A business we can feel good about
We all work for our own good. But what does that really mean? One thing is certain: It can’t be measured in money. Feeling good about oneself and making a meaningful contribution to society involves far more than just making an adequate income.
It’s clear to us that as producers, we share responsibility to the people around us and to the environment in which we live. For a long time, we simply followed our instincts and inner impetus to maintain fair business relationships and keep the environment in mind throughout our activities.
Then we came across the concept of the “Economy for the common good (ECG)” a few years ago and realised that it corresponds to many of our convictions. Since then, we have used this as a compass and as a detector that can sound the alarm.
We may be organic pioneers, but we know that we aren’t perfect. We wish to continue to set ourselves goals, work to improve, and scrutinise our activities. That’s why we regularly compile a Common Good Balance Sheet: A team of several Taifun employees conducts countless interviews and does a whole lot of research to determine whether and how we work in accordance with the ECG criteria. And they examine all areas of our business.
The Common Good Balance Sheet is not about how fast we grow, how well we maximise our profits, or whether we can use our elbows.
Quite the opposite: The Common Good Balance Sheet measures companies according to four values which, taken together, give a picture of the current state of a company’s ecological and social qualities. That is sometimes not easy to express in figures, but it helps us see where we stand and what we still need to change.
Environmental sustainability
We exclusively use organic soybeans grown under contract by European farmers, and we work with plant breeders to create new tofu soybean varieties that are suitable for cultivation in our climes. Year by year, we have reduced our consumption of resources during production through the use of highly efficient modern equipment and technologies.
Solidarity and social justice
In many big companies, the managing director’s salary is hundreds of times greater than that of the employees. In our company, that’s different: The managing directors receive at most four times the salary of our production staff.
Transparency and co-determination
We place great importance on maintaining an atmosphere of openness at the workplace and treating each other with respect. Anyone can make suggestions for our business, and sometimes we specifically meet to give people even more opportunity to share their input.
Human dignity
We work here as the humans that we are, not as cogs in a vast machine. This is how we feel in our daily work at the head office, and also in our relations with our farmers.