Production – Attention to man and labour

Cooperate transparently and with mutual respect
For us, responsible entrepreneurship starts with transparency and mutual respect. We procure our products from all over the world, which brings various challenges with it. Especially when purchasing from developing countries with instable governments, we take appropriate care. In addition, we consider optimal support of our local suppliers, based on the same standard we apply to ourselves, a fundamental responsibility, however limited our resources and influence in some situations may be.

Intensive contact is crucial
To be able to offer that support we spend a lot of energy on continuous building and maintaining our business relations. Thanks to daily contacts and an open attitude we have managed to build an excellent relationship with all our worldwide cooperation partners over the years. Not only online and over the telephone, by the way: our purchasers and product specialists visit them on location regularly. That way, we know the people behind the company and know exactly what product locations look like and how working conditions are. This provides us with the necessary insight and the possibility to intervene if required.

Labour conditions examined
For an optimal insight into and influence on our supply chain, we rely on more than just our own sources. We also work together with amfori BSCI®. The quality system of this organisation supports us in the collaboration with our partners, because it provides an even better insight into working conditions, and even more important, provides us with options to improve them. The goals, values and principles on the basis of which amfori conducts, have been included in the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct.

From insight to support
In addition to the experiences we gain ourselves through location visits and (BSCI) audits, we also use other (external) sources and/or other similar forms of social audits. Obtaining a BSCI audit result (or another similar social audit) is not an end in itself for us. We want to make sure that our partners work in a socially responsible way and have a sustained attention to improvement. We also want to motivate and support them optimally in this. By anchoring the required knowledge and skills in the work method of our partners on the basis of social audits, for instance through information provision, facilitating training, workshops and supervision on site, we contribute to the continuous improvement processes concerning labour conditions and quality.

Whether or not we demand a social audit result from our suppliers depends partly on the type of company we do business with: for a very small company that we know well and that is already fully transparent about business processes and work methods, for instance an autonomous farmer who harvests flowers for us, or a small family business that gathers shells for us on the beach, a social audit is not always a requirement.