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Its strong sense of commitment has always been part of terre d’Oc’s DNA. We have always been at the forefront of CSR, so we decided to become a company with a mission since July 2021 to include our purpose and pledges in our statutes (filed with the commercial court). We have set up an implementation committee made up of people from outside and inside the company, and whose role is to ensure that terre d'Oc complies with these commitments over the years to come.
We believe that manufacturing and consuming unique products in a different way and abiding by production quality principles and ethics can come together, thus making our society more sustainable. We’ve achieved all this while keeping humans at the heart of our activity, especially women’s commitment and work.
Designing and manufacturing wellness products that are beautiful, good, and healthy, based on an intention to preserve natural resources and biodiversity while developing the organic and fair-trade sectors, and highlighting women’s work all around the world.
Commitment 1
Create responsible wellness products in an eco-design approach while forming a community of consumers in alignment with our purpose.
Commitment 2
Promote bioethical sourcing with local structures by prioritizing small producers’ work in France and throughout the world.
Commitment 3
Preserve our Earth by improving our carbon impact and promoting recycled materials and waste recycling.
Commitment 4
Highlight the talent and women’s work in France and around the world and support them in their endeavours.
Commitment 5
Promote employees’ well-being through an enjoyable working environment, a healthy work-life balance, and by increasing their skills.
From Haute Provence to the rest of the world, terre d'Oc has consistently been a women's adventure from production to marketing with an exceptional expertise in creating and in the sensory world of flavours and scents from the rich and colourful land of Provence. terre d'Oc has been exemplary in terms of certifications since its creation and all our products are 100% organic or natural and we mostly favour, when possible, fair-trade contracts with our suppliers all over the world.
At terre d’Oc, we are striving for a different kind of consumerism. We promote solidary and ethical wealth sharing to give more meaning to the purchase act and place people at the heart of our activity.
Eco-Responsability :
we create and co-create with our consumers Well-Being products that are CSR responsible in an eco-design approach, that respect nature while proposing quality, esthetism and advantages at the right price.
Engagement :
We encourage bio-ethical sourcing in Provence and all over the world working with small producers, if possible fair trade and with all benifiting from our concrete actions (bonus of 5% of annual purchases, technical or material help, medical and school care.
Environemental respect:
We protect our planet Earth by improving our carbon footprint and promoting recycled or reusable materials of our elegant packs and waste recycling.
Goodwill :
One of our fundamental principle is to highlight the work of women in France and all over the world to support them in their projects. We also deeply look after the well-being or our collaborators.
Solidarity :
We give back 1% of our annual turnover to finance projets merging Human being and Nature.
Why enter into a traditional trade relationship when we can do something more meaningful and put the human element at the centre of the act of purchasing?
Because the idea of abandoning "placing profit above all else" for an ethical sharing of the wealth of all the players, is a value that motivates and inspires us.
It is for this reason that the referencing of a new material at terre d’Oc always goes with a search for Organic and fair trade.
Whenever possible, we sign fair and sustainable partnerships, as close as possible to the producers and with no intermediaries.
Through the support of a collective sector, we make it possible to improve living and working conditions with a positive impact on a whole community.
In the countries of the South where we go regularly to source the materials of our products, the producers' warm welcome, the simple and sincere discussions we share, move and inspire us.
Placing the human element at the heart of the product is a contagious value of empathy and well-being every day!
And what does this mean from practical point of view for the producers?
The various bonuses paid to our fair trade partners serve for the well-being of the producers and their uses are decided collectively: dental care, medical examinations, health insurance, scholarships, purchase of eggs and sheep, training, school supplies, building a canteen…
So many little actions to improve evryday life!
100% of our teas are ORGANIC
terre d’Oc regularly builds on European Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 pertaining to the organic production and the labelling of organic products to guarantee the compliance of the teas and herbal teas.
For the flavouring of the teas, we apply European Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 pertaining to flavouring and certain food ingredients which have flavouring properties.
These requirements are entered into the specifications and controlled throughout the supply chain by independent bodies which certify the teas.
We carry out the tracability and the continuity of quality control at all stages from the design of the product to its sale.
Inspection at all levels of manufacture
Focus on Ecocert certification
terre d’Oc has entrusted Ecocert with following-up the meeting of the specifications and the carrying out of inspections.
Thus, every year, two audits on all the production stages of the product are carried out:
• Importing of organic teas,
• Quality control,
• Storage,
• Flavouring,
• Packaging,
• Packaging compliance,
• Communication and sales.
A certification which guarantees the organic quality of our products.
BIOPARTENAIRE is an association that supports its members in the development and maintaining of organic, fair trade or solidairy sectors.
The label is allocated on condition of a universal approach which aims at fair payment of a quality production to keep producers in their activity.
We are convinced that social and economic development go hand in hand with the protection of ecosystems. This approach is based on a long-term contractualisation and on permanent partnership commitment.
The sectors are developped in organic farming to guarantee the durability of the production systems, the autonomy of the producers and human health.
The brand is granted on the respect of the Fair For Life benchmark and is subject to an annual inspection. Currently, three of terre d’Oc's organic and fair trade sectors meet the requirements of the Biopartenaire® approval and other sectors are pending finalisation.
Faced with the consumer society we are living in and which is speeding up, companies have the choice of either following the movement or adopting an "out of context" position based on a will to lead their firm in a different way.
Mindful of social, environmental and ethical preoccupations, from the start terre d’Oc adopted a guideline which governs our acts and choices on a daily basis.
In 2010 we took part in the regional platform on the development of the ISO 26000 standard, and put a name to our practices: corporate social responsibility (CSR). What for us is logical in all our decisions, is an approach to follow and to impose on ourselves for others.
Our products being certified organic and stemming from fair trade raw materials, it naturally led our company to obtaining the CSR certification in 2011. Terre d’Oc took the initiative to subscribe to FOR LIFE in order to self-assess and further improve its activities leading to its current 91.2%-performance rate.
For Life is an international benchmark that guides and assesses companies in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The Fair for Life benchmark for our sectors
Each contributor in the chain is audited and inspected by an independent body every year.
This benchmark provides a guarantee to our fair trade supply sectors. Each entity in the chain is audited by an independent body every year.
Our long-term commitment (a minimum of 3 years) to our partners bears on the will to share wealth fairly: together we calculate the cost price of the raw material and we commit to buying it at 10% more than the price on the conventional market.
We also give a 5% bonus of our purchases to the group or cooperative used to improve the living conditions of the producers according to their needs.
It is under these conditions that we can really claim to have a fair trade approach because it is the foundation of a trade which enables groups or cooperatives to strengthen their collective capacities, reduce costs by pooling tools and making a more decent living from their work.
In addition to this, the credibility given to the raw material by Fair For Life certification adds value and opens other market shares to the product, thus attracting customers who are attached to ethical production values. Each year, our fair-trade product sectors and actions are checked and assessed. In 2021, our performance rate reaches 92.5%.
Committed to going even further, we now also want our ethical approach, which has always been deeply rooted into our DNA, to be known by our customers.
This is why, in 2021, we’ve started to label our products with the Fair-For-Life logo, such as our Vanilla Rooibos tea from our flagship range “Hospitality Teas”. We will continue in this direction and label more of our products’ packs.
terre d'Oc commits to fight against food waste and signs the Too Good To Go pact
A third of our food is wasted. But this waste doesn't only represent discarded food that no one benefits from and ends up in the garbage. It is the work done by farmers, pickers, processors, transport, distribution: it is actually a waste of work and resources (water, energy, soil depletion, labor, waste treatment).
The social and environmental consequences go far beyond what can be imagined and raise ethical questions about access to food for the most deprived and question our consumption patterns! It is for these reasons that Terre d'Oc is committed ...
In two years, Terre d'Oc has distributed more than 2100 baskets and avoided hundreds of kilos of food waste and the emission of more than 5 tons of CO².
It is on the basis that nearly one out of two French people does not distinguish differences between a “DLC date i.e. the best before date” (to be consumed until) and a “DMD date i.e. Date of Minimum Durability” (preferably to be consumed before ...), that the organization of Too Good To Go has launched the Pact on Consumption Dates that aimed at changing expiry dates alongside actors in the food chain.
terre d'Oc is the fiftieth signatory!
The fundamental precept is to better inform the consumer about the dates of consumption. Indeed, difficult to read, difficult to understand and sometimes poorly known, the dates of consumption are responsible for 20% of food waste.
So follow us to reduce this figure together!
“DLC”, i.e. the best before date and “DMD” i.e Date of Minimum Durability: What's the difference?
All our teas have a “DMD date”, i.e. an indicative date after which the product may lose quality but does not pose any health risk.
And then, we trust in everyone instinct!
Whatever the food, do not forget, before consuming a product, to also rely on your instinct! Observe, smell and taste the food before consuming it!
So, ready to join the anti-waste movement?
The principle: you donate 1% of your turnover to finance projects of associations carrying out actions across the globe for a better world, while only 7% of the sums allocated to philanthropy go towards environmental causes.
To date, 6,000 organisations around the world have been seduced by the actions of this club created in 2002, amongst which 1,000 companies in France. Since 2018, we have joined this global movement and financed, through the Nature et Découvertes Foundation, more than 70 educational projects immersed in nature to discover biodiversity, agriculture, market gardening or different natural environments: the forest, the mountains, the ocean...
But our involvement in the “1% For The Planet” is even stronger when it comes to projects carried out by or for women. Indeed, as female creators, we add an additional challenge to our approach: that of taking care of and promoting the talents of women throughout the world, because for us, sustainability goes along with equal opportunities. We believe that by combining their talents, women have the power to create a better world.
That's why every year at the October patrons' gathering, we support our 'favourites' amongst women pitching live: • The construction of a borehole for the women's group in Burkina Faso.
• Training and support for women's entrepreneurship in France through Earthship Sisters led by Déborah Prado.
• The fight of Amandine Renaud, primatologist, to save chimpanzees with "adoption mothers" in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• The accommodation and training in “low tech” of migrant families in Southern France, led by Eko and Marjolaine Bert.
These are some of the projects chosen by our employees and supported during these gatherings, but so many projects deserve our support!
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Earthship sisters, winner in the eco-citizen movements category
The power of women's partnership, a meaningful and resilient project, focused on the environment and the intervention of specialists and leaders, are the ingredients of this association that help promote and speed up women's entrepreneurship. Already 30 "sisters" have been supported in implementing their professional project and expressing their capabilities in the preservation of our planet.
Led by two women, this association enlists and trains a "sisters’ team" each year during training weekends in Southern France, mentoring sessions, a two-week sailing trip in the Mediterranean... to nurture desires to act among citizens, schoolchildren, and women's networks!
Sustainable Development Goals
Adopted by the UN in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) must encourage Countries to commit to actions to fight inequality, adapt to climate change, respect the environment and eradicate extreme poverty.
Pessimists will qualify the programme as being utopian, but we must all join it: public bodies, associations and enterprises, to reduce differences.
The actions are monitored and assessed via 232 indicators in the world to change illegal practices by 2030.
The United Nations Pact
In 2000, Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the UN, launched an appeal to bodies, enterprises of the civil society and the professional world for a common and voluntary commitment where sustainable development is concerned.
Supported by 10 principles of respect for human rights, work standards, environmental protection and the fight against corruption, the member countries transmit every year a Communication on Progress; a document which presents their actions and certifies to the progress achieved.
terre d’Oc joined this virtuous movement in 2009 to structure and develop its corporate social responsibility approach.
Currently, the United Nations Pact now numbers 1300 organisations in France.
Every year in France, investigations make it possible to complete 98 indicators to assess the progress achieved by all the players. terre d’Oc became interested by the SDG in 2017 for the purpose of classifying its CSR actions deployed and bring its contribution on other fields of action in its activity.
Our ethical charter
Whatever the changes taking place in the world, our commitment to maintaining our rules in the matter of business ethics, integrity and respect for individual rights remains unchanged.
Our teams draw from our ethical charter which dictates our values, rights and duties towards our suppliers, customers and stakeholders.
The diversity charter
Why sign the Diversity Charter?
Because we recognize ourselves in these commitments, and also because business diversity is a source of performance: stereotypes and discriminations of all types have no place in the firm. We must apply ethical practices where management is concerned, seek collaborators on skills criteria using practical tests.
We must integrate people in difficulty or with handicaps, adapt workstations to workers' capacities, reconcile private and professional life… A given in the management of human resources!
Our internal ethical charter: trade ethics, guidelines, fight against corruption...
Our guidelines inform our suppliers on our expectations: respect for competition and loyalty, Human rights, transparency, confidentiality, respect for legality, working and environmental conditions, and of course the fight against corruption.
Referencing our organic teas
... These voyages challenge us and make us leave our comfort zone. A return to the "essentials", to better understand our partners, to help and support them, which touches our soul...
Referencing a raw material is a simple act for most firms: all you need is a contact, a few controlled samples and to sign a proper contract.
For some entrepreneurs, the approach is not as simple, especially when it is essential to source the teas and products abroad and at the same time keep certain environmental and social criteria in mind.
We could be satisfied with just sending a questionnaire, ordering a "supplier" audit from an independent consulting firm, reading the conclusions and validating them. This would mean bypassing everything which makes up the essence of our work and our teas: rich encounters, smiles exchanged, conversations with women on their work and their lives which are devoid of anything superