Taking responsibility for people and the environment has always been important to us; the work extends over the entire value chain. We take responsibility from bean to cup, from the farm to the end consumer. We do that by, for example, creating conditions for more sustainable farming methods, smarter transports, streamlining the production and by increasing the supply and demand for coffee from certified farms. The responsibility naturally involves staffing issues, for example work environment, health promoting investments and employee training.
Sustainability
Responsibility from bean to cup
Next Generation Coffee
Good coffee can’t be taken for granted when the climate is changing and fewer young people see coffee farming as their future.
We want to change this.
Plant-based plastics
In 2018 we are introducing another step in our constant drive make better packaging material.
Sustainable business
At the same time as responsibility is good for people and the environment, it creates conditions for sustainable business – for us, the coffee farmers and our customers. As a family business, we have the opportunity to have a longterm perspective in our decisions. The interest for long-term responsibility increases in the company as well as among customers, consumers and a broader general public. That is another driving force to keep on raising the bar within the sustainability area.
Focus on the essential
The climate issue and the livelihood of the coffee farmers are two of our most important sustainability aspects. These areas are also our key prioritize, even if we certainly are doing a lot in many other areas too.
The farms are responsible for about 80 percent of the total environmental and climate impact of coffee. An important measure is to increase the demand for coffee from certified farms, which makes more farmers convert to more sustainable farming methods. That is why we have decided that by 2016, all coffee under the brand Löfbergs will come from certified farms. We also run our own development projects within International Coffee Partners (www.coffee-partners.org).
We buy all our coffee straight from the producing countries and travel about 150 days per year to visit coffee farmers. On our trips, we can see with our own eyes that the certifications and development projects are working. They help the coffee farmers to grow coffee in conside-ration of the environment, cope with the climate changes, increase their productivity and income as well as improve and develop the living conditions and the local community.
Dialogue and cooperation
An open dialogue with our stakeholders is important to us to be able to develop our business. We want to meet and preferably exceed the expectations that the world around has on us. That is why we engage in a continuous dialogue with owners, board of directors, consumers, customers, coffee farmers and other suppliers, authorities, politicians, students, non-profit organizations and other sections of the community.
The dialogue is carried out in a number of different ways. We have an ongoing dialogue with and continuously participate in and carry out inquiries among different stakeholders.
We also believe in cooperation, and are actively participating in different net-works and forums as a way to lead the development within the sustainability area, for example CSR Sweden, Swedish Leadership for Sustainable Development and The Haga Initiative, where we through the annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Disclosure want to show that it is profitable to take an active respons-bility for the climate.
Sustainability management
Our sustainability work is based on our value base and our vision. To our help, we also have several policy documents to give us guidance, for example:
• Quality and food safety policy
• Policy for sustainable development
• Work environment policy
• Personnel policy
• Purchasing policy
• Supplier code of conduct
• Business ethics policy
The sustainability work is everybody’s responsibility and is integrated in our entire business.
