Company profile: Tchibo
Headquarters: Hamburg
Country: Germany
Founded in: 1949
Total points of sale in Europe:
1300 owned shops and 45000 sale points in Germany alone. Germany represents 77% of sales.
Owned by: The Herz family
Name of CEO: Dr. Markus Conrad
Name of head of CSR department: Achim Lohrie, aclo(at)tchibo.de
Product description: All kinds (clothing, household items, mobile phones, insurance, etc). Brand name: TCM
Producer countries: Turkey, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, China, Pakistan and others.
General remarks: n.a.
Tchibo GmbH
Überseering 18
22297 Hamburg
Comments from CCC and proposals for action
The CCC has been campaigning on violations of workers’ rights at Tchibo’s Bangladeshi suppliers since 2004. Since then, Tchibo has changed its policy considerably, from having no CSR department in 2004 to a CSR department of eight employees in 2007. In addition, it has created a working group in which staff from purchasing, social and corporate responsibility departments work together. In December 2007, Tchibo set up a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project with GTZ/BMZ which will enable strategic partners in China, Bangladesh and Vietnam to receive training in labour rights, workers included. The CCC Germany will observe this process (with focus on a Bangladeshi factory) and will continue to have annual meetings with Tchibo.
The following evaluation of the company’s performance in terms of transparency, code implementation and monitoring of labour standards is based on research by the CCC – Germany in 2008.
Transparency
Tchibo is willing to provide the CCC with detailed information and briefs the CCC once or twice a year on developments in its CSR policy. The company is interested in continuous dialogue with the CCC. Some information is disclosed on its website. The CEO salary is, however, not publicly known. Producer countries have been disclosed to the CCC but this information is not publicly available. The names of suppliers are not disclosed. The structure of the company’s supply chain is not publicly disclosed. The company posts its annual report on its website but the report does not meet international reporting standards (GRI). Tchibo has communicated the results of factory audits (including re-audits) to the CCC but has asked for confidentiality. Transparency is therefore limited.
Formal commitment to labours standards
Tchibo has revised its Code of Conduct several times, always following criticism by the CCC. Its current “Social Code of Conduct” is based on ILO core and other conventions included in the CCC code of conduct.*
With regard to the payment of a living wage, the code states : “Wages paid for a standard working week shall meet at least legal or industry minimum standards, whichever of the two is higher. Business partners shall strive to pay wages that cover the costs of living and leave some discretionary income in case that legal minimum wages fail to do so.“
Tchibo joined Social Accountability International (SAI) in 2006 and participates in the SAI Corporate Involvement Programme.
Code implementation and purchasing practices
Tchibo, as member of SAI, accepts regular external audits of its supplier facilities. These are conducted by audit companies accredited under the SAI programme. Tchibo, however, recognizes that audits alone will not change current working conditions. The company believes in training its suppliers and has therefore set up a training programme for its major suppliers and their workers as well as for importers. The Public Private Partnership project involves some forty major Tchibo suppliers - approx. 5% of all suppliers - in China, Bangladesh and Vietnam and affects approx. 17% of company turnover. Although it is quite limited in scope, the plan is to cover more companies and more countries at a later stage.
Monitoring and Verification
In the last three months of 2006 and in 2007, Tchibo carried out over 280 social audits -mainly in China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Turkey. Major problems were found in the areas of wage payment, working hours and health and safety. The design and structure of these audits did not make it possible to assess the extent of discrimination or the extent to which trade union rights are respected. Although corrective action plans are formulated and re-audits are conducted, Tchibo believes that real change can only occur through more training (see above).
Violations of labour rights and public conflicts
There are no CCC public urgent appeals calling on Tchibo to take responsibility for workers’ rights violations in its supply chain. Tchibo, however, recognizes that many violations occur.
Recent developments
n.a.