Portugália Restauração Group best practice from Portugal on EDI

Founded in 1925, Portugália Restauração Group is one of Portugal’s largest and oldest restaurant groups, featuring seven distinct brands, including Portugália Cervejaria, Cervejaria Trindade, La Brasserie de L’Entrecôte and, Segundo Muelle. Alongside its diverse dining options, the Group also specialises in catering for events, from corporate functions and team-building activities to personal celebrations like weddings and birthday parties.

Context

Founded as a family-run business, Portugália Restauração Group has embedded social inclusion and community development from the start, often calling itself the “Portugália family.” Initially, inclusion practices were informal due to close team relationships, but as the company grew, it formalised its commitment by establishing a diversity department and policy in 2016. The Group supports the needs of its 800+ employees and their families while also engaging in local initiatives to foster socio territorial cohesion and address poverty and inequalities.

Implementation

The Group recognised the need for a dedicated department to manage the complex challenges of maintaining inclusive and socially responsible practices across a large workforce. Consequently, in 2016, Portugália established the Social Responsibility Department, Portugália Viva. That same year, it solidified its diversity policy and became a signatory of the Portuguese Charter for Diversity. Portugália Viva first started to offer social services and mental health assistance free of charge to help employees address personal and family issues, including health, housing, legal, and educational needs. The department connects them with local resources to find sustainable, long-term solutions. Following these initiatives, the Group became aware of its growing number of migrant and refugee employees and the challenges they faced in accessing public services in Portugal. In response, Portugália established a support office in partnership with CEPAC – Centro Padre Alves Correia, where a social assistant provides guidance on migration and social integration.

To further support newcomers, Portugália Viva launched a certified 150-hour “Portuguese as a Host Language” course in collaboration with INOVINTER – Centre for Training and Technological Innovation. This course is available to both the Group’s employees and unemployed migrants pursuing careers in hospitality. These classes aim to support team integration, career progression for foreign employees, and employability for migrants from partner NGOs interested in Portugal’s hospitality sector. Recently, Portugália Restauração Group established a Training Academy to provide tailored training, addressing skill gaps and the limited availability of restaurant-focused courses, showcasing its commitment to employee development.

Enabling Factors

The main enabling factor is the longstanding reputation of Portugália, which has established the Group as a national leader in the restaurant sector. With a strong sense of responsibility towards its employees, the Group has pioneered initiatives to ensure integration and inclusion, backed by the necessary resources. Additionally, the Group’s success is further enabled by its multiple partnerships to develop and enhance its diversity practices.

Barriers

Internally, the primary challenge is delivering uniform training across all locations and levels, from senior management to junior staff, including both long-serving employees and newcomers. Externally, Portugália manages challenges when collaborating with institutions that have their own rules, methodologies, and organisational cultures. This requires balancing and overcoming various institutional barriers, demanding flexibility and a willingness to adapt.

Impact on the Organisation

The organisation is facilitating the integration of employees in the labour market, and enhancing career progression and opportunities, also creating visible impacts to their daily operations. This created benefits for team working, and produced well-being in the organisation, promoting employee development and leading to a higher retention of the workforce. In recognition of these efforts, the Portugália Restauração Group was awarded the “Diversity Seal” in both 2019 and 2021 for its work in inclusive employability, particularly in recruitment, selection, and people management practices.

Quotes

‘I feel very welcomed by the company, I feel like I’ve found a family. There’s a great human touch here.’
‘You are very good to me… I was lucky to get [the] job because I don’t speak Portuguese, but Portugália gave me [an] opportunity, and my boss is a very good person!’
‘The best investment we can make is to take the time to get to know what is already being done locally and add value to these fantastic grassroots organisations.’

Lessons Learned

The Portugália Restauração Group believes that the purpose of these diversity and inclusion practices is to inspire other businesses to become social partners. The Group has observed that these practices can positively impact both the workforce and business operations.

Future Plans

The Group seeks to invite external stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and other companies, to collaborate and engage with its social mission. Furthermore, Portugália will continue to lead the restaurant sector by being an example through the implementation and dissemination of its practices to promote a more equitable society.

Links with UN Sustainable Development Goals

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