GOLD for KAISER+KRAFT – The B2B omnichannel retailer receives the Gold CSR Award from EcoVadis for its sustainable commitment

KAISER+KRAFT was awarded gold by EcoVadis in 2022 for its sustainable activities. Source: KAISER+KRAFT. (Source: KAISER+KRAFT)

KAISER+KRAFT, one of the leading B2B mail order retailers for operational, warehouse, and office equipment, is once again awarded the Gold Medal of the EcoVadis certification. This places the company among the top three percent in the overall ranking.

KAISER+KRAFT receives the Gold Seal from EcoVadis once again for its sustainable activities in 2022. The highest score was achieved by the company based in Stuttgart in the areas of Labor & Human Rights as well as Sustainable Procurement. KAISER+KRAFT first received the Gold certification in 2019. In 2017, it was awarded Silver. "We are very pleased with the Gold award and that our efforts to operate sustainably have once again been positively evaluated from an independent perspective," says Lisa Blumenstock, Sustainability Manager at KAISER+KRAFT. "We have been working with EcoVadis for many years to determine and assess the sustainability of our suppliers. Being awarded Gold again now makes us a role model for our partners and shows that we lead by example," Blumenstock adds.

Transparency through the Enkelfähig Score

In 2019, the umbrella organization Haniel, an investment holding with a focus on sustainability, introduced the Enkelfähig initiative. Enkelfähig stands for a livable future in a sustainable, socially just, and economically forward-looking world that can be left to future generations. Together with KAISER+KRAFT's sister company ratioform, Haniel developed an Enkelfähig rating system to make sustainability transparent, comparable, and measurable at the product level. Based on the criteria of Circularity, Climate Protection, Environmental Compatibility, Innovation, and Economic Efficiency, a so-called Enkelfähig Score is calculated for each product. This score ranges from 1.0 to 5.9, with 5.9 being the best possible rating. For a product to be classified as Enkelfähig, it must have a score of at least 3.0. "Last year, our sister company ratioform successfully implemented the score and received consistently positive feedback from customers and partners. We aim to implement the score for KAISER+KRAFT's products by the end of this year. With a portfolio of over 100,000 items, this is a significant task but also a logical next step for us in terms of sustainability. Whether it's packaging material from ratioform or floor trucks from KAISER+KRAFT, customers can directly see how sustainable a product is. This transparency and measurability were certainly also a key factor in the EcoVadis certification," says Lisa Blumenstock.

The CSR Platform EcoVadis and the Ranking

EcoVadis was founded in 2007 and is an independent evaluation platform – the first and largest of its kind. More than 100,000 companies are assessed here regarding their sustainability activities in the areas of Environment, Ethics, Procurement, and Labor & Human Rights. The methodology is based on international standards for sustainability, including the Global Reporting Initiative, United Nations Global Compact, as well as ISO 26000, and considers over 200 procurement categories and more than 175 countries.