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SUSTAINABLE CHOICES
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For us, sustainability is finding the balance between social issues, the environment and profitability in line with the interests of our stakeholders. Building up instead of breaking down and working towards a better future for future generations.
Our sustainability policy* can be traced back to three pillars - economic, social and environmental. Pillars we stand for, in which we have taken steps and will continue to invest in the years to come.
PILLAR 1
Blanche Dael as an honest partner
PILLAR 2
Blanche Dael as a social organisation
PILLAR 3
Blanche Dael as an environmentally conscious business
* Our sustainability ambitions and accountability are documented in an ISO26000 CSR statement (NL) published on the NEN website and available for download. In addition, we incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN into our CSR policy.
PILLAR 1
BLANCHE DAEL AS AN HONEST PARTNER
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In the coffee industry, attention needs to be paid to the interests of the coffee farmer. A coffee farmer is dependent on world trade prices and is often paid below his cost price. As a result, in the communities around the plantation, there is often outright poverty.
We strive for a fair chain with a coffee price that fairly rewards the work of the coffee farmers. And that enables them to make sustainable investments in their coffee plantations, in the coffee's quality and quality of life, for the coffee farmer and the communities that depend on him.
CONCRETE ACTIONS
- We work with an established network of brokers and are in direct contact with coffee and tea producers.
- Our brokers select the right quality coffee, pay for the harvest on time, monitor food-safe and sustainable logistics processes and actively pursue policies on human rights, a fair coffee price and child labour.
- We are in direct contact with the coffee farmers ourselves. By building mutual trust and understanding, we create long-term partnerships.
- We always buy the best coffee in the region. We pay a substantial premium for this coffee.
- In September 2019, we joined the Future Proof Coffee Collective (FPCC) of MVO Nederland. This project is a collaboration between various (coffee) companies to calculate the real price of coffee.
- In the context of FPCC, we have carried out a sustainability measurement together with a farmer from Colombia (True Cost Accounting measurement) and are discussing multi-year agreements and sustainability.
PILLAR 2
BLANCHE DAEL AS A SOCIAL ORGANISATION
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Our foundation Escuela Blanche Dael was founded in 2009. Our goal is to offer a better future for children in the coffee-producing country Guatemala. We do this by providing education through our 'own' school and by providing scholarships.
Blanche Dael pays all the foundation's costs and donates 5% of its annual net profit to the foundation. As a foundation, and with sponsorship from our customers, we contribute part of our coffee price to educational projects. We also offer (financial) support for emergency projects such as volcano eruptions, hurricanes or Covid-19.
Besides our foundation Escuela Blanche Dael, we are also involved locally, expressed in the cooperation within our team, the broad collaboration with third parties and the sponsoring of local initiatives.
CONCRETE ACTIONS
- In 2006, we financed the rebuilding of a primary school in Guatemala, a school that carries the name Escuela Blanche Dael, which we have been supporting in various ways ever since.
- Since 2017, we have provided scholarships to 4 to 5 children for the 2-year coffee farmer training at the Las Flores coffee school in Guatemala.
- Escuela Blanche Dael offers help in emergencies. An example is the 'Food basket action' where we raised 22,000 euros for the Covid-19 situation in Guatemala in 2020.
- We have two employees with a distance to the labour market and work together with local social work organizations: Athos, Talent, Vixia and MTB.
- We provide equipment and give barista training to children from the Terra Nigra school for special education.
- We support all kinds of local cultural, sports and charitable initiatives, such as FashionClash, Nederlandse Dansdagen, Zweit veur leid and the Voedselbank. We also provide coffee for community centres.
PILLAR 3
BLANCHE DAEL AS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS BUSINESS
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Production and consumption generate a lot of waste, from the roasting process in our factory to the last sip inside your coffee cup. We are aware of this, and therefore we always try to lead the way in making packaging, transport and production more sustainable. However, we realise that there is still a long way to go.
CONCRETE ACTIONS
- Our packaging is mostly (industrially) compostable or 100% recyclable, and we do not use unnecessary packaging material.
- By using paper bulk bags instead of cardboard boxes, we saved over 4,000kg of cardboard and over 40m3 of transport volume in 2019.
- We reuse boxes that are in good optical and hygienic condition.
- Our coffee cups are made of industrially compostable material.
- Our means of transport are A-label or Euro6, sometimes electric and often just manpower.
- We have committed ourselves to 'ZES', Zero Emission City Logistics from 2025 in Maastricht.
- We use a bicycle courier service to deliver private orders in Maastricht.
- Over 50% of our coffee carries a sustainable label. We always buy certified coffee when the same quality is available. You will find 'Organic' and 'Rainforest Alliance' coffee in our range.
- Part of our roasting house is a restored monumental building that has been optimised in energy efficiency. It is equipped with underfloor heating, rear windows with sunscreens, an intelligent home automation system with LED lighting, separate waste logistics and a connection to the district heating network (with residual heat from the nearby Sappi paper factory). In addition, the new building is optimally insulated.
- The roastery has an incinerator that ensures the deodorisation of the coffee gasses, the oven is fired with green gas and the raw coffee beans are transported to the roastery by gravity.
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