New environmental targets for 2023/2024
The German Supply Chain Act has now been in force nationwide since January 1, 2023, and aims to strengthen human and environmental rights. The Act represents an important step toward standardizing corporate responsibility and promotes maximum transparency in international supply chains. With 500 employees, Kräuter Mix is not yet affected by the new law, but sustainability has long been part of the company’s DNA.
Kräuter Mix firmly believes that sustainable business is the only way to deliver high-quality products, which is why sustainability and quality standards go hand in hand in the company. Certifications can have a huge impact when it comes to both social and environmental issues and are growing in importance. For one, they are important early on in the supply chain at the cultivation and wild harvesting stage in the countries of origin from which Kräuter Mix sources its plant-based raw materials for the processing of air-dried herbs, vegetables and spices.
In order to go one step further and document and systematically improve the company’s commitment to environmental protection at their own sites, too, Kräuter Mix introduced the exacting EMAS environmental management system back in 2013. Two years later, it received the associated certification, which requires an annual audit from an independent auditor as well as an environmental statement.
For the 2023/2024 reporting period, Kräuter Mix has set itself the following environmental targets:
HR
- To integrate sustainability and environmental protection into training.
- To ensure health and environmental protection on employees’ ways to work.
Sustainability Management
- To promote sustainable raw material procurement for licorice.
- To introduce a risk management system in the supply chain.
Technical Purchasing & Logistics
- To optimize stretch wrap during goods picking.
Technology
- To optimize energy usage for a further germ reduction facility.
- To optimize the outdoor lighting at the company site in Abtswind.
- To ensure the energy-efficient refurbishment of the administration building in Abtswind.
- To renovate the roof and ventilation system of a plant building in Abtswind.
- To implement an alternative energy concept in Abtswind with the aim of drastically cutting emissions through the use of renewable energy.
For further details on Kräuter Mix’s main environmental measures, KPIs and objectives, please see the company’s updated Environmental Statement (in German) for 2023.