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Shaping a multifaceted future by establishing concrete goals: NKG Responsible Business Program
Shaping a multifaceted future by establishing concrete goals: NKG Responsible Business Program
Standards and requirements for sustainable and responsible conduct are rising as we gain more knowledge and awareness about global social and environmental issues. Lawmakers, customers, and the general public are demanding both action and increased transparency about such issues. Responding and reacting to current developments and including social, environmental, and economic needs in our business model are essential for long-term success. As a global business with great impact, NKG is committed to facing these challenges, participating in the global discourse, and continually contributing to a growing sustainable coffee industry.
In 2020, the NKG Board of Management decided to set a strong focus on corporate responsibility, to concentrate existing group-wide efforts and define priorities among the many facets: together with different departments they developed the NKG Responsible Business Program. Building upon the preceding Corporate Responsibility strategy, the NKG Responsible Business Program emphasizes setting and working towards clear goals as a key element. Goals are set to be ambitious but achievable and are tied to different indicators to make them measurable over time. This will enable NKG to track our progress on each goal and make achievements more transparent and easier to communicate both internally and externally. Within the framework of the NKG Responsible Business Program, which is fully supported by the Board of Management and the operative management of NKG worldwide, group companies have the room to bring in their own unique ideas to adjust the processes to their possibilities and needs.
“We are convinced that Corporate Responsibility needs different perspectives and skills. Long-term success in this context is driven by commitment and effort from people of diverse backgrounds.”
Program Manager Dr. Sarah Tischer, Head of Group Compliance, emphasizes the cross functional organizational structure: “We are convinced that Corporate Responsibility needs different perspectives and skills. Long-term success in this context is driven by commitment and effort from people of diverse backgrounds.” To reflect that, Group Compliance, the Sustainable Business Unit, Group Human Resources, and Communications, as well as experts from different NKG companies will be responsible for the realization of the NKG Responsible Business Program together.
The NKG Responsible Business Program sets out four objectives that define responsible and sustainable business at NKG. Strategic goals have been defined under each of the objectives – 9 goals in total, all of which will guide us towards progress over the next 5 to 10 years.
Promoting responsible conduct within NKG
The first objective is “Promoting responsible conduct within NKG”. This objective and its goals focus on empowering NKG’s current and future employees to enhance their knowledge and expertise and on ensuring that diverse backgrounds and experiences are recognized and supported as a core strength. One concrete approach for goal 1 “Supporting a learning culture” is to offer more online training content via NKG Learning targeted towards personal and professional development, and to ensure each employee gets sufficient learning time while at work. Other goals targeted at NKG employees are to increase our workforce diversity and to continually address the important topic of employee health and safety.
For the second objective “Growing impact in our supply chains” the focus is on creating transparency and sustainability within our coffee supply chains. The new program NKG Verified is part of this objective, which will be an important tool to improve the traceability and compliance of the supply chain regarding crucial criteria, such as worst forms of child labor, forced labor, and deforestation. Through a collaborative approach, constant dialogue, and mutually agreed targets, NKG will support the suppliers in continuously improving social and environmental standards over the long term.
Growing impact in our supply chains
NKG BLOOM is an initiative of Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG) to ensure the long-term viability of green coffee supplies by providing smallholder farmers with the opportunities and resources they need to run their farms at full potential and enter a pathway out of poverty.
NKG Verified is a new program including traceability and compliance with critical criteria, such as worst forms of child labor, forced labor and deforestation. Within the Verified supply chains compliance with social, economic and environmental criteria will be assessed through internal and third party audits.
The third key objective of the NKG Responsible Business Program is “Improving farmer livelihoods”. With NKG BLOOM, a sustainable sourcing strategy is established to ensure smallholder farmers are provided with necessary knowledge and resources to maximize their incomes in the long-term and thus escape poverty. This includes providing financing and access to training for smallholder farmers or groups. NKG is committed to further expand our efforts in this context in the coming years, and to contribute to industry-wide approaches enhancing the support of smallholder farmers significantly.
