEMBERSHIP STATUS
Active

SECTOR
Consumer Goods

HEADQUARTERS
Bangladesh

REGION OF INITIATIVE
Asia & Pacific

SDG CONTRIBUTION

RELATED NEWS

The Impact Goal

DBL Group joined Business Call to Action in September 2016 with a commitment to provide over 30,000 of its employees with access to affordably priced basic household food and health items through its Bandhan Fair Price Shops. DBL Group also pledged to provide social and economic empowerment to almost 15,000 women at the base of the pyramid in Bangladesh through enhanced life and skills trainings, leadership programs, and health initiatives by 2020.

In 2021, DBL Group renewed its membership with a commitment to serve 46,517 low-income individuals through its Bandhan Fair Price shop for daily necessity items, provide sanitary napkins at a subsidized rate to 20,145 low-income women in its value chain, and create 20 direct full-time sales jobs for low-income individuals in its shop by 2024.

The Market Gap

Availability and accessibility of daily use items were a prime concern in Gazipur, Bangladesh a location that had over 6,900 employees from DBL Group, 30% of whom were women in 2008. The entire zone was undeveloped with little access to quality goods to sustain life. Lack of access to personal hygiene products for women resulted in greater absenteeism, decreased production, and hampered motivation.

Further problems arrived due to the impact of the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, considered as one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The impact hit all economies and Bangladesh was not an exception. Prices of goods increased significantly and for the workers who were earning less than USD 45 per month faced significant challenges to tackle the situation.

The Business Solution

DBL Group launched the program of Bandhan Fair Price Shop. Bandhan provides everyday commodities to the employees at subsidized prices ranging from 5% to 15%. The 400 plus items purchased at a wholesale price from Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestle, P&G, and other international and locally recognized brands – include food, cooking oil, toiletries, housekeeping, tea, and beverages. In addition, women workers can purchase sanitary napkins at a heavily subsidized price of 13 cents, which is 71% lesser than the market price.

With the help of Bandhan, the rate of absenteeism caused by the remoteness of the location and lack of availability of shops for everyday items among DBL employees has been dramatically decreased and the personal hygiene health of women employees in DBL Group has improved as a result of this initiative thus creating a better working environment and bond between the employees and management within DBL Group.

About DBL Group: Established in 1991, DBL Group is a diversified conglomerate with a strong backward linkage. The diversified business includes Apparels, Textiles, Packaging, Ceramic Tiles, Telecommunications, Dredging, and Pharmaceuticals. In the apparels and textiles sector of Bangladesh, DBL Group is one of the largest and 100% export-oriented composite knit garments and textiles manufacturing organization. They are supplying quality apparels around the world to the best of the retailers and the biggest brands of the fashion industry. The company is headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh and operating its production processes at the factories situated in Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh.