Fair and inclusive way of working

Sustainable sourcing

We focus on long-term sourcing relationships. Paulig only sources coffee that is third-party certified or from our carefully selected, verified partnership programmes. Our goal is that, by 2030, 95% of natural main raw materials from high-risk areas come from sustainable sources verified by external parties.

• Sustainably managed means that raw materials are produced in accordance with third party certification standards and verification schemes approved by Paulig, as defined in Paulig Group’s Responsible Sourcing Guidelines, including approved traceability levels. These standards and verification schemes must cover both environmental and social aspects of sustainability.
• Verification shall be in place to assure that suppliers and supply chains are in compliance with the standards or verification schemes.
• External party means that a third-party assurance provider or certifying body has assessed that the raw material crops were grown and processed in accordance with a verification scheme or comply with a third-party certification standard.
• High-risk areas are identified using country risk classifications. Since 2025, Paulig has utilised the Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) country risk classification as part of its value chain risk management.
• Natural raw materials are agricultural commodities and primary ingredients of natural origin.
• Main raw materials are those for which Paulig's annual sourcing volume exceeds 10,000 kg.
• Scope: Our work currently focuses on green coffee, spices and herbs. In the upcoming years, we will gradually expand external verification to other key raw materials sourced from agricultural value chains.

With almost 500 direct and over 6,000 indirect suppliers and value chains stretching to nearly 80 countries, we have the opportunity to make a global impact. In addition to having a great opportunity for positive impact, we also have the responsibility to mitigate the risks – for example, when it comes to human rights, climate change or deforestation. As many of our impacts are in the upstream part of our value chain, it is vital that we ensure the mitigating activities and development programmes also take place there.  

In 2020 we established sustainable sourcing targets for six key spices: black pepper, onion, oregano, Indian chillies, cumin, and turmeric. Spices and herbs account for a relatively small share of our total sourcing volumes compared with green coffee, flours, and oils sourced from high-risk countries. Despite their limited volume, they constitute one of our most complex raw material categories from a sustainability perspective. Most of our spice and herb volumes originate from high-risk countries and cover a broad, highly variable range of raw materials, largely produced by smallholder farmers who are particularly exposed to environmental, social, and economic vulnerabilities. This is why we prioritised the spices and herbs category after coffee and chose to pilot only six key spices, which together represent roughly half of our total spice and herb volume.

In 2025, we made strong progress toward our sustainable sourcing goal, achieving 98% verified sustainable sourcing for our key six spices. While we did not fully meet the 100% target for these six spices, this result represents a significant achievement given challenges such as quality issues and crop delays, which limited the availability of verified alternatives. Building on this progress, we expanded the roadmap in 2026 for all spices and herbs. We have started to develop roadmaps for other major raw material categories – oils and flours.

For co-manufacturing, our objective is to ensure that all processing sites located in risk countries undergo external verification via Sedex.

Ensuring a safe and inclusive workplace

We are committed to developing our values-driven company culture to ensure that all employees experience Paulig as a fair and inclusive workplace. All Paulig employees have a shared responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect. To support this, we have published our own Diversity, Inclusion and Equity policy that sets our commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

Ensuring the health and safety of our employees, contractors, and visitors is our highest priority. Safety is a fundamental part of how we operate and do business. We all share responsibility for ensuring a safe workplace by building a strong safety culture and taking action when safety concerns arise.

Paulig’s Health and Safety Policy applies across all Paulig’s operations. It establishes clear requirements for compliance with applicable laws, empowers employees to stop unsafe work, and promotes physical, psychological, and social well-being.