Ensuring the quality and safety of our products s of paramount importance to us. We take a systematic and long-term approach to ensuring and developing the responsibility of our supply chain, raw materials and packaging.

Main targets 2023 – 2025	Achievements in 2023
Zero recalls of our own production products.	One own production recall at Berner Ltd. Zero recalls in other companies.
100% of suppliers in high-risk countries have been audited. We are developing the sustainability assessment of suppliers in non-risk countries.	Self-assessments are still ongoing for new suppliers in high-risk countries that have emerged following acquisitions. The decision to become an EcoVadis member from 2024, which means that we will be able to assess the sustainability of our suppliers with the EcoVadis assessment.
All of the plastic packaging in our own production in Heinävesi and Helsinki is recyclable.	86% of used packaging (kg) was recyclable.
We will continue to make life cycle analyses and carbon footprint calculations.	We completed lifecycle assessments for 10 products across the entire Group.
We reduce the use of peat by approximately 10% per year, with the aim of fully replacing peat in GreenCare growing media at the beginning of the 2030s.	We proceeded in accordance with the goal in reducing horticultural peat.

 

Product quality and safety

The quality and safety of our products is of paramount importance to us. Our operations are certified pursuant to the ISO 9001 quality management certificate, the ISO 14001 environmental management certificate, the ISO 22716 certificate regarding the manufacture and storage of cosmetics and hygiene products (GMP, Good Manufacturing Practices), and a third-party assured ISO 13485 quality system required for the manufacture of healthcare equipment.

Our laboratories in Herttoniemi and Heinävesi are GLP certified by the Finnish Medicines Agency. Defined by the OECD, GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) is intended to produce reliable and sufficiently high-quality laboratory testing for purposes such as use by the public authorities.

Our consumer goods products are developed at our product development laboratories in Helsinki and manufactured in Heinävesi and Helsinki in  close cooperation with our quality assurance team.

Responsible supply chain

Berner’s commitment to maintaining and developing sustainable business practices extends throughout the supply chain. Our responsible purchasing is based on our Supplier Code of Conduct.   Our WhistleB whistleblowing channel also allows our external stakeholders to report potential suspicions concerning conduct that violates the law and our Code of Conduct.

Our key tools for ensuring and developing responsible procurement are Supplier Code of Conduct, supplier self-assessmenta, third-party audits and EcoVadis sustainaibility assessments.  Our supplier risk assessment is based on the amfori BSCI list of risk countries.

Sustainable packaging

We aim to develop the responsibility of our packaging by using recyclable materials, increasing the use of recycled and renewable materials and reducing the amount of packaging materials used. We strive to minimize the use of packaging materials and we aim to use mono-material plastic packaging. We also develop the sustainability of packaging by actively participating in projects that promote the circular economy.