Last but not least, “Improving our environmental footprint” is an important objective, as coffee is an agricultural product and therefore especially vulnerable to changing climate conditions and weather patterns. NKG is committed to do its part in the protection and conservation of the environment, as well as the reduction of negative climate impacts by first identifying the environmental footprint of our business, and then reducing it through the use of innovation and more efficient operative procedures. To promote environmental solutions in the coffee supply chain, NKG will built strategic partnerships wherever possible – for example via Coffee & Climate , an initiative of which NKG is a founding member, and which works on establishing practices to curb climate change in key producing areas worldwide.
Together with her team, Dr. Sarah Tischer is working with full power on the implementation of the NKG Responsible Business Program. Melissa Chavana, who joined the NG Compliance team in May this year, will work on improving our environmental footprint. Right now, she is undertaking the first ambitious step: to analyze the group wide carbon footprint. Nicole Ochojski has also newly joined NKG a few weeks ago and will primarily be responsible for reporting and communication of the NKG Responsible Business Program – thereby fulfilling the important requirement of bringing transparency to sustainability and responsibility projects. Julia Herrling has been working with the Group Compliance team for a few years now and is mainly responsible for the topic employee training. In our last issue of NKG Connected, we introduced you to NKG Learning, which she accompanied from the beginning. Thus, Julia Herrling will drive the implementation of the first goal “Supporting a learning culture”, together with Maren Uzarek, Group HR, and Hanns-Christian Neumann, Corporate Affairs. Katja Wilde joined the Group Compliance team in 2018. With regards to the NKG Responsible Business Program, she is working on the goal 3 “Enhancing health and safety” as well as supply chain related topics.
From left to right: Nicole Ochojski, Melissa Chavana, Katja Wilde, Sarah Tischer, Julia Herrling
As said above, the objective “Improving farmer livelihoods” is closely linked to NKG BLOOM and will therefore be mainly driven by the NKG Sustainable Business Unit (SBU), led by Catalina Eikenberg and Carolin Ehrensperger, and strongly supported by their team: Paula Mejia, Tim Nicolas Niepel and Jette Brandauer. The SBU will also support goals in the objective “Growing Impacts in our supply chain”, as well as lend their expertise to other relevant areas. To support the endeavor, the NKG Responsible Business Program is being accompanied with strong communications effort by Lena Tippel and the NG Communications team.
Although work on the NKG Responsible Business Program is progressing with much motivation and effort, of course it is not possible to tackle each goal at the same time. That’s why the Board of Management decided to prioritize goals based on urgency due to economic or social developments, as well as existing resources. The first priority is to provide additional employee training and enable each employee with a computer and internet access to gain knowledge through self-paced learning by the end of this year. Furthermore, Catalina Eikenberg and her team from the Sustainable Business Unit are working on implementing and improving NKG Verified. At the same time, the SBU is working hard on making NKG BLOOM accessible to more farmers. The other high priority goal is the identification of the carbon footprint and the subsequent development of goals for its reduction.
The pandemic has shown us clearly how important it is to have a sustainable business model and clear values. Therefore, NG Communications has even intensified the renewed efforts to develop and reinforce NKG’s Corporate Identity and Design during these uncertain times as an important step towards a successful future.
What was your first job related to coffee?
Setting up the NKG BLOOM farmer services unit for Ibero Uganda Ltd.; What profession did you want to be when you were a kid? Volcanologist (and I still want to see an erupting volcano); How do you relax best after a busy day at work?
I dance at home with my kids (and drink a glass of wine).
What type of series do you usually watch (Drama, Comedy, SciFi etc.)? A bit of everything (from Narcos to the Queen passing by Lupin).
What was your first job related to coffee? In 1989, at a coffee brokerage company Coffee Trading Agency in Antwerp, Belgium; What profession did you want to be when you were a kid? From police officer, fireman, F1 racer to airline pilot
How do you relax best after a busy day at work?
Listening to some good easy listening music, mostly jazz, with something to read; What book are you currently reading? Sapiens, a brief history of Humankind
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