Berentzen Group publishes Sustainability Report 2021: Sustainability activities intensified again in financial year 2021

"With our Sustainability Report 2021, we are continuing our ongoing, transparent communication in the area of social, ecological and economic responsibility with our various internal and external stakeholders," explains Ralf Brühöfner, the member of the Executive Board of Berentzen-Gruppe Aktiengesellschaft responsible for so-called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, among other things. "The topic of sustainability, which has always been an intrinsic part of our self-image in our more than 260-year-old group of companies, is known to be gaining ever greater weight in society, politics and business from year to year. With the ongoing intensification of our sustainability activities, we are demonstrating that we have understood the upcoming tasks of companies as significant parts of society and are happy to take them on." The corresponding expansion of the Berentzen Group's sustainability activities is also reflected in the renewed increase in the scope of the Sustainability Report, he said.

"In order to make a clear and visible statement about the outstanding importance we attach to the various aspects of sustainability, we joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) last year. It is the world's largest and most important initiative for responsible corporate governance," says Laura Schlochtermeier, CSR Manager of the Berentzen Group. "We are thus committing to the UNGC's ten universal principles, which take into account various areas such as human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and corruption."

In the 2021 financial year, he said, a number of other projects were also launched or implemented to achieve the goals of the sustainability strategy launched in 2020 in the People, Planet and Products fields of action. "For example, we have started to decentralize individual sub-topics in specialist departments and project groups to ensure comprehensive implementation and constant further development of various measures," Schlochtermeier continued. A Sustainability Council with key departmental managers has also been established to steer the entire process.

The positive impact of the sustainability activities to date was confirmed at the end of 2021 by the results of the well-known EcoVadis sustainability rating. With a total of 72 out of 100 points, the Berentzen Group achieved so-called gold status, placing it among the top five percent of all companies assessed by EcoVadis.

"Social, ecological and economic sustainability and the associated challenges affect us all - as a company, we will consistently pursue the path we have taken in this regard. Therefore, the measures we have implemented so far will be followed by further sustainability activities this year and beyond," Brühöfner concludes.