Values and commitments

Rigour, authenticity and quality.

Our family group, strengthened by its activities in food and maintenance, with its 8 industrial sites in France and 2 sites in Italy, aims to be an engaged and responsible actor in our ecosystem.
In this article, you will find information related only to the food sector.

Our Values

  • Preserving the family culture, a value to uphold
  • Acting as responsible citizens in the communities that host us
  • Facilitating responsible consumption
  • Cultivating ethics and loyalty in business relationships

Our Commitment

The family roots of Charbonneaux Brabant enable its group of companies to project a long-term vision, driven by this family group. A group motivated by a desire for ambitious and sustainable growth.
Our companies are committed to promoting sustainable development by combining environmental prevention, protection, and internal and local economic development.

In 2018-2019, we identified and prioritized the essential environmental and societal issues for our regions.
We strive to promote responsibility and ethics among all our employees to be engaged and responsible actors in our ecosystem and to address the concerns of our consumers.

Acting as citizens in the communities that host us



• Integrating environmental concerns into the design and marketing of our products:

  • Ongoing research for the development of eco-friendly products.
  • Implementation of a program to reduce the weight of our bottles.*
  • Reduction of inter-site logistical flows.


• Being an engaged actor in our communities and industry:

  • Support for the program to reintroduce Burgundy mustard seeds and the launch of a mustard seed cultivation test in the Marne
  • Financial support for the restoration of local architectural heritage
  • Involvement in professional networks such as FEEF or Réseau Entreprendre


• Managing our energy consumption and valorizing resources:

  • Monthly monitoring of our energy consumption by sector.
  • Raising awareness among everyone about the impacts of using lighting, heating, and information systems.
  • Collaboration with local research institutes to valorize by-products (Since 2000, mustard bran has been processed through methanation for city gas and animal feed)

*Since 2018, commitment to reducing packaging weight.
Since 2021, Charbonneaux-Brabant has committed to reducing the weight of most of its plastic packaging (jugs and vinegar bottles).
2021: 5L Jug reduced from 160g to 140g (savings of 90t/year)
2021: 1L PET Bottle reduced from 32g to 30g (savings of 3t/year)
RPET (Recycled PET): Since 2021, all our bottling lines use bottles blown on-site, containing 25% RPET.


Facilitating responsible consumption



• Raising awareness among our customers and consumers about the rational and responsible use of our products

  • Communication efforts to clarify reuse and sorting instructions for our product packaging
  • A systematic and personalized response to complaints


• Innovating with eco-friendly products

  • An R&D department attentive to the new demands of our customers and consumption trends
  • Ongoing research for eco-responsibility in our product manufacturing process

ACTIONS ON CARBON FOOTPRINT REDUCTION
Since 2018, optimization of pallets to reduce the carbon footprint
Decarbonization initiative since September 2022 with ISO 50001 certification


Cultivating ethics and loyalty in business relationships



• Promoting ethics and responsibility within our value chain:

  • The selection of local partners for our raw materials (wines, etc.) and/or those committed to developing sustainable supply chains (organic wine, mustard seed supply chain, etc.)
  • The listing and annual evaluation of our suppliers based on CSR criteria (environmental management system, quality management system, etc.)
  • The implementation of an ethical charter, signed by our buyers and suppliers
  • A partnership approach to jointly design and develop eco-friendly components or products

Quality certifications:
• ISO 50001
• PME+
We are members of the Marne Responsible Leaders Association, which aims to collectively promote CSR practices among companies in Marne.
• 100% of our food suppliers have signed our ethical charter
• 77% of our waste has been recycled
• 97.3/100 IFS BRC


PME+

This label signifies the FEEF’s (Federation of Enterprises and Entrepreneurs of France) ongoing commitment regarding the reclamation of the SME roles in the national economy, through the improvement of their relationships with the mass distribution and the promotion of their brands and products towards the consumers.
This is not a new product label but a corporate label. The PME + label recognizes and values an eco-responsible entrepreneurial approach, which in turn leads to the development of a socially responsible business.

ISO 14 001

The ISO 14001 standard is part of a family of standards (ISO 14000) designed to promote and guide an environmental management approach. It is applicable to any type of organization (business, association, public service, etc.) that is committed to implementing a system of production, management, and operations that integrates a dynamic perspective of environmental impact control.

IFS et BRC

The IFS and BRC certifications are two standards audit, put in place by the mass distribution to manage the delegation of their suppliers’ audits to third party organization in order to ensure the safety of food and supervise the product manufacturers’ quality level for the private label and/or best price products.

The IFS and BRC certifications were created to:

  • Provide healthy products to consumers
  • Ensure food safety to the retailer
  • Meet the requirements of the Community legislation regarding hygiene.

AB et Eurofeuille

The Organic Farming (AB) and Organic Farming Europe certifications refer to all the products that are from French (for the AB certification) and European (for the Organic farming Europe label) organic agriculture. The AB label was established first in 1985, while the European organic label was introduced in 2009. Since the implementation of the European label, the AB label’s criteria have been aligned with the European model to simplify regulations and provide better guidance to consumers.

Both the AB and Euroleaf certifications ensure that at least 95% of the product’s components come from organic farming that complies with European Union regulations. They guarantee that the production methods are environmentally friendly, promote biodiversity and animal welfare, and prohibit the use of synthetic chemicals and GMOs (with accidental traces of GMOs tolerated up to 0.9%). Additionally, these certifications certify that the product comes directly from the producing farmer and is packaged in a sealed package.



*Packaging Reduction



• Since 2018, commitment to reducing packaging weight

• Since 2021, Charbonneaux-Brabant has committed to reducing the weight of most of its plastic packaging (jugs and vinegar bottles).

• 2021 5L Jug reduced from 160g to 140g (saving 90t/year)

• 2021 1L PET Bottle: reduced from 32g to 30g (saving 3t/year)

• RPET (Recycled PET): Since 2021, all our packaging lines use on-site blown bottles containing 25% RPET.

Actions to Reduce Carbon Impact



• Since 2018, optimization of pallets to decrease carbon footprint

• Decarbonization initiative since September 2022 via ISO 50001 certification

Involvement in Eco-Responsibility Initiatives

Quality certifications:

• ISO 50001

• PME+

We are members of the Marne Responsible Leaders Association, which aims to collectively promote CSR practices among companies in Marne.

• 100% of our food suppliers have signed our ethical charter

• 77% of our waste has been recycled

• 97.3/100 IFS BRC