Inspired by Italy's meal voucher system, La Roche-Posay and BETC launched Buoni Sole to turn sunscreen into a standard employer-funded benefit.
In Italy, meal vouchers, or buoni pasto, are a workplace staple — small paper or electronic tickets that make an essential need accessible and routine. La Roche-Posay and creative agency BETC have borrowed that familiar format for a less obvious purpose: sun protection. Buoni Sole (Sun Vouchers) is a UV ticket system that provides outdoor workers with sunscreen as a standard workplace benefit, much like lunch. Across Italy, more than 4 million people work outdoors daily. Research has found that outdoor workers face a roughly 60% higher risk of developing skin cancer compared to indoor workers, yet more than half don't use sunscreen. An outdoor worker may need up to five tubes a month — a cost that adds up, and one that most employers have never thought to cover.
To get companies on board with the voucher system, La Roche-Posay is covering the first three months, offering SPF at no charge to employers. The meal voucher angle is what gives the concept its grip, especially in Italy, where buoni pasto are part of daily working life. Instead of running yet another awareness campaign that puts the onus on individuals, Buoni Sole shifts responsibility to employers, positioning SPF alongside hard hats and high-vis vests as standard-issue safety gear. Several businesses have already signed on, including irrigation manufacturer Irritec, whose board member Giulia Giuffrè described participation as "setting an example."
TREND BITE
Climate change is driving up UV exposure worldwide, and consumer expectations surrounding sunscreen are shifting accordingly. For many decades, sunscreen was associated with beaches and vacations. Today, it's a daily habit for skincare-aware consumers. Tomorrow, sunscreen could well become a regulated workplace safety standard. With Buoni Sole, La Roche-Posay is tapping into something that already works — Italy's meal voucher — and repurposing it to normalize a new category of employer responsibility. One to spread to other parts of our hotter planet?
