The Victor and Sally Mouttet Foundation is funded by three partners – Agostini's Limited, Prestige Holdings Limited, and Victor E. Mouttet Limited.
Agostini's and Prestige Holdings each contribute 1% of their after-tax profit to Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) activities, 80% of which is channeled through the Foundation. Victor E. Mouttet Limited has made an initial commitment to contribute five million dollars to the Foundation.
In 1958, Victor and Sally Mouttet founded their company Victor E. Mouttet Limited, starting in the food importation business. Today, Victor E. Mouttet is a diverse company which operates across the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), pharmaceuticals, restaurants, industrial products, retail and real estate industries
Throughout their lives, Victor and Sally have been passionate about improving literacy and providing greater access to healthcare, especially to children. This Foundation, created in their honour, is dedicated to achieving that.
To build a stronger nation by giving every child the confidence and tools to fulfil their potential. We aim to bring H.O.P.E., which stands for:
H – Health
O – Opportunity
P – Potential
E – Education
The Victor and Sally Mouttet Foundation lends subtle nods to both Victor and Sally’s passion for history and the classics.
The logo borrows both its colouring and the full stop sub mark from the Victor E. Mouttet Limited logo, tying the foundation back to the people who inspired it all. The full stop also acts as a form of grammatical intensity, adding emphasis on the work that the Foundation does.
The square is inspired by the Greek legend of Pandora’s box. As the tale goes, Pandora opened a jar containing sickness, death, and other unspecified evils, subsequently releasing them into the world. In her hurry to close the container, the only thing left behind was hope.
Our logo shows this box, complete with a circle symbolizing hope on the inside. We have, however, chosen to leave the lid ajar, representing the Foundation’s aim to bring and release this hope across Trinidad and Tobago, by focusing our efforts on benefiting our nation’s youth – especially in the areas of health and education.
Without hope, there can be no change and no progress. Join us as we spread hope throughout our nation.
The Foundation has chosen to focus on Dyslexia, partnering with the Dyslexia Association on various initiatives. Dyslexia is a congenital organizing disability that impairs hand skills, short-term memory, and perception, so inhibiting the development of a child's literary skills –particularly reading, writing and spelling, and sometimes numeracy. Often, these difficulties are first noticed at school. The difficulties are involuntary and people with this disorder have a normal desire to learn.
Many famous and successful people were or are dyslexic. Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Tom Cruise, Whoopi Goldberg, Magic Johnson, Steven Spielberg, Stephen Hawking, Pablo Picasso, and Leonardo Da Vinci are all notable figures who struggled with dyslexia.
Our Foundation financially supports the Dyslexia Association of Trinidad and Tobago, by funding awareness, outreach, training sessions and other activities.
The second area that the Foundation focuses on is vision care, initially for Primary School students. Through our I-Care initiative, children that qualify will be provided with eye tests and glasses for a fraction of the regular cost.
Children from 164 primary schools and growing, between the ages of 5 and 12, who are deemed qualified by the school’s principal, will have access to the initiative. This program will allow these students access to eye examinations for $30, and should eyeglasses be required, receive a prescription pair for an additional $100. The balance of the cost of both the eye examination and eyeglasses will be covered by the Victor and Sally Mouttet Foundation and the optometrists that are partnering with us.
Parents can be assured that none of the children receiving eye tests or eyeglasses will be used in any form of advertising or promotion. The only people who will know that a particular child has received a pair of glasses is the Foundation, the school’s principal, and the optometrist.
If you are interested in getting involved with our Foundation, please contact us at nadia.james-reyestineo@agostinislimited.com or +1 868 623 4871.
