Key information at a glance
How Tchibo puts sustainability at the centre of all its activities.
Economics, ecology and social responsibility – three terms that are inseparable at Tchibo.Together, they are the supporting pillars of our strategy for our future success. We need to consider the effects that our business activities have on people and the environment around the world so that we can continue to offer our customers the things that make Tchibo special: coffee of outstanding quality and a host of consumer goods providing a new experience every week.
In 2006, we started taking a more systematic, holistic look at our corporate responsibilities, and sustainability is now an integral factor within our business strategy. In our day-to-day business, this means that we constantly check and update our products and processes, as well as our activities at particular sites, to make sure that they meet our environmental and social responsibility standards. The path we are taking with our “Building our Future on Tradition” corporate strategy has a great destination: the Tchibo brand as synonymous with holistic responsibility and trust.
This document will provide you with an overview of our key activities in the areas of supply chains, customer care, environmental protection, staff and society.
Action in supply chains:a unique range, myriad challenges, a holistic strategy
The name Tchibo represents a unique business model: we combine professional expertise in roasted coffee with a wide range of consumer goods that changes weekly. In both of our business fields, responsibility is a key element of how we view quality. We know that we can only sustain our success in the future if we work to address people’s needs and environmental concerns.
From field to cup: responsibility in the coffee supply chain
We want to give our customers only the finest coffee, and to guarantee that our coffee is always of unmatched quality, we are committed to socially and environmentally responsible coffee cultivation. We have increased the proportion of our total volume of raw coffee for Germany and abroad that is certified to Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and the EU’s Eco regulation (Bio) standards, and validated to 4C (Common Code for the Coffee Community) standard, from 8.0 per cent in 2009 to 9.6 per cent in 2010. Working together with our partners, we are also involved in a wide variety of different projects in the countries where we source our coffee. These projects focus on education, climate issues and quality.
From the drawing board to the disposal system:responsibility in the consumer goods supply chain
We also believe in responsibility when creating our top-quality consumer goods. We place special emphasis on issues around environmental and social responsibility throughout the entire value chain, from the cultivation of the raw materials used in our products to the method of their disposal, and were able to make significant progress in these endeavours in 2010. For example, we completed the pilot phase of the WE (World Enhancement of Social Quality) project for delivering social responsibility training at production sites in China, Bangladesh and Thailand. At the 40 participating companies, external analysts checked how effective this innovative training concept has been – their findings were very positive. Due to this success, the project has moved from the pilot phase into a programme which has now been extended to 75 other production companies working for Tchibo in China and Bangladesh. During 2010, we staged stakeholders’ events in Germany and Asia where we invited participants to discuss WE. We also used these events to identify potential partners who can help us spread awareness of WE and to obtain valuable feedback for the ongoing development of the programme.
Action for customers: making customers happy, making service excellent
Dedicating our attention to customers’ needs is one of the core values of our corporate culture. Our focus is on our range of high-quality products, our customer-oriented corporate communications; and our service guarantee and standards which see to it that customers can be sure of outstanding service across all of our sales channels. In 2010, we also stepped up our efforts to encourage and support sustainable consumption.
Setting a green example:sustainable consumption courtesy of Tchibo
Data protection at Tchibo:a management matter
It is our aim to understand as much as we can about our customers’ needs while gathering as little personal information about them as we can. In all of our actions, our priority is always to protect the interests of the consumers who have put their trust in us and to handle their personal information with the greatest possible care. To ensure that this is upheld, we have developed and implemented holistic data protection management systems. In this way, we were able in 2010 to increase the transparency of our processes for the benefit of our customers, and our staff are now more aware of the sensitive treatment which personal data requires. We have also reviewed and optimised all of our advertising activities so that they are in-line with data protection regulations.
Action for the environment: we see the big picture
Protecting the environment is top priority for Tchibo. We are engaged in a diverse range of activities in this field, with a particular focus on conserving soil and water, protecting the climate and supporting biodiversity. Through all this, we keep our eye on the big picture. For us, this means that our care for the environment begins in product design and continues throughout all stages of the product life cycle. In 2010, we continued the project “Product Carbon Footprint” in the context of the “Platform for Climate Compatible Consumption in Germany”. In addition to this, we continued to work on integrating environmental responsibility guidelines into Tchibo’s quality standards.
Focus on climate protection:
The effects of climate change are already making themselves felt today – and are not sparing our core business. Global warming is leading to changes in harvest yields and in the quality of important commodities such as coffee and cotton. Our action for climate protection, then, is action to secure the basis of our business. We believe that if we want to protect the climate, we must start with ourselves. Since 1 January 2008, for example, all the electricity we purchase has been generated from renewable sources. Additionally, we are reducing our transport-related CO2 emissions with the aid of the LOTOS project. Our goal: By 2015, we intend to have reduced our goods transport-related CO2 emissions by 30 per cent on 2006’s levels. Moreover, in 2010 we pushed ahead with switching our sales fleet to low-consumption vehicles from the BlueMotion series from VW and Audi, a project embarked on in 2008, and introduced the first hybrid vehicles to the fleet. To round off this action, we have joined the project “Model regions for electric mobility” – and will be testing two electric Smart cars from 2011.
Action for employees: our workforce is the basis of our success
Even back in 1949, Max Herz knew that a company's most important asset is its workforce. Their experience and expertise are the basis of our success. We intend to uphold the tradition of our company’s founder by remaining an attractive and responsible employer in the future. For this reason, we take the long view when making decisions and taking action, have flat hierarchies and speedy decision-making processes. Accordingly, our employees act as “entrepreneurs within the company” – and enjoy a high degree of scope for decision-making and responsibility in their roles. Tchibo is also well aware of the high value of thorough training and offers a wide range of seminars, workshops and other training opportunities for its employees. Further, we place great emphasis on employees’ ability to combine their careers with their family lives. We are a family business ourselves, and thus particularly proud of becoming, last year, Germany’s first retail company to be awarded the “family-friendly employer” certificate by the family-focused social auditing organisation berufundfamilie gGmbH.
The central foundation of all we do: our Code of Conduct
Fairness in our dealings with others, ethical business practices and complete compliance with all laws are an absolute top priority to Tchibo. In order to ensure that these principles determine all our employees do whenever they do it, we have set them down in our Code of Conduct. The 13 basic rules of working together apply to all employees of Tchibo GmbH and its subsidiaries – and therefore form the basis of our business activities. In 2010, we extended our Code of Conduct to encompass further rules for employee behaviour, incorporating, for instance, our data protection guidelines and certain aspects of environmental protection into the Code as stand-alone points.
Action in society: helping at our products' origin means securing the future
Be it raw coffee or cotton – Tchibo is committed to the regions where our products are sourced and supports workers and their families. We are involved in projects that promote education and training, guided by the principle of “helping people to help themselves”. Such initiatives include building schools or establishing childcare programmes. Through these projects, Tchibo helps to improve people’s living conditions.
Case study: Benin – paving the way for better education with strong partners
In 2010, we initiatied an educational project in Benin. The central African republic, where cotton is a traditional crop, is one of the world’s poorest regions. Working together with the German Investment and Development Company (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, DEG), the Aid by Trade Foundation, the international cooperation organisation Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and local partners, we are aiming to improve the school infrastructure and the quality of teaching in six municipalities in the country in which “Cotton made in Africa” is produced. In 2010, in the project’s first stage, schoolbooks and approximately 10,000 school uniforms were provided and the foundations laid for one of seven future school buildings.