Sustainability

We bring happiness, enjoyment and diversity to life. That's why we strive for setting an example of responsible entrepreneurship, innovation and community. The principles of our sustainability strategy:

  • We link our actions to quantified sustainability goals in terms of economic, social and environmental aspects.
  • We are guided by the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
  • We create conditions for sustainable production and consumption.

You can find our mission statement here.

Our goals

By the end of 2024, we will reduce our electricity consumption by 55%, from 142,000 kW/h to around 65,000 kW/h per year, by continuing to use energy-efficient lighting (e.g. LEDs and motion/presence detectors) at the production sites (Plant 1 and Plant 3). This results in an annual saving of 20.7 tons of carbon emissions. By 2025, we will also be using green electricity and generating our own sustainable energy at all sites (e.g. by installing photovoltaic systems).

By regularly surveying our suppliers, we will create complete transparency in the value chain by 2025. In countries outside the EU, the UK and the EFTA states, we are increasing our cooperation with suppliers (turnover > 0.3% of purchasing volume) that are certified in accordance with a recognized social standard (e.g. BSCI/Sedex) from 97% to 100%. We also enter into dialogue with our suppliers and provide feedback on the results of the supplier survey.

We attach great importance to the health of our employees. That is why we want to increase participation in company health promotion measures from 35% to 50% of our employees through target group-specific offers (e.g. Health Day).

Downloads

In our Code of Conduct we have defined the basic standards of conduct that characterize our interaction and cooperation with our business partners. We also want to become more sustainable and transparent together with our suppliers. Our sustainability questionnaire forms the basis for this.

All information and the sustainability questionnaire are of course available here free of charge. If you have any questions, please contact our sustainability officers.

Download: Code of Conduct

Download: Sustainability Questionnaire

We have always supported the sustainability goal of gender equality by advocating equal participation and equal opportunities for all employees. We have established a whole range of measures to this end.

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Ensure full participation in leadership positions and decision-making processes

  • Women in leading positions
  • Feedback culture

Recognition of unpaid care work and encouragement of shared domestic responsibility

  • Supporting parental leave, offering part-time models

Equal rights to economic resources, property and financial services

  • Salaries independent of gender

End discrimination against women and girls

  • Along the value chain: Measures to ensure gender equality through BSCI certification of suppliers.

We promote technological modernization and innovation. In doing so, we pay particular attention to using resources efficiently and taking social components into account in the interests of sustainable business. At the same time, we promote local value creation, jobs and culture.

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Sustainable economic growth

  • Sustainable, entrepreneurial growth through expansion of the business model
  • Creation of new/additional jobs

Improving resource efficiency in consumption and production

  • Flexible employment of production personnel at workplaces according to their needs

Full employment and decent work with equal pay

  • Permanent jobs
  • Fair salary structures
  • Family business with tradition/secure employer
  • Flexible working hours/various working time models

Promotion of youth employment, education and training

  • Training company in various areas
  • Training of dual study programme students

Ending modern slavery, human trafficking and child labor

  • Along the value chain: Ensuring BSCI certification of suppliers
  • Code of Conduct as basis for cooperation

Protection of labor rights and promotion of safe working environments

  • Continuous monitoring and implementation of occupational safety measures

Reducing waste, saving energy and using resources responsibly - we base our production and consumption on these fundamental principles. This aspect of sustainability can be found in all areas of our company.

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Sustainable management and use of natural resources

  • Purchase of certified raw materials (Rainforest, RSPO, Organic, Fairtrade)
  • Exclusively order-related production

Environmentally sound handling of chemicals and waste

  • No use of chemicals and no hazardous wastes
  • Waste separation with the aim of recycling as much as possible

Significant reduction of waste generation

  • Monitoring of waste volume with resulting measures (target: reduction of residual waste to below 10 %)
  • Reusable boxes for deliveries of goods and reuse of shipping cartons
  • Maximum utilization of truck volume through load optimization
  • Donations to the Osnabrück food bank and regional kindergartens

Encouraging companies to adopt sustainable practices and sustainability reporting

  • Supplier evaluation and development, including sustainability aspects
  • Purchasing policy that ensures sustainability certifications and measures from suppliers and business partners

Ensuring a general understanding of sustainable lifestyles

  • Raising employee awareness of sustainability through training

Certifications

All our products are supplied with the following certifications, depending on the type and customer requirements:

ZNU-Standard "Driving Sustainable Change"

The Center for Sustainable Leadership (ZNU) at Witten/Herdecke University presents this award to companies. It is based on the implementation of a holistic management system in sustainable management. It confirms to the companies that they have made measurable progress in key sustainability issues at the location and along the value chains and thus make a committed, ongoing contribution to sustainable transformation in society.

Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance certification program includes social, economic and environmental components. These criteria are applied by independent auditors to check the conditions under which products bearing the Rainforest Alliance logo are manufactured.

Fairtrade

The Fairtrade seal identifies sustainably grown and fair-traded products. Fairtrade producers receive steady minimum prices for their products as well as additional premiums for community projects.

amfori

Windel is a member of amfori, the world's leading business association for open and sustainable trade. We improve the social sustainability of our supply chains with amfori BSCI.

DE ÖKO-013

Bio

The organic seal stands for organic farming and sustainable management. Like the Rainforest Alliance, organic certification contributes to biodiversity and conservation of the natural ecosystems of farms and adjacent areas.

Vegan

The V-Label is an international seal of quality. It identifies vegan and vegetarian products and services.

RSPO

We use certified palm oil wherever it is possible. Follow our progress at https://rspo.org/members/9-1487-16-000-00/

Safe and reliable reporting channels

For a compliance management system to function, reliable reporting channels and the protection of whistleblowers are essential. We therefore process your reports confidentially and in accordance with the applicable data protection regulations exclusively through our internal reporting office. Both employees and third parties can report indications of possible misconduct. This enables us to respond at an early stage in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act.

To make it as easy as possible to submit reports, we have established various reporting channels:

You can submit a report by e-mail at hinweise@windel-candy.com

Please send written reports by mail to:
Windel GmbH & Co. KG
Interne Meldestelle
Hafenringstraße 6
49090 Osnabrück

Our reporting office is also available by telephone at +49 541 9181-0

We also accept anonymous reports. However, it helps us if the whistleblower:in provides his/her contact information. This gives us the chance to engage in dialog and thus improve the quality with which we investigate serious misconduct. Of course, even if whistleblowers provide their contact information, the content of a report will be treated as strictly confidential.

Our sustainability officers

We are here to help you with any questions you may have about sustainability at Windel Candy.
Feel free to contact us!

Mrs. Inka Placke
inka.placke@windel-group.com

Mrs. Lara Schrage
lara.schrage@windel-candy.com

A company of the Windel Group