Sustainability
Guiding principles for our sustainable practices
Mother Nature endows humanity with foods in great variety and from every corner of the world. We deliver these
reliably to our customers in Germany, across Europe and beyond. This has been the nucleus of our mission and
our passion since 1925.
We are a family-owned business in the Hanseatic tradition. Since the days of our founder Henry Lamotte, it has
been our unchanging goal to continuously create structures that are built to last. Therefore we view all resources as
instruments to be used and not to be depleted. We view our customers, our suppliers, our service providers, our own
work, all material and financial means, and especially Nature’s resources, as fundamental and irreplaceable origins of
value and these remain precious to us.
We see the international food industry being confronted with serious challenges of sustainability. Our society will have to redefine itself - now and in the coming decades - to provide a rapidly growing world population with healthy foods that are sustainably sourced, both ecologically and socially. It is our ambition to actively make contributions to our markets that orientate towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Together with our trusted business partners we are on a quest for new paths. Above all, we are convinced that the challenges in front of us also provide a multitude of mutually-beneficial opportunities.
Through international trade we enjoy the diversities of the world and learn to develop mutual understanding from one person to another and between different cultures. A fair balance of interests will however always be the main requirement. We will continue to stand up for this belief in the future by emphasising that “free trade must be fair trade”.
Download our Code of Conduct here (PDF)
Reliable
Cooperative
Certified sustainability
"We bear social and environmental responsibilities and are ready to rise up to the challenge. This is a pressing and exciting task that will open up new opportunities!"
Sebastian Drewes, CEO
"Free Trade must be Fair Trade"
We work with our partner growers on an equal footing in more than 40 supplier countries around the world. In many cases, we have working relationships with them that have developed over decades, characterised by mutual understanding, trust and the desire to deliver great results and promote positive developments.
We travel all over the world and regularly visit our suppliers in person, in the fields and in the factories. This gives us a deep and diverse insight into production conditions, and above all working conditions and environmental influences. Nothing is hidden or glossed over; shortcomings are clearly addressed and tackled. We focus on direct contact and open communication to ensure that we evolve together.
We take a holistic view of quality – social and environmental issues are indispensable components. In order to meet our requirements in the value chain, we also rely on audits and certifications by independent third parties. We are involved in two programmes run by our partner amfori, the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) and the Business Environmental Performance Initiative (BEPI).
It is important to us to know what impact our products have on the climate
The global food industry accounts for more than one-third of greenhouse gas emissions*. For us, as a company that relies on the earth's resources - to provide us with food that we continually deliver to our customers - it is imperative that we become aware of the impact our business has on the environment and take action to help curb the climate crisis.
In addition to calculating the corporate carbon footprint (more info here) of our site, we have started to have the CO2e footprint of our products calculated with the help of ClimatePartner. We have completed the calculation for our product group "pineapple" and found out that the biggest impact for our canned pineapple is neither the extraction of the raw materials nor the logistics processes, but lies in the packaging. The Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) comprises the total greenhouse gas emissions caused by a product at the various stages of its life cycle. In our calculation, the "cradle-to-customer plus waste" approach was followed. The life cycle considered thus includes: the extraction of raw materials and packaging, relevant logistics processes, the manufacture of the product, the delivery of the goods to the customer's factory gate, and relevant disposal emissions of the product and packaging.
Our contribution to curbing greenhouse gas emissions does not end here. Calculating the CO2e emissions of our products is just the beginning. We now know in which life cycle the most greenhouse gases are generated by our pineapple. This means we can now take targeted action against avoidable emissions.
Would you like to learn more about the carbon footprint of our other products or purchase climate-neutral products from us? We would be happy to calculate the product carbon footprint for your desired product from our range or support you in possible reduction measures to neutralize the CO2e footprint of your products. Please do not hesitate to contact us!
Your contact person
Sustainability in practice
Wastewater Treatment for All: Updates on the BORDA-Project in the Philippines
With support from Henry Lamotte Food, our long-standing partner in wastewater solutions, BORDA, was able to realise an important project in Bauang, the Philippines.
Unternehmensklima-bilanz und Klimaneutralität
Vollkommen Ausgeglichen!Wir sind klimaneutral und gleichen unsere CO2-Emissionen aus. Dabei unterstützen wir ein Gold Standard zertifiziertes Klimaschutzprojekt in Peru.
Our visit to the "Bremer Suppenengel"
We give meaning to food that we cannot sell or use by donating them to the "Bremer Suppenengel", a non-profit association that supports persons-in-need.
