We love our products. We maintain the Hanseatic and traditional approach to craft our hand made products the best way known in our industry. We are innovative about how we work in the market and drive changes in our industry. We want this love for our products and for innovation to come across in everything we do.
We are excited about the opportunity to work with our customers: we work with our clients at arm's length. We deliver service the personal, old-fashioned way that Hanseatic traders have always done it - and that guarantees you a perfect product, every single time, and lets you sleep the best night's sleep. Every night.
The Quality Policy applies to all our products, our production- and logistics processes, and up the supply chain to the source of our raw materials.
For all relevant private label products, RICHARD BEHR & CO. requires compliance with all legal provisions in the area of quality. For the production and trading of products, the 'four key aspects of quality' need to be considered:
For each of these quality features, we are committed to consistent and transparent quality products, packaging, and production standards throughout all stages of the supply chain. RICHARD BEHR & CO. pursues the goal to actively extend its range of 100% controlled quality products, production, and packaging, sourced from production facilities which demonstrably apply quality standards that exceed legal provisions.
Furthermore, our suppliers are obliged to comply with minimum quality standards at all stages of the production chain, i.e. from the fattening farm to the processor to the store (refer to Corporate Governance Principles/BSCI Code of Conduct/ISO quality standards).
RICHARD BEHR & CO. is member of all relevant business associations and/or in all their boards and committees relevant for quality standards, especially Verband der Deutschen Federn Industrie VDFI, European Down and Feather Association EDFA, and International Down and Feather Bureau IDFB, and drives their standards and codes of conduct throughout its complete supply chain.
We actively promote compliance with Quality standards and for this purpose, we have already taken precise measures, amongst others, in the following areas:
Our clients are among the strongest drivers and champions of industrial level convergence of our industry toward Quality standards for products, packaging and production. We work with our clients to help them formulate their standards, goals, and monitor progress toward achieving the goals. We follow our highest client standards.
RICHARD BEHR & CO. sources products exclusively from producers who are compliant with all local and international quality standards and/or certified accordingly. This enables us to avoid the use of suplly chain elements that do not reliably meet international quality standards for our products.
RICHARD BEHR & CO. closely follows all textile-related environmental issues and topics and strives to at all time be at the forefront of the newest standards, tests, and labels.
RICHARD BEHR & CO. uses the following third party audited standards to monitor compliance with these guidelines:
At RICHARD BEHR & CO., we implement our quality requirements in close cooperation with our suppliers. The implementation of our internal requirements will be conducted by the buying departments with the support of the responsible drivers of Corporate Governance. Specific requirements, goals and measures will also be implemented in close cooperation. We monitor the implementation among our suppliers we conduct risk-oriented evaluations. We reserve us the right to have the requirements of our sustainability policy verified by internal and/or external audits, if necessary.
Moreover, we expect our suppliers to ensure that all personnel responsible for the handling of products, machinery, or packaging, with impact on their quality, are effectively trained to carry out routine practices in a way that minimizes risk of quality defects, and, where necessary, is qualified to promote good standards of quality within their areas of responsibility.
The present Quality Policy is part of our terms and conditions. Where instances of non-compliance with our policies are detected, suppliers are expected to provide corrective action plans that clearly demonstrate how relevant violations will be resolved within a specific timeframe. The Managing Directors are informed on the status of implementation on a regular basis.
We aspire to continuously improve the quality of our products. In this context, we always consider our customers' wishes and the market environment. The transition to higher quality alternatives includes the following:
Since we aim to offer higher quality products, an exchange with external partners is indispensable. Therefore, we are in close contact with NGOs, representatives of the scientific community, and stakeholders.
RICHARD BEHR & CO. is actively implementing sustainable practices in our products, packaging and production processes when opportunities arise. Here are a number of pilot projects that RICHARD BEHR & CO. has implemented today already:
We commit to keeping these measures in place, expanding them, and adding further measures as technology becomes available. We also are part of other pilots and initiatives, that help shape our industry and its quality performance:
Each year, the current Quality Policy is assessed and, if required, adjusted. In the long-term, this is the only way to guarantee consistent quality products, packaging, and development of our production. In addition, based on this policy, we formulate goals and evaluate the extent to which these goals have been achieved on an annual basis.