A tradition of responsibility
As an international family-owned company with 145 years of experience in the tea business, Hälssen & Lyon has a long tradition of responsibility – to our employees, our partners, and to society. This responsibility is a precondition and also a result of a value-oriented approach to corporate management.
Our entrepreneurial activities are guided by the principles of the United Nations Global Compact. In our daily work, it goes without saying that we comply with all applicable laws and respect and act in accordance with basic ethical values.
Beyond this, we have worked with our employees and business partners to develop principles and policies that specifically commit us to respecting and safeguarding human and labour rights as well as protecting the environment and counteracting corruption.
All our operations subject to regular audits
Our commitment is confirmed by SMETA Audits (SEDEX Members Ethical Audit) based on the Base Code of ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative), which we have undergone on a regular basis since 2011. In addition, since 2016 our sustainability efforts and measures taken have been reviewed and evaluated by conducting the EcoVadis assessment.
Diligence along the supply chain
We believe that our corporate responsibility doesn’t end at the factory gates. In close cooperation with our suppliers and partners, we work towards implementing the labour, social and environmental standards we uphold, across the supply chain. These standards are laid down in the Code of Conduct of the German Tea & Herbal Infusions Association (Deutscher Tee & Kräutertee Verband), in our own Code of Conduct and in the Sustainable Programme.
With the help of the cloud-based platform Integrity Next, we permanent check compliance with these standards and assess potential risks at country and supplier level. In addition we conduct on-site audits of our key suppliers. Since May 2023, an electronic reporting system is available to all our stakeholders on a global level to report potential violations of social or environmental standards.
By means of our anonymous whistleblower portal, employees and outsiders can report possible violations of these guidelines or laws directly, securely and easily. Any grievances that are reported to us will be investigated and appropriate countermeasures will be initiated.
In a globalised world with ever more complex supply chains, the successful development of responsible corporate management poses a particular challenge. We know that this will be a comprehensive process and a long way to travel. We will have to do this together with our business partners with whom we are in constant contact to understand their conditions, challenges and requirements. This is the only way we can promote sustainable development through specific projects in the supply chain and fulfill our due diligence.
OUR COMMITMENT TO CLIMATE PROTECTION
CLIMATE PARTNER
In 2019, we entered into an important partnership with ClimatePartner to strengthen our contribution to climate protection. The initial aim was to record our company's CO2 emissions, calculate our carbon footprint and identify potential for reduction.
We have also been supporting certified climate protection projects from the ClimatePartner portfolio for several years. These projects have been proven to reduce CO2 emissions or sequester CO2 from the atmosphere, thus contributing to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals worldwide. In this way, H&L is voluntarily helping to close the enormous financing gap in global climate protection.
We will continue this commitment in the future and will also increasingly focus on reducing our CO2 emissions.
The ClimatePartner ID tracking system provides details of our carbon footprint and the climate protection projects we support.
We invite our partners to join Hälssen & Lyon on this journey.
Follow the links below to find the detailed document of our CSR policy and the relevant codes upon which it is based: