Sustainability and the environment

It’s not common to find a family owned and run businesses in its fourth generation. We are one such business – and proud of it.

Only those who actively confront change and put sustainability at the top of the agenda can achieve such a long tradition. For us, this means thinking long term and reaching agreements that focus on the future. In the end, we want to continue adding new chapters to our company’s history and to leave a successful company behind for future generations of owners and employees.

Social responsibility is becoming increasingly important in society and also in industrial companies. At STAUB & CO. – SILBERMANN, too, sustainability and intelligent change are firmly anchored in the company guidelines. 

EcoVadis is one of the leading providers of sustainability assessments for businesses. STAUB & CO. – SILBERMANN was assessed in the following areas:

• Environment
• Labor law and human rights
• Ethics
• Sustainable procurement 

The findings are compiled on a scorecard and are regularly reviewed. This scorecard can be accessed by all business partners through the EcoVadis platform who are customers of EcoVadis.

StauBEE and SilBEE are two bees from the BrainyBEE hive. They have swarmed out in search for new sources of pollen and nectar, and have found a beautiful new home in Gablingen. Between tall trees, with a picturesque view of green fields and meadows, they have made their home in three multifamily dwellings.

The BrainyBEEs are an enormous family that sticks together through thick and thin. They all rely on one another. They are a hardworking hive that keeps on producing from morning until night. The large family is highly specialized and produces only one product: honey. Sweet, golden honey – in food-grade quality, of course. After all, the bees want to eat this delicious stuff.

To make their honey, the bees are kept busy with various tasks. Scout bees, for example, look for places to feed. StauBEE can always be found right at the front. After all, he is the one with the eagle eyes.
Once they have found an “all you can eat” restaurant, they send the field workers there. These fly tirelessly from flower to flower, gather pollen and nectar, and bring it all home to the hive. The activity around the bee hives is not unlike Munich Airport. Luckily, the BrainyBEEs already have their third runway!

The hive workers also have a wide range of responsibilities: While some of them ensure an optimal climate, the others look after the hive nursery or train the junior workers. And the builder bees have their hands full with keeping the hive shipshape as well as with making it bigger.

One of the most important tasks, however, is processing the nectar brought home by the field workers. The production process is laborious and is performed by the simplest of means: The worker bees pass the nectar from one proboscis to another, until it finally arrives in the honey cells. To outsiders, a honeycomb may look like pure chaos, but in reality the bees work with the utmost precision. They move the honey several times, until the end product has the desired consistency and storage life. When SilBEE in quality assurance gives the green light, the lid goes on and is sealed shut. That’s another job for the builder bees.

The BrainyBEEs are seasonal workers. Since their production system is highly weather-dependent, they labor away like champs from spring to autumn. When the days get shorter and the temperature drops – that is, when it gets unlivable outside – the bees power down their production. They spend most of their time in the hive until they eventually stop flying altogether. At this time of year there is nowhere for them to feed and their wings are at risk of freezing.

The bees live on their stored supplies during the winter. But on the first warm days of spring, the BrainyBEEs start to venture out again. What’s more, they will need to restock their empty honey supply. And in keeping with “the circle of life,” they carry on doing what they do best: making sweet, golden honey.