Tapir Wachswaren GmbH is currently in the process of verifying and communicating its consistently sustainable corporate management through the CSE standard. The company recently had all its products certified in accordance with the NCP product standard from GfaW. In an interview with Managing Director Bodo Rengshausen-Fischbach, we ask exactly which principles are important to Tapir and what the company is currently working on. The interview took place by telephone on March 20 and has been shortened.
What drives Tapir as a company, what is important to you and why have you developed in this ecological niche?
We want to develop, produce and distribute our own ecological care products, alone and completely independently. From the idea to the formulation and our own quality standards, we want to keep everything in our own hands. And so far we have done just that. We are spurred on by the idea that nobody else does what we do. Not that we necessarily want to set a trend. Rather, we have set ourselves certain standards – regardless of any certification. We have never done any of this as greenwashing, just to join in with the ecological trend. Setting our own standards has always been our greatest incentive.
How does this relate to entrepreneurial growth?
We have also been growing in recent years, but organically. That means from our own resources. We are not leveraged at all, but are financed solely by the capital we have generated ourselves. And when I say “we”, I don’t just mean myself as managing partner and founder of the company, but also three long-standing employees who now each hold a 10% stake in the company. It has always been particularly important to us that the key decision-makers in the company, i.e. in production, development and sales, also share in the success and value of the company.
The introduction of ISO 14001 is a prerequisite for CSE certification, have you already introduced the environmental management system standard?
No, apart from NCP recently, we have never done any certification. We thought, if we’re going to do it, then do it properly! We don’t have to completely change direction like a conventional company and fly the ecological flag, even though we have no understanding of what that actually means. We have already gone halfway towards CSE certification in a natural way – even without the CSE guidelines. This is not just about external presentation, but also about internal transparency. Where can each individual do something to make a positive contribution to the overall idea? This is also a sign of appreciation towards the employees: Giving them freedom to make decisions and at the same time involving them in the overall process.
How far along are you in the CSE certification process?
Internally, we have already formed a working group that is working very intensively on this. We have also hired a new employee who is involved in the process. He is a practicing chemical technician but is also largely responsible for the certifications. There are also many important tasks for me as manager. We have already created a structure to evaluate the areas in which we still have to provide information and which employees are entrusted with this. I made it clear from the outset that we only do what makes sense for the employees. It has to make sense to the employees and it is a team task, otherwise it makes no sense anyway.
And what was the feedback from employees?
Nothing should be done with a crowbar. We take the time we need. Everyone should be able to contribute their own area and what is important to them. The goals, instructions and next steps should be logical and comprehensible for everyone. We have also combined the upcoming CSE certification and the associated structures with the introduction of a completely new merchandise management and customer service system. Here we paid attention to transparency of information. This was the first step towards an open discussion. I don’t think it’s enough to see everything at a purely administrative level. In future, we need players who want to actively and independently address certain issues, e.g. what is my list of priorities for my purchasing? Regionality or ecology, which is more important? And the whole thing also needs to be placed in a wider context, e.g. do we require certification of raw materials or not?
You have long been committed to transparency when it comes to your raw materials. Can you say something about this?
This aspect has always been very important to us. We have always declared all ingredients. If the pharmaceutical, food or cosmetics industries declare their ingredients, then we do the same. My impression was that the trade secret was always a protective claim so that we didn’t have to show the customer what was in the products. It is also important to us to maintain trustworthy and long-term partnerships with our suppliers. For the most part, these are also smaller structures. We only buy raw materials, never finished goods or semi-finished products; we always want to do everything ourselves.
Since when have your products been certified according to the NCP standard?
All our products have been NCP certified since last week. It was important to us that all our products meet NCP quality and not just the ones that fit the bill. That’s why we were consistent, even if it was a lot of hard work to gather all the data. For example, we still had to ask some suppliers about their manufacturing processes and there were problems with one or two raw materials.
Do you think that NCP certification will still play a special role in the foreign market?
Absolutely. It was initially a first step for us to say that we are certifying all our products. For various reasons, it seems much more important to me that the entire company is CSE-certified. Firstly, we can give our sales partners and new partners the assurance that all our actions and our raw materials are geared towards sustainability. And not with a label that I think has been invented somewhere – because there are already enough of those – but one that critically scrutinizes. One that is not just superficial, but takes the entire process of the company into account. On the other hand, we have an ecological focus anyway. We could only be certified according to ISO 14001, but the ecological focus is the soul of our company and this should of course also be taken into account in the certification process and label.
Packaging is a hot topic in the organic sector at the moment, what is Tapir’s position on this?
We have never liked plastic packaging and have always avoided it. There is no Tapir product with plastic packaging. For us, tinplate, aluminum or glass are recyclable and high-quality packaging, and we don’t seal anything in plastic film. Only the child safety closures are made of plastic. However, we have never drawn up a material balance sheet or anything similar; avoiding plastic is a basic philosophical attitude. I’m curious to see if anything will change when we take a closer look at the product groups as part of the CSE certification process. But I don’t think we will have to change much here.
Tapir also exports abroad and can even be found in Japan. What does trade mean for Tapir?
It is an important basis for us to export to other countries. With an export quota of over 40%, we can see that the quality of our products is also well received abroad. Japan is at the forefront, but Austria and the Scandinavian countries, as well as many niche and exotic markets, are also good marketplaces for us. When it comes to distribution, we have been working with the same importers for years and decades, who are exclusively authorized to distribute our products. In some cases, friendly relationships have already developed between us. However, we wait until new country representatives approach us and are not actively looking for distribution locations. For example, Amazon is also a sales channel that I don’t want to use. It’s a no-go for our structure, even though some sales partners use this channel and Amazon itself has already asked us about it. You can’t build a long-term, friendly relationship with companies that act like Amazon, we don’t like that and that’s why we don’t do it.
What are your current projects and goals in terms of sustainability?
An important process is that we want to source all natural raw materials in organic quality. We already have organic qualities that we use, but for some raw materials we still need structures and possibly synergies with other companies. At the moment, for example, we have a state-funded sugar cane wax project, where sugar cane wax is extracted from sugar production waste and used for detergents and cleaning agents and possibly for cosmetics. We are working with the University of Straubing on basic analytical data for the quality of the raw material. We are doing the groundwork here and hope that our work will open up a market for an interesting raw material. We are already gaining initial practical experience with the use of sugar cane wax in our products. This may encourage both suppliers and producers to invest in this raw material as an alternative.
At which trade fairs and events can we meet you?
We were at Vivaness two years ago and will probably be there again next year. I also got to know the GfaW there and was very pleased that the CSE certification exists.