Responsibility on a broad basis – Keeping an eye on the essentials

How Tchibo systematically shapes its long-term approach to sustainability and sensibly prioritises its activities.

Tchibo faces multifaceted and ambitious tasks. Tchibo has set key priorities and – whenever reasonable – yearly goals to live up to its responsibility. We concentrate on the areas of our business activities in which our actions have the greatest effect on people and the environment – both in terms of the issues themselves and of the regions we are active in. Our stakeholders are the focus of everything we do.

Responsibility is not only a comprehensive term; it is also tied to a variety of activities. We cannot address all of our challenges right away, which is why we plan our measures to promote sustainability carefully, setting ourselves annual objectives wherever possible. Selecting the fields of operation where we will take action first is not something we undertake on our own. We keep up an ongoing dialogue with our social stakeholders so we do not lose sight of the essentials when confronted with the diversity of needs and issues facing us. Our stakeholders include our employees and their representatives, environmental, consumer protection and human rights groups, unions and public authorities, our business partners, and, above all, our customers. Thanks to our detailed communication with these stakeholders, we always know which areas of our business activities require specific action. Another significant point of reference is our risk management system. We minimise potential hazards by taking account in our decision-making processes of the risks identified by this system.

All good things come in tens: Our key focal points

Through communication with our stakeholders, we have defined the aspects of our business activities for which we bear particular responsibility. Since 2006, we have been focusing our efforts on the following ten main issues:

Sustainable coffee qualities: Our aim is provide exclusively sustainable coffees. We select only the best beans to provide top-quality coffee as fresh as it gets. Our promotion of ecologically and socially responsible coffee production helps us to give our customers a lasting guarantee of unmatched quality.
Sustainable consumer goods: We want to offer products to our customers that place the smallest possible burden on the environment in the course of their lifecycle and that are produced under fair working conditions. Living up to our environmental and social responsibility is part of our holistic concept of quality. Therefore we have developed processes to support our suppliers in this respect.
Customer orientation: Customer orientation is one of our business strategy’s central values. We want to provide our customers with the best service possible, taking their comments and criticism seriously and using them to help us become ever better in what we do.
Sustainable consumption: We are constantly expanding our range of sustainable products. The best way for us to prove our sustainability is with trustworthy certificates from established standards organisations, for our coffee as well as cotton textiles, consumer goods made of wood and other products.
Climate protection: We produce the majority of our products outside Europe, taking climate protection measures to fight the resulting effects on the climate. Our shipping methods are a principal focus in this context: By 2015 we want to have reduced our shipping-related CO₂ emissions by 30 per cent compared to 2006.
Protecting resources and conserving biodiversity: Many of our earth’s greatest treasures are limited. The diversity of plant and animal species is under threat. It is critical to the existence of our company that we conserve resources and preserve biodiversity.
Corporate culture: We want to strengthen our corporate culture, and have defined our three main values: customer orientation, entrepreneurship and discipline.
Code of Conduct: Every single Tchibo employee is required to act responsibly, so we developed a Code of Conduct which establishes the basic rules for daily business at every level of the hierarchy.
Educational projects in our products’ regions of origin: Not only do we strive to make our products themselves sustainable, we also promote social development in the regions from which our products originate. A main focus of this effort is supporting educational initiatives.
Social commitment: We support initiatives to improve people’s lives, above all in the communities surrounding our sites.

National and international: Our main geographical focal points

As a company which is active all over the world, we stand up for sustainability wherever our products and processes are specifically involved – in the countries where our products originate, at our sites and in our sales markets.

In the “coffee belt” countries: Coffee production requires specific climatic and geographic conditions. Therefore, excellent raw coffee grows primarily in countries in the “coffee belt”, i.e. at high altitudes on or near the Equator. In Central and South America, we primarily purchase our coffees in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Honduras and Guatemala. In eastern Africa, the main countries supplying our coffee are Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia, and in Asia we mainly obtain our coffee from Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and India.
In developing and newly industrialised countries: A large portion of our consumer products are produced in developing and newly industrialised countries. In these countries we mainly cooperate with suppliers in China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India and Turkey.
In European markets: Our core sales markets are Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and we are also expanding operations in eastern and southern Europe, where we have integrated sustainability into our expansion plans.