Reporting & compliance

Transparency that builds trust

Statutory and internal rules shape the corporate principles of Tchibo Coffee Service. This lived compliance culture builds trust among our employees, business partners and customers. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are core corporate values that flow into every area of the business. Below you will find information about our sustainable responsibility.

Policies & commitments (downloads)

• Code of Conduct (English)
• Policy statement on respect for human rights (English)
• Supplier Code of Conduct (Romanian)
• Supplier Code of Conduct (English)
• Rules of procedure for human rights and environmental complaints (English)
• Tchibo Sustainability Report 2022/2023 (English)
• Waste prevention and reduction programme (Romanian)
• Annual food waste reduction plan (Romanian)

Compliance at Tchibo Coffee Service

More than 70 years ago, Max and Ingeburg Herz laid the foundation for the Tchibo success story. Their conviction: we must take responsibility and act responsibly. Their principles shape the Tchibo culture to this day and form the core of the brand. Compliance with statutory and internal rules is an integral part of our corporate principles and culture and the basis of the trust placed in us by our employees, our customers and our business partners. For Tchibo Coffee Service, compliance means ensuring that all employees adhere to applicable regulations and internal rules.

Code of Conduct

Responsibility is of central importance to us – both for us as a company and for all employees. Our Code of Conduct, Tchibo's code of behaviour, sets out our standards in a binding way and provides guidance for all Tchibo Coffee Service employees worldwide. The Tchibo Coffee Service Code of Conduct contains 13 fundamental rules on how we work together and deal with business partners. Tchibo Coffee Service employees worldwide are committed to ethical business practices, fair conduct and full compliance with all laws.

Whistleblowing system

To preserve our integrity and live up to our voluntary commitments, we want and need to learn about violations of the law and non-compliance with the commitments we have voluntarily entered into. This enables us to counter compliance violations and thereby look after our company, our employees, our customers and the people working along the entire supply chain. Our digital whistleblowing system BKMS is a protected, secure and independent reporting channel for our employees as well as for our customers, suppliers, business partners and other external stakeholders. The platform is available around the clock.

Access the digital BKMS whistleblowing portal here: https://www.bkms-system.com/tchibo-coffeeservice

Further information on the whistleblowing process:

You can use our digital whistleblowing system to report your own or others' misconduct and violations of statutory regulations or internal company rules. Reports may relate, for example, to

• corruption, conflicts of interest
• unfair competition, antitrust violations
• fraud, breach of trust, embezzlement, theft, etc.
• money laundering, terrorist financing
• data protection violations
• violations of social standards or labour laws
• human rights or environmental violations in the supply chain
• other violations of internal policies or applicable law.

Reports can be submitted anonymously. As long as you do not enter any data that would allow conclusions to be drawn about your identity, your anonymity is technically protected by the digital whistleblowing portal. In this case we recommend setting up a protected mailbox so that the case handlers can contact you with follow-up questions and give you feedback.

Reports are forwarded by BKMS to the Compliance Committee, which manages their handling. Depending on the content of a report, further specialist departments are involved (e.g. data protection). Every report is followed up. All reports are treated in strict confidence. Reports concerning Tchibo Coffee Service subsidiaries are forwarded – depending on local requirements – directly by BKMS or by the Compliance Committee to the body responsible for handling them locally.

All incoming reports are reviewed and processed by trained, independent staff. If you have set up a mailbox in the BKMS system, you will promptly receive confirmation that your report has reached us. The person handling your report may also contact you with further questions about the matter.

We follow up every report we receive. The confidential treatment of the report is our top priority, which is why we limit the number of people involved in the investigation to the absolute minimum. If our investigation confirms that a compliance violation has occurred, we take appropriate follow-up measures. Where required, we pass on the information you have reported to government authorities.

If you have set up a protected mailbox or given us other contact details, we will give you feedback on the outcome of our investigations. Please understand that we cannot disclose details of the outcome, as we must also protect the personal rights of the accused persons.

Your protection begins with limiting the circle of people entrusted with handling the report to the absolute minimum. Retaliation against people who report compliance violations to the best of their knowledge is prohibited. If you have reason to believe that you are suffering disadvantages or penalties because of your report, please let us know via our whistleblowing system. However, if you knowingly submit false or misleading reports, you must expect consequences.