The world of tea under one roof
Company

Our responsibility. Our commitment.

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 audi

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. As of 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.

> whistleblower portal

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

Climate Partner

In 2019, we also entered into an important partnership to better protect the climate by joining Climate Partner. The first step was to calculate our company’s current carbon footprint and identify potential for reducing it or offsetting unavoidable CO2 emissions by purchasing appropriate certificates (thereby providing support for climate protection projects).

Based on the data collected, we have since been able to make first payments to offset emissions. A certificate from Climate Partner certifies that our company premises in Hamburg – both the head office in Speicherstadt and the plant in Hamburg-Allermöhe – are now climate neutral. Additionally, we can now offer our customers the possibility to actively support the reduction of CO2 emissions as well. This can be done for individual products as well as for entire customer assortments, and offers the option of labelling them with the "climate neutral product" seal.

We will continue with these climate protection measures in the years ahead, with an increasing focus on reducing CO2 emissions, e.g. by using solar energy for our power supply.
Our certificate, along with information on the climate protection projects we selected can be found on the following page: www.climatepartner.com

We invite our partners to join Hälssen & Lyon on this paths.

The document detailing our CSR Policy and the relevant underlying codes can be found here:

If you have questions regarding our products and services, please contact us at:

Hälssen & Lyon GmbH
Pickhuben 9
20457 Hamburg
Germany

P +49 40-36 14 3-0
F +49 40-36 13 3-117

info@haelssen-lyon.com