SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Policy Statement
1. Fundamentals
As a responsible family business, it is our goal to strengthen human rights and environmental rights and to prevent, minimize and, as far as we can influence, successfully avoid their violation. Only by doing so the Mederer Group will be successful as a business in the long term.
The following Policy Statement on the Human Rights and Environmental Strategy of the Mederer Group covers all activities of Mederer GmbH as the parent company and all subsidiaries worldwide.
1.1. Commitment to internationally applicable standards
The Mederer Group is committed to the following internationally applicable human rights and environmental standards:
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations (UN)
- United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) from 2011
- Core labor standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
- Principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
- OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
- UN Women’s Empowerment Principles
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of December 19, 1966
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of December 19, 1966
It is our goal and our duty to ensure compliance with internationally recognized standards to the best of our ability.
1.2. Zero-tolerance of discrimination, harassment and abuse
Appreciation, openness and respect are practiced in the Mederer Group. Discrimination on the basis of nationality, citizenship, pregnancy or parenthood, marital status, sexual orientation, skin color, gender, disability, veteran status, religion or belief, age, racist grounds, social/ethical origin or political views, insofar as the latter are based on democratic principles and tolerance, or other legally protected grounds, will not be tolerated.
The Mederer Group has a zero-tolerance policy with regard to sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment, abuse of power, fraud and corruption in all business activities and responsibilities.
Violations of this Policy Statement will not be tolerated and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. As a result of the assessment, appropriate measures will be initiated, which can range from awareness-raising measures to legal consequences under labor law.
1.3. Declaration on the implementation of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act
As a company operating in Germany, Trolli GmbH will be subject to the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz, LkSG) from January 1, 2024, and to the human rights and labor law obligations associated with this Act. We are therefore currently actively working on implementing the requirements of the LkSG.
1.4. Complaints management
As part of the implementation of the LkSG, we have put in place a management system for recording, processing and evaluating complaints regarding possible or actual due diligence violations.
The system can be accessed via the navigation point “Complaints Management”.
The anonymity of those reporting complaints is guaranteed at all times.
1.5. Amendment of the Code of Conduct
As part of the implementation of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, the Mederer Group has revised, amended and added to its Code of Conduct. You can find the current version of the Mederer Code of Conduct on the homepage of Trolli GmbH Germany at www.trolli.de.
Policy Statement
2. Human rights and environmental strategy
2.1. General responsibility
The management of the Mederer Group and Trolli GmbH in cooperation with the corporate heads at the respective company sites and the company-wide Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department are responsible for compliance with this Policy Statement and the implementation of the contents of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. This ensures that every area of the company is aware of its own responsibility for respecting human rights and implementing them on a daily basis.
2.2. Social responsibility
As an international company with extensive supply chains, we are aware that our activities are always associated with the risk that human rights and environmental standards could be jeopardized or even violated within the supply chain. Our aim is therefore to identify potential risks at an early stage and minimize them, prevent violations or respond to them appropriately.
2.3. Focusing on customer needs
The satisfaction of our customers is our top priority. The needs and wishes of our customers and the market determine our strategic decisions and our day-to-day activities. In order to secure the jobs of our employees, we strive for long-term and economical business relationships with our business partners.
2.4. Rules for working together
We expect our employees to behave in a lawful, respectful and tolerant manner towards our fellow human beings. Every employee is part of our corporate family and therefore contributes to the external image of our company at all times. All of the information, guidelines and behavior specified in this Policy Statement and our Code of Conduct are binding for employees of the Mederer Group at all levels of the company. Employees are required to observe them and to approach their superiors or the management at any time if they have any questions or suggestions.
2.5. Cooperation with business partners
The Mederer Group works with qualified suppliers, sales partners and service providers (“business partners”), which it selects carefully and according to objective criteria. It places the same demands on its business partners as it does on itself. The principles and values contained in the Mederer Group’s Code of Conduct (CoC) and this Policy Statement form the basis for cooperation with our business partners.
2.6. Establishment of a certified environmental management system
Trolli GmbH Germany operates a successful, state-sponsored energy management system in accordance with ISO 50001. Trolli GmbH Germany is currently working on establishing a certified environmental management system in accordance with ISO 14001 in order to actively support the company’s goal of a livable environment. This is to be gradually extended to all German and international production sites in the future.
2.7. Recyclability of product packaging
The packaging materials used must have special properties in order to ensure food safety and outstanding quality throughout the entire period guaranteed by the best-before date. This enables us to ensure that our high product quality can be maintained throughout the entire supply chain. Therefore, the majority of our primary packaging is made from recyclable plastics and thus contributes to sustainability. Our packaging boxes are 100% recyclable and consist of at least 30% recycled material.
In order to further increase the recyclability of our products, we are constantly working on possible options for improvement and more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Policy Statement
3. Ongoing reporting and its further development
We are aware that the implementation of human rights and environmental due diligence is an ongoing development process. We are currently in the middle of this process and are committed to continuous improvement. In global supply chains, respecting human rights and protecting the environment requires a long-term commitment and a step-by-step approach. We therefore want to drive continuous improvement in cooperation with our business partners in the value chain. We are aware that we cannot always achieve all of our goals in full.
Complaints management
As an international company with extensive supply chains, we are aware that our activities are always associated with the risk that human rights and environmental standards could be jeopardized or even violated within the supply chain. Our aim is therefore to identify potential risks at an early stage and minimize them, prevent violations or respond to them appropriately.
If violations occur despite numerous preventive measures, we can only take action if we become aware of them. To this end, we have introduced a complaints procedure for reporting human rights and environmental violations.
Link: Access to the online complaints portal
In addition to the digital route, you also have the option of contacting our complaints office by post:
Trolli GmbH
For the attention of the complaints office
Oststraße 94
90763 Fürth
Germany
An explanation of the procedure can be found here.
Code of Conduct
As part of our social responsibility, we have developed a Code of Conduct for our employees, our suppliers and our business partners, which specifies our ethical business practices.
The current version of the “Code of Conduct of the Mederer Group” is available for download here.
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