Sustainability Policy
Döhler is a global producer, marketer and provider of natural ingredients, ingredients systems and integrated solutions for the food and beverage industry. This is the purpose of our business. Fulfilling this purpose day by day, we work together with many different people from all over the world, use thousands of different raw materials, water, energy and many other resources.
As a family-owned company founded in 1838, we are committed to acting long-term and with responsibility in mind. Our focus and our actions respect the principles of sustainability. We understand sustainability to be an opportunity to balance economical, ecological and social issues, in order to achieve and guarantee long-term and lasting success. In pursuing these principles effectively and engaging our customers and partners to do the same, we focus on three pillars:
- People
- Performance
- Planet
Obligations to our stakeholders
At Döhler we are committed to taking a process approach to achieving sustainability for our stakeholders based on the three pillars:
People
- Protecting Human Rights
- Ensuring social compliance through internationally-recognized standards
- Treating all employees equally
- Having satisfied employees
- Accepting and fostering the diversity of people
- Acting responsible in the supply chain
- Ensuring employee welfare through an integrated health & safety system
- Steadily increasing our internal knowledge base
Performance
- Keeping the company economically healthy through achieving our BLUE PLANET 2020 targets
- Ensuring food safety & quality
- Achieving profits & growth sustainably
- Constantly increase the share of sustainably sourced raw materials
- Fair trading between our suppliers and us
- Improving customer satisfaction
- Performing steady R&D creativity to satisfy customer needs and to foster sustainability
Planet
- Improving eco-efficiency alongside our value chain
- Using less energy & water
- Producing less CO2
- Increasing yield and reducing waste
- Reducing the environmental impact of transports
- Ensuring sustainable agriculture
- Supporting farmers & creating local value
- Fostering the preservation of biodiversity
An integrated sustainability, Environment and Health & Safety system
To achieve sustainability, we have an integrated system important in all parts of our business. At each of our locations, our policy is to operate the sustainability & EHS system based on the three pillars people, performance, planet.
Concerning EH&S we see and accept our company responsibility. We will not compromise on EH&S values and we will not risk any harm to the environment, to our colleagues and to our business partners. We strongly support actions for environmental protection and accident free working conditions.
We commit ourselves to full compliance with all applicable legal environmental, health and safety requirements and all internal requirements.
Measurement and improvement
We always strive to continuously improve sustainability & EHS. We do this by setting yearly ambitious goals and programmes, recording, monitoring and evaluating performance, and establishing scope for improvement. We support our employees at all levels in continuous improvement for the benefit of all our stakeholders.
Sustainability Award
The German Association for Sustainability (DQS CFS) has awarded the Döhler group with the German Award for Excellence in the “Sustainable Leadership” category for exemplary sustainability management. The jury was particularly impressed by the way in which the topic of sustainability has been holistically integrated into our business strategy and culture.
As part of a global CSR strategy, we have set ourselves ambitious goals for 2020 and aligned our key activities with a comprehensive materiality analysis. The jury placed particular emphasis on the agro-sustainability programme during their evaluation; a farmer-level programme which leads to long-term, locally-established and responsible value creation. With this strategy we will assure to manage our dependence on agricultural raw materials, which is the basis to stay in business also for the next generations. “For the past few years, we have been pursuing various sustainability projects that harmonise social, economic and ecological aspects. This award thus means a lot to us because it shows us that we are on the right path,” said Steffen Ammon, Head of Global Sustainability, who accepted the award at the CFS sustainability conference in Düsseldorf.
The German Awards for Excellence are awarded to companies that have committed themselves to sustainability and take on a pioneering role in the field through concrete actions. This year, 12 companies were honoured with the award for their exemplary and forward-looking sustainability management. Other award winners include Coca Cola European Partners Deutschland GmbH in the “Water Footprint” area as well as ALDI SÜD in the “Responsible Sourcing” category. A total of 168 companies applied.