ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES ARE no longer “nice to have’s.” they are A NECESSARY PART OF DOING BUSINESS – ANY BUSINESS – IN A MODERN ENVIRONMENT AND MUST BE DONE SO BY DESIGN and with intention.
At MAISON BLOOM, we believe that we all need to protect our planet, communities and each other. For a business to be successful in the long-term and to create the most value back both to our communities and our plant, we need to create even more opportunity for green business practices throughout the product lifecycle and customer experience and, in doing so, we also enhance value for our consumers and for society as a whole.
This means we endeavor daily to not just meet – but exceed – all applicable legal requirements alongside our own outlined environmental and sustainability goals. We embed these goals into all our operational activities, supply chains, brands and products. Simply put: we believe in a world that embraces products that are healthy yet produced in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way and use as many natural ingredients as possible.
We work hard to embed this vision into each of our products, operations, and daily practices. We recognize that there is a lot to be done and believe that a business can be successful while simultaneously focusing on environmental and sustainability efforts.
WE COMMIT TO:
- Devloping MAISON BLOOM’s products that are not only tastier and healthier for the consumer but also better for the environment along their value chain
- Delighting consumers through the trust and enjoyment of our products, and living up to employees’ and external stakeholders’ expectations about our environmental responsibility and practices
- Full compliance with all applicable legal laws, environmental requirements, and our own internal requirements where specific environmental legislation is non-existent or insufficient
- The continual improvement of the environmental performance of our activities, products and services and prevention of pollution which complies with the international standards
- The systematic assessment and optimization of environmental impacts in the design of new products
- Responsible sourcing of ingredients, packaging materials and other goods and services from suppliers who comply meet our standards and demonstrate continual improvement of their environmental performance
- Monitoring, evaluating and communicating regulatory developments as part of our operating and overall business strategies
WE ARE FURTHER COMMITTED TO:
- Meaningful and accurate environmental information and dialogue based on scientific evidence about our products, activities and services at corporate, market and product brand level
- Transparency, independent environmental auditing, verification and certification of our practices and along our supply chain
- Environmental awareness training and education for our employees, alongside effective communication with employees and recognition of their initiatives and achievements towards environmental improvement
- Proactive long-term engagement and partnerships with stakeholders, including regulators, scientists, customers, business partners, civil society organizations and the community
MEETING OUR COMMITMENT WILL NOT BE EASY. We apply a product life cycle approach involving our partners from farm to consumer and beyond. Specific to our food and beverage business we focus on water preservation, responsible sourcing, natural resources efficiency, biodiversity conservation, air emissions reduction, and zero waste. In effort to keep our commitments and drive sustainable and environmental improvement progress we take action through:
- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: The MAISON BLOOM INNOVATION Lab is charged with creating new products and processes in a sustainable way that systematically assesses environmental performance across the entire value chain at the earliest stages in the development of products. We look for continuous improvement of this program across the businesses, product categories and partnerships.
- SOURCING OF RAW MATERIALS: MAISON BLOOM sources its raw materials either directly from farmers or from primary processors or traders. We prefer and attempt to use agricultural materials that are locally sourced and available. We foster environmental sustainability in the supply chain through:
- Our Responsible Sourcing Audit Program (RSA) requests key vendors to demonstrate compliance with MAISON BLOOM’s environmental standards and take corrective actions if needed to guide partners in upgrading their practices.
- The Responsible Sourcing Traceability Program (RST) promotes transparency in our extended supply chains to implement our commitments to our focus environmental initiatives.
- The Bloom to Bottle Connect Program (B2BC) supports the farming communities where we source agricultural raw materials and also optimizes the delivery of raw materials up to the production supply chain.
- PACKAGING: The packaging of our products is crucial to prevent waste. As such, we commit to the following best practices:
- Optimize the weight and volume of our packaging.
- Lead the development and use of materials from sustainably-managed renewable resources considering packaging and product performance requirements when able.
- Support initiatives to recycle or recover energy from used packaging and use recycled materials where there is an environmental benefit and is appropriate.
- DISTRIBUTION: Delivering the products in highest quality and most efficient way is a vital part of our business. To continuously look to enhance environmental impacts through best practices:
- Optimize distribution networks and route planning across all our operations.
- Explore opportunities to improve transportation, e.g. use sea and rail instead of road.
- Work with our vendors to expand driver training both from a safety and environmental efficiency perspective, use telematics and latest technology on our vehicles where practical, and recommend the same to our suppliers.
- Support the development and use of safe and efficient natural refrigerant solutions for commercial applications and progressively phase out HFCs appliances.
- COMMUNICATION: Communication is fundamental to delight our team, stakeholders, and our consumers every day, everywhere. As part of building trust, we are committed to the following best practices:
- Integrate environmental sustainability into our products, and brand communication where applicable.
- Help consumers make informed choices through credible, substantiated communication.
- Leverage relevant contact points (e.g. digital, packaging and point-of-sale) to inform consumers of environmental improvements, as well as action they can take when using our products and handling used packaging.
- Support and shape the development of environmental communication best practices and standards, working in collaboration with industry, government and public forums.
- Proactively engage and inform stakeholders and key partnerships on environmental topics.
- HUMAN RESOURCES: We educate our employees to live by the MAISON BLOOM corporate vision for environmental sustainability and are dedicated to:
- Training all employees on our policies and related industry best practices.
- Taking action to support all employees in personal responsibility for protecting the environment by promoting in their day-to-day activities in the workplace and at home.
- Ensure environmental sustainability is part of relevant training, workshops and meetings to further the commitment to environmental and sustainability initiatives of our employees, suppliers, business partners and the community at large.
- Promote corporate and personal responsible behavior towards the environment through publishing success stories and recognizing positive initiatives to embed these practices within MAISON BLOOM and our communities.
These are our first set of commitments. It is an ever-evolving process to create a more perfect company in a more perfect country in a more perfect world. We will continue to update this with new commitments, as well as reports on our progress.