Corporate Social Responsibility Policy and Code of Conduct

The company is achieving commercial success in ways that honour ethical values and respect people, communities and the natural environment by minimising any negative environmental and social impacts and maximising the positive ones. In general the company is managing its business to achieve both commercial and social benefits. In essence it's about managing our social, community and environmental impacts in order to improve our results, reduce risks and enhance our reputation. It is also about growing our business in a way that has value for everyone connected to it. The Corporate Social Responsibility Policy of the company is actually a balance between financial, environmental and social performance. The company stands for Van Dillewijn Group BV and all of its affiliate companies.

People, Planet and Profit

The company aims to be open, accountable and responsive to stakeholder concerns. We believe that business, social and environmental performance are mutually dependent. At the company, they go hand in hand, so all our stakeholders benefit from the company's activities by supporting sustainable and ethical business practices.

Our Code of Conduct which enables us to act accordingly to the Corporate Social Responsibility Policy can be divided into our Ambitions and our Commitments:

Ambitions:

The company will operate in a sustainable manner in order to create long-term value through superior financial performance.
The company's core values – innovation, creativity, quality and reliability – will be reflected in our behaviour and in our business conduct.
The company will drive the industry in pursuing common high standards and anchoring best practices.

Commitments:

We will communicate promptly, completely and accurately with our customers, employees, suppliers, community members, shareholders, regulators, and all others with whom we do business. We will not mislead these stakeholders and will only make promises to them that we can keep.
We will maintain accurate and reliable records to meet our legal and financial obligations and to manage our affairs. Our books and records will reflect accurately all business transactions.
We will not permit undisclosed or unrecorded revenues, expenses, assets or liabilities. We will never create or participate in the creation of records that are misleading.
We will cooperate fully with the company’s internal and independent auditors.
We will avoid conflict of interest situations. We will avoid any situation that may create, or may seem to create, a conflict between personal interests and the interests of the company.
We will make a positive contribution to the societies in which we operate by providing employment, investing in infrastructure and supporting local initiatives.
We will encourage our employees to use on the job training, rotation and education to further their personal and professional development.
We will strive to minimise the environmental impact of our operations.
We are committed to fairness in the workplace and will respect the rights, culture and dignity of all individuals. We will act fairly and justly and will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment directed at any individual or group.
We will comply with the laws, rules and regulations in the countries and communities in which we operate.
We will never offer, pay, solicit or accept bribes in any form, either directly or indirectly. If and to the extent appropriate under the circumstances, we may give or accept gifts and entertainment that are for business purposes, that are not material or frequent, and that reflect the customs in the industry and local settings.
We will always compete vigorously and independently in the conduct of our business. We will not act in retaliation of antitrust or competition laws in any of the jurisdictions in which we do business.
We will not make contributions to political parties or participate in election campaigns. This does not in any way restrict the freedom of our employees to participate in political activities.
We will seek business partners that foster trust in our relationship. When considering abusiness partnership, we will base our choice of partner not only on economic considerations, but also on a number of other factors, including, where appropriate, safety, health, environmental management and sustainable conduct.
We will work to minimise environmental impact throughout the value chain and apply technology and methods to this end.
We will encourage safety conscious behaviour, both in the workplace and beyond. We seek to create an incident and injury free work environment for all employees and contractors.
We will cooperate with customers, suppliers and partners to encourage the safe and correct handling and use of our products.
We will stimulate improvement throughout the value chain by conducting an active and open dialogue with customers, partners and other stakeholders.
We will support, promote and lead industry organisations that promote these goals and work actively with governmental and non-governmental organisations to achieve them.
We will actively support technological innovation to improve and enhance horticultural productivity.

Achieving our ambitions and acting on our commitments:

The ambitions and commitments that we have stated are intended to guide the conduct of all of the directors, officers, employees and representatives of the company. Each of these individuals is responsible for making sure that our business decisions and actions comply at all times with the letter and spirit of this Corporate Social Responsibility Policy and Code of Conduct.

All the company supervisors and managers, including our officers and directors, have aresponsibility to lead according to our ambitions and commitments in both words and actions.
All the company supervisors and managers are expected to promote these ambitions and commitments and to be available to anyone with concerns, questions or complaints about them.
All the company employees are encouraged to raise questions or issues about these matters with their supervisors.
All concerns, questions and complaints will be taken seriously and handled promptly, confidentially and professionally.
No retaliation will be taken against any employee for raising any concern, question or complaint in good faith.

Desired end-results:

The company acts for the benefit of profit, people and planet.
The company's employees value it as a great place to work.
The company has a good health and safety record.
The company attracts, retains and develops motivated and committed employees.
The company’s customers and suppliers value it as a good business to do business with.
The "Country" community values the company as a great "neighbour".
The company improves business reputation and positive publicity of the horticultural
industry. The company pays staff, suppliers and creditors on time.