Paulig’s sustainability governance model outlines the roles and responsibilities for steering our sustainability actions. The strategic sustainability initiatives outlined in Paulig Sustainability Approach 2030 are integral to Paulig’s overall strategy and are incorporated into our annual planning cycles. The progress of these initiatives is monitored regularly in leadership meetings throughout the year.
Our commitment to sustainability begins with our Board of Directors, which approves our long-term ambitions and regularly reviews sustainability performance against established targets. Progress on the strategic sustainability initiatives, along with findings from sustainability reporting assurance and related development areas, is reported to the Board’s Audit Committee.
The Paulig Leadership Team approves strategic sustainability initiatives, principles and policies and reviews the implementation and performance of sustainability development and activities. The Senior Vice President for Sustainability, HSE, and Communications serves as a member of the Paulig Leadership Team.
Furthermore, a key strategic driver within Paulig’s sustainability governance framework is the cross-functional Sustainability Management Group. This group, comprising representatives from all key functions and operations, acts as the principal steering body for our strategic sustainability initiatives, ensuring effective coordination and oversight across departments to advance our sustainability objectives.
At the operational level, Paulig’s Sustainability Team is responsible for driving strategic planning and development related to sustainability. The team ensures that the necessary processes and policies are established and maintained to support the effective implementation of sustainability initiatives across the organisation. In collaboration with key internal groups, the team leads Group-level strategic sustainability initiatives, contributing to the achievement of Paulig’s long-term sustainability objectives.
Paulig Sustainability Approach 2030 is based on an assessment of our impacts, influence and dependencies in our value chains, and supports selected United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and especially goals 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 13 (Climate Action).
Paulig aims to be among the sustainable frontrunners in our industry and aims to continuously strengthen its Sustainability Approach to ensure our sustainability efforts remain current and effective. We regularly benchmark our targets and performance against a range of external frameworks, benchmarks and disclosure expectations covering for example human rights, nutrition, climate, nature and governance topics, including those developed by organisations such as the World Benchmarking Alliance, ATNI, GAIN, WBCSD and CDP.
These references are used as inputs for reviewing the scope, ambition level and implementation of our sustainability work compared to leadership definitions and peers. Additionally, as part of our reporting approach aligned with GRI and moving towards the ESRS standards, the double materiality assessment process will ensure that our Sustainability Approach is regularly evaluated and refined, facilitating ongoing improvement and alignment with regulatory requirements and industry best practice.
Building a safe and responsible business culture
Paulig has strong brands, and the company is trusted by customers and consumers. Maintaining and building this trust requires consistent and ethical business practices.
Paulig Code of Conduct outlines our ethical principles and sets the standards expected across our business. Suppliers must commit to the Paulig Code of Conduct for Suppliers.
Paulig Code of Conduct is supported by the following key Paulig-level policies and management systems:
- Paulig Code of Conduct
- Paulig Code of Conduct for Suppliers
- Paulig’s Human Rights Principles
- Paulig Group Modern Slavery Statement
- Paulig Health and Safety Policy
- Health & safety management systems
- Paulig Food Safety and Quality policy
- Paulig Environmental Policy
- Environmental management systems
- Paulig Deforestation Policy
- Paulig Group Enterprise Risk Management Policy
- Paulig’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy
- Paulig Competition Law Compliance Policy
- Trade Association Guidelines
- Paulig Whistleblowing Policy
Whistleblowing channels
We want our employees to feel comfortable with voicing dissenting opinions and concerns at the workplace. Paulig enables its personnel in all operating countries to report potential issues anonymously via a third-party maintained whistleblowing tool, which is accessible in six languages. The tool consists of a Group channel and local reporting channels for Finland, Belgium, Estonia, Sweden and Spain. In parallel with the internal channels, we provide a Whistleblowing channel to our external stakeholders to report any misconduct on our part. We encourage external stakeholders to primarily contact a manager at Paulig, but the anonymous whistleblowing tool ensures that we receive feedback even if the person feels that they cannot be open with their concern.
A dedicated team evaluates and investigates non-conformities, ensuring that all actions are meticulously logged and handled with strict confidentiality. Cases are reported annually to the Paulig Board of Directors. If we observe any issues in our supply chain, we intervene immediately and create an action plan together with our partner.
Managing risks and opportunities
Risk management aims to support Paulig's long-term capability to deliver value to its shareholders. The Group Risk Policy sets out the key principles of our risk management framework and defines the roles, responsibilities, and reporting structure throughout our organisation. The most significant risks are regularly reported to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors and the Paulig Leadership Team.
Key risks and opportunities are identified and managed as part of business operations. Risk management covers strategic, operational and hazard risks. Sustainability risks and opportunities are identified, updated and assessed as part of the annual Enterprise Risk Management cycle. Together with our general risk management, the implementation of our Sustainability Programme is a key instrument for mitigating risks and capturing opportunities.
Climate change represents the most significant long-term sustainability risk for Paulig. To assess its potential impacts on our business, we use climate scenarios to evaluate climate-related risks and opportunities across various time horizons extending to 2060. We have carried out a comprehensive Group-level assessment of our climate risks, covering transition as well as acute and chronic physical risks at our production sites. In 2025, this work was expanded to include an assessment of physical risks within our key supply chains. According to the applied climate model, drought, flooding and extreme heat are expected to be Paulig’s most significant climate risks within the next decade if left unmitigated.