BORDA
For clean water!
We support BORDA's commitment to social projects in the field of water and waste water
Clean water and sanitation for all
As part of our continuing engagement with BORDA, we have made a donation in November 2020 to support a sanitation project in Bauang, the Philippines.
We contribute to the “Osterholzer Tafel” food bank
We support the Schwanewede branch of the Osterholzer Tafel food bank with our products every month. In addition, our trainees work at the branch food bank and help with the distribution of the food contributed.
Christmas charity effort
We handed over 120 presents and a donation to the well established children's and youth welfare institution Petri & Eichen in Bremen. Our employees had fulfilled individual children's wishes.
Company bike leasing
40 employees took advantage of our company bike leasing offer in the first two years.
Our donation to earthquake victims in Indonesia
The region surrounding the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia was afflicted by several devastating earthquakes and tsunamis in 2018. We have donated a large sum of money to the Hilfswerk Ostasian.
Bicycle campaign 2020
In 2020, our colleagues have cycled almost 40,000 km to work. Every kilometer increased the company's donation to the hospiz:brücke in Bremen. Seriously ill people spend the last part of their lives there.
Financial support of Bremer Treff e. V.
This year in summer we sponsor the association "Bremer Treff", a clerical meeting center for people in material need, physical or mental difficulties. Our donation supports the acquisition of a defibrillator.
Christmas donation thanks to trainees
Our trainees created an oil mixture and distributed it against a donation at our Christmas party 2019. They handed over the amount of 2,000 Euro to the Bremen social institution "Alten Eichen" and visited the district project "Boxzeile Huchting".
BORDA
We support BORDA's commitment to social projects in the field of water and waste water
Even today the availability of clean water in many regions of this world cannot be taken for granted. Lack of infrastructure and technology, in the countryside as well as in the mega cities of developing countries are big challenges.
Sustainability track record
BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative)
We are a member of the Business Social Compliance Initiative, a leading initiative of companies committed to providing socially responsible working conditions in factories and on farms as well as to protecting the environment in global trade. We are campaigning for this together with our business partners in the countries of origin, with the help of independent auditors.
BEPI (Business Environmental Performance Initiative)
We are a member of the Business Environmental Performance Initiative, an initiative of retailers, importers and brands that are helping to improve the environmental performance of their sub-suppliers. By means of BEPI, we involve our business partners who are active in our global supply chains in order to better manage their impact on the environment.
BIO / EU-Bio
The German Bio label stands for organic farming and the organic food produced from it, which meets the requirements of the EU Eco-Regulation. Independent auditors regularly inspect all organic farms in the value chain to ensure that they meet the legally stipulated requirements for organic food.
V-Label / vegan and vegetarian
The V-Label is a seal of quality for vegan and vegetarian products. It was initiated by the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), which regards itself as the umbrella organisation for vegetarian and vegan organisations in Europe. Up to now, the label has mainly been used in the food industry.
Exceptionally family friendly
The federal state of Bremen, together with Impulsgeber Zukunft e.V., awarded us the seal of “ausgezeichnet familienfreundlich” (“exceptionally family friendly”). It is a recognition of our achievements so far in balancing work and family life. We regularly commit ourselves to taking further measures.
Ausgezeichnet familienfreundlich
Das Land Bremen gemeinsam mit dem Impulsgeber Zukunft e.V. verlieh uns das Siegel „ausgezeichnet familienfreundlich“. Es steht für die Anerkennung unserer bisherigen Leistungen für die Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie. Darüber hinaus verpflichten wir uns regelmäßig auf weiterführende Maßnahmen.
IFS Broker
IFS-BROKER ist ein international durch die GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) anerkannter Standard für Lebensmittelsicherheit. Es handelt sich hierbei um eine Zertifizierung von Händlern, die sicher stellen soll, dass der Kunde ein der vereinbarten Spezifikationen entsprechendes Produkt erhält. Dabei werden u.a. hohe, klar definiert Anforderungen an Hygiene, Prozess-Sicherheit und Zertifizierung bei den Produzenten gestellt.
Philosophy
Modern, Hanseatic and passionate
We always rely on modern Hanseatic values in our corporate philosophy, our vision and our mission. Here you can learn everything about the basis of our work.
Quality
Creating customer-oriented quality
Your quality requirements are always in good hands at Henry Lamotte Food. Our quality management system creates supply security by utilising coordinated processes, combined with quality assurance for high product quality.
