Our Berentzen Codes serve as a guide for integrating our understanding of sustainability into everyday business. They are based on applicable laws and other established standards and describe the corporate group expectations of its employees, suppliers, marketing and communication partners as well as third parties involved in the corporate group’s value chain.
Our Code of Conduct provides all employees throughout the Group with guidelines setting out appropriate behaviour in the interests of responsible management, whilst ensuring the careful use of resources. In the light of our social responsibility, the Marketing Code of Conduct contains specific guidelines for product-related communications and for the responsible consumption of our products. The Supplier Code of Conduct serves to forge a common understanding of appropriate living and working conditions for employees and forms the basis for sustainable business relationships.
Furthermore, we comply with the framework of rules laid down in the German Corporate Governance Code and its guiding principles. Consequently, we attach importance to ensuring close collaboration between the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board and take into account the interests of our shareholders, employees and other groups affiliated with the Company (stakeholders). We value open communication, responsible risk management and due and proper accounting and auditing.
In view of the growing challenges with regard to climate change, dwindling resources and the increasing demands of our stakeholders, we place a special focus on the topic of sustainability with our sustainability strategy and we work on the continuous improvement of our sustainability management. The most important tasks of sustainability management include anchoring our understanding of sustainability and sustainability strategy in the minds of employees and external stakeholders as well as in our everyday operating processes.
As a central function, the Corporate Social Responsibility department coordinates and drives forward the sustainability activities throughout the Group. Relevant sustainability topics within and outside of the corporate group are discussed and prioritized with the Executive Board and the respective departments. The Sustainability Council, a regular management committee with the aim to decentralize sustainability issues, successfully integrate them into the departments and company processes and continuously develop the sustainability strategy, contributes to an efficient control of the activities. The ultimate responsibility for strategic decision-making relating to sustainability and the monitoring of the objectives within the Group lies with the Executive Board. Implementation at an operating level is the responsibility of executives within the portfolios of the Berentzen Group and their affiliated subsidiaries.
