As a family business, we have been taking responsibility for the environment and people for more than 100 years
Miriam Gautier, Managing Director, Dirk Schmidt, CEO and shareholder, Patrick Burmester, Managing Director & Peter Sielmann, CFO (from left to right)
Strategic importance of sustainability
At Bösch Boden Spies, sustainable action and corporate responsibility have always had a high priority. – so long before sustainability and responsibility were on everyone’s lips – the family-owned company was committed to its employees and to cultural and social projects.
Our corporate success depends directly on the quality of our products and processes. These, in turn, are significantly influenced by the selection of raw materials, the handling of resources, the design of our supply chains and our innovative strength. We therefore aim to harmonize our economic activities with ecological and social requirements – a concern that is firmly anchored in our Code of Conduct.
With this goal in mind, we began structuring our various sustainability activities in 2018 and bringing them under the umbrella of an overarching sustainability strategy. In close exchange with our stakeholders – customers, suppliers, employees, authorities and non-governmental organizations – we defined the central fields of action for our commitment:
- Economic: quality, innovation, procurement
- Ecological: Packaging, climate, mobility & transport, biodiversity
- Social: Attractive employer
They form the framework for our strategic goals and the measures derived from them, which we continuously develop further.
Active support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Mit dem Laden des Videos akzeptieren Sie die Datenschutzerklärung von YouTube.
Mehr erfahren
In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to address a number of pressing global challenges. The agenda contains 17 goals for sustainable development the so-called Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs. They are intended to provide the impetus for a better and more sustainable future. More and more companies around the world are aligning their sustainability strategies with the SDGs, creating transparency and comparability. In 2018, we decided to align our strategy with them as well. In 2021, we will set ourselves specific sustainability targets that clearly show our contribution to achieving the SDGs.
In addition to Goal 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls) and Goal 8 (Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all), our core business as a B2B food supplier will contribute in particular to achieving Goals 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns), 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages), 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts) and 15 ( Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.
Sustainability standards at international, European, national and regional level
To establish and further develop sustainability standards, we have been actively involved in the committees of various industry organizations for many years.
At the international level, this is in particular the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC).
On a European level, we are active in the European Fruit Juice Association (AIJN), Sure – Global – Fair SGF International and the Foodvalley Wageningen.
On a national level, we are actively involved in the Waren-Verein der Hamburger Börse and on a regional level in foodactive, the nutrition network of the Hamburg metropolitan region.
Compliance with laws and international standards of conduct is communicated to all relevant stakeholders.
Highlights 2020
In 2020, we made another big step forward with our sustainability commitment.
- Security of supply: maintaining the supply chain in the first Covid-19 year
- Climate neutrality. Our Hamburg site is climate neutral
- Sustainable production: our cranberry partner Ocean Spray produces 100% sustainably
- Regionality: With our participation in the Polish apple processor Zarecki Foods we are expanding our portfolio to include fruit from European cultivation
- IFS certification at higher level
- First Fairtrade certification
- Expansion of our portfolio of certified organic raw materials
- Sustainability as a top topic at customer meetings and with a dedicated panel at our online conference WeFood Future
