Responsibility in the supply chain
Responsible procurement of raw materials
High-quality raw materials form the basis for the quality and safety of our products. In purchasing these agricultural products, we therefore value reliable suppliers who can guarantee the quality we require and are able to meet our social and ecological standards.
Focus on raw materials
Dependable supplier relationships
Establishing socially acceptable supply chains is a central element of our procurement strategy. To this end, we continue to improve transparency and traceability back to the respective source. We choose our contractual partners with care and consciously maintain long-term supplier relationships, because good supplier relationships based on mutual trust help us identify human rights and environmental problems and meet our duty of care. Our code of conduct, which describes and specifies guidelines for responsible action for our employees and business partners, is of crucial importance in meeting this duty of care. We realise this through our supplier code and systematic risk management.
© German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa
Supplier code
The Storck supplier code of conduct defines minimum standards that must be observed and met by our suppliers, service providers and their suppliers in all transactions with AUGUST STORCK KG. It is based on the SA8000 social standard, the Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (LkSG) and the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It contractually obliges our business partners in the procurement of raw materials to not tolerate child labour, forced labour, discrimination and discipline, and to safeguard occupational health and safety, reasonable working hours and compensation, and freedom of association. We establish reliable management systems to consistently meet these requirements. In the course of combined quality and social audits, we verify compliance with our requirements by our raw material suppliers.
© German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa
Established risk management
The risk analysis forms the starting point for good supply chain management. We systematically obtain an overview of potential human rights and environmental risks of our suppliers. To this end, we conduct risk analyses both regularly and as warranted.
For the regular risk analysis, we first determine abstract risks for our business partners that are comprised of country risks and industry risks. An individual, detailed review of the risks and the supplier is performed when elevated risk levels are found. Supplier-specific information and documentation of past supplier audits or sustainability programmes is examined for this purpose. Additional steps such as on-site audits are taken in accordance with the precautionary principle when the suspicion of risk cannot be alleviated.
We also perform risk analyses as warranted when we receive potentially relevant reports of possible risks. Corresponding cause may arise from internal information, our public reporting system and external sources such as news or reports from industry initiatives. If ties to our supply chain exist, we evaluate the supplier in question, assess the risk and initiate appropriate corrective actions where needed.
Our policy statement on human rights describes in detail how we minimise potential risks in supply chains, prevent violations and respond to them appropriately.
