Open, honest, results-oriented – dialogue with our stakeholders
How Tchibo keeps the lines of communication with its societal environment open.
Tchibo operates at the centre of society. Our everyday activities put us in contact with numerous people and organisations within and outside the company. We want to meet their diverse expectations and demands to the greatest possible extent and place their needs at the centre of our actions. This is why we actively initiate open and honest communication with our employees and their representatives, our customers, suppliers, other business partners, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), banks and policymakers.
Our customers value top quality for fair prices. Like NGO representatives, they also expect us to establish socially responsible working conditions in production countries and to make sure we are protecting the environment. Our employees are just as interested in the social security benefits we offer as in questions of pay and promotion.
Ongoing communication with stakeholders within and outside the company
To make continuous improvements, we need to keep up a close and ongoing dialogue with individual stakeholders within and outside the company. These include our customers, employees and their (union) representatives, suppliers and other business partners, NGOs and governmental organisations, consumer protection organisations, research establishments, banks and insurance providers. We measure the success of our corporate responsibility activities by the way representatives of these groups rate us.
Dieter Overath
CEO of TransFair e.V.
“Tchibo and Transfair are united in the common goal of getting fair trade coffee out of its niche market and making it accessible to a wider market. Coffee farmers from the south will reap the greatest benefits from this.”
Tensie Whelan
President, Rainforest Alliance
“We want to support coffee farmers in taking a first conscious step towards sustainability and to motivate them to continue following this path in the future. We have already achieved a great deal through our work in the countries where coffee originates – 62 million hectares of sustainably managed land and improved living conditions for approximately 2.5 million people who live there. Tchibo’s efforts have been a great help to us, to nature and to coffee farmers.”
Identifying problems, taking decisive action
We enter into relevant and specific dialogue with our stakeholders so we can approach such complex issues as human rights, working conditions, environmental protection and the struggle against corruption in the depth they demand and with a focus on getting results. Our stakeholders’ concrete expectations form the basis of our agendas. What problems need to be solved? Who do these problems affect? Internal analyses help us to identify the demands coming from our societal environment. Issues Management in the Corporate Responsibility department supplies us with additional information about societal expectations and trends, ensuring we cover all relevant fields.
Dialogue on an equal footing
Dialogue formats with thematic focal points have proven to be especially useful. This communication method allows us to address specific problems, for example in our supply chain, and to bring those representatives of stakeholder groups who are most familiar with the issue at hand to the table. Additionally, multi-stakeholder organisations support our most crucial projects.
Within the scope of our “WE” social qualification programme, we held an international stakeholder conference in Berlin and presented the results of the “WE” pilot project and an external impact analysis for discussion. We gained significant insights from this conference, which we will be using to expand the project with consumer goods suppliers starting in 2011.
Stakeholder group | Topics | Communication channels | Our activities |
Customers | Our customers want good value for money and excellent service. They are also increasingly interested in whether products were manufactured under environmentally and socially responsible conditions. We are noticing an increasing demand for coffee, textiles and wood products that are produced and traded according to sustainable standards. Open and honest communication is also important to our customers. | We interact with our customers on many channels. Most of our feedback reaches us through our shops, especially from face-to-face contact between our shop staff and customers. In addition, our central Customer Services department and regular analyses of consumer groups provide us with valuable information about how to improve our products and processes. Surveys on sustainability at Tchibo round off our customer communications and help us to assess their expectations regarding our sustainability performance. | Click here to find out more about how we meet our responsibility towards our customers. |
Employees | Our employees’ commitment, experience and expertise are the very basis of Tchibo’s success. They want Tchibo to maintain its range of social benefits. Our employees not only support our taking corporate responsibility, but actually demand it. We in turn expect our employees to comply with the Code of Conduct in all business activities, and to show loyalty to the company.
| We cultivate a corporate culture of openness and communication. Our employees cooperate closely on projects and give and receive regular feedback. | Click here to find out more about our activities relating to our responsibility to our staff. |
Suppliers and business partners | Our suppliers and business partners expect fairness in our business relations. We expect reliability from them – including regarding our environmental and social requirements. | The relationship with our suppliers and other business partners is governed by contract. It is important to us to maintain a partnership with our suppliers and other business partners that is as fair and durable as possible. Only in this way can our cooperation be successful in the long term. | Click here to find out more about how we fulfil our responsibility to our suppliers and other business partners. |
Non-governmental organisations | Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) work towards ecological and social progress in society. They call on companies, including Tchibo, to commit themselves to environmental protection and the enforcement of social standards in the supply chain. They are increasingly demanding that we offer sustainable products and promote sustainable consumption. | Joint projects with NGOs are the most effective form of communication. We also regularly exchange ideas with these organisations. | As part of our WE project we work with NGOs like Social Accountability International (SAI). We partner with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Öko-Institut in the "Product Carbon Footprint" pilot project. We are also involved with numerous social organisations which various national and international NGOs are members of. We also work closely with NGOs as part of our social commitment. |
Government organisations | Government organisations are particularly concerned about compliance with laws. They also expect companies to participate in voluntary initiatives for integrating environmental and social standards in business. | For government Organisations, too, joint projects are the most effective form of communication. | One of our partners in the WE project is the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In the LOTOS logistics project, one of our partners is the Federal Environment Ministry. International governmental organisations are particularly involved in the 4C, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade and Bio (organic) standards systems which we apply in the coffee sector. The same goes for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Organic Exchange and Cotton made in Africa standards systems in the field of consumer goods. |
Trade unions | Unions are committed to our employees’ interests. National and international unions call for the enforcement of social standards in the supply chain. | The trade union ver.di is represented on our works council. For trade unions, joint projects are also the most effective form of communication. We discuss ideas about regulating worker participation with trade unions and through our membership of Social Accountability International. International trade unions are also involved in most of the standards systems we use. | We ensure compliance with legal and ethical behaviour through various codes and implementation programmes. They apply equally for our employees and our suppliers, as well as the latter’s production plants and business partners. |
Consumer protection associations | Our customers want to buy products that deliver what they promise. Consumer protection agencies work to ensure a reasonable price-to-performance ratio. Customers should not be deceived by product advertising, promised standards of service must be adhered to, and complaints should be handled professionally. | Since 2007, we have commissioned the German Institute for Market, Environment and Society (IMUG) in Hanover to advise us, particularly on the marketing of complex services through Tchibo plus and, to review our customer services including complaints management. | Click here to find out more about how we meet our responsibility towards our customers. |
Science | Cooperation with scientific institutions is indispensable for Tchibo. During the reporting period, we benefited from science especially in the optimisation of our transport activities and climate protection measures.
| Joint projects are also the most effective form of communication for science.. | Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg is one of our partners in the LOTOS project for optimising transport to reduce CO2 emissions. |
Banks and insurance companies
As credit and insurance providers, banks and insurance companies are interested in long-term economic success and low risk. These goals help us by requiring a sustainable alignment of the company.
Regular (annual) risk inventories by the Central Controlling Department help us to identify, minimise and avoid risks.
Business risks from the social environment are classified as a "medium risk" by the Central Controlling Department. Our sustainability management, including the implementation of actions, help us to considerably reduce the risk. The goal is to classify it as "low risk".