Awareness of sustainable products has significantly increased in recent years. Consumers no longer only care about how their muesli tastes in the morning. They also want to know whether the fruit in it is untreated and whether the local farmers are treated and paid fairly.

Many of our plant-based raw materials require special climatic conditions for their growth and are cultivated in different countries around the world. In order to support environmentally friendly cultivation in the corresponding regions whilst simultaneously ensuring consistently high quality, we dedicate intense attention to the topic of sustainability – and have done since long before it gained relevance in the media. As part of this, Worlée has trusted in exclusive collaborative partnerships in the cultivating countries for several decades.

Our trained employees conduct regular audits in the countries of origin to inspect the local cultivation and working conditions as well as the quality of the plant-based raw materials. This way, we can ensure that the raw materials meet our quality and sustainability requirements before they are sent on their way to Hamburg.

What are the key steps in Worlée’s supplier qualification for sustainability?

• Find suitable partners who want to accomplish things together (on-site acquisition)
• The willingness of partners to work together must be present and visible from the start
• Empower partners to embrace sustainability in order to promote their own further development

How are ‘stumbling blocks’ dealt with?

• Learn to handle different understandings of social and environmental sustainability.
• Certain requirements can only be communicated by explicitly addressing them (‘business language’).
• Some processes need more time than in Germany, such as the issue of social sustainability 

As a transparent company, we also subject ourselves to stringent external audits by customers and certification authorities.

Within the framework of our quality policy, the reliable delivery of high-quality, safe plant-based raw materials has always been an integral part of the Worlée NaturProdukte GmbH corporate strategy. Legal compliance and food safety are the fundamental prerequisite for gaining and maintaining the trust of our customers. 

Accordingly, we were one of the first food companies in German to implement a certified quality management system in 1994. 

We can clearly demonstrate that we also meet the industry’s special quality standards and the increasing requirements concerning food and animal feed safety. We have undergone voluntary company auditing and certification in accordance with the standards FSSC 22000 (Food Safety System Certification 22000), ISO 22000 (International Organization for Standardization 22000), BRC for Agents and Brokers, GMP+ B1 and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). Many of our products are also kosher and halal-certified.

In addition to using raw materials that are certified in accordance with the EU requirements for organic farming, Worlée NaturProdukte GmbH also meets other organic standards, such as Naturland, National Organic Program (NOP), Bio Suisse and the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS). We also provide Fairtrade, FairWild and/or UEBT/UTZ-certified products.

Our quality policy defines rules that must be observed throughout the entire value chain. They include social, ecological and economic criteria in order to ensure the sustainable development of producers in the countries of origin, making fair wages and regulated working conditions equally as transparent as compliance with various environmental regulations.

A good example of this ever-present maxim in our entrepreneurial activities is the "Happy Hazelnut" foundation, which was co-founded by our subsidiary yourharvest AG. In a short project film, participants of the initiative talk about the changes on site.

Commitment to ethical trade

Worlée NaturProdukte GmbH successfully passed the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) and has therefore been a member of the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX) since 2009. SEDEX is an organisation made up of companies that have pledged their commitment to improving ethical conduct in trade. Through a web-based database, it provides information on local working practices. This enables us to offer maximum transparency and expect the same from our suppliers.

Since joining the organisation, we have been continuously dedicated to improving our ethical business conduct. Worlée has been regularly audited in accordance with the four SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) pillars since 2012. The last audit was successfully passed in 2019. Alongside working conditions and health and safety standards, this audit also checks compliance with ethical environmental and business practices.

Renewed award of the silver medal by the CSR rating platform EcoVadis

In 2020, we have once again won the silver medal in the annual review by EcoVadis. The score we achieved puts us in the top nine percent of our industry. Over the last few years we have made continuous progress and have even improved by a whole nine points compared to the previous year. By participating in the EcoVadis sustainability rating and thus in the third-party review, we want to gain new impetus, sharpen our strengths and further develop our sustainability activities. 

For ease of reading, no gender-specific differentiation is made. To ensure equality, corresponding terms apply to all genders (m/f/x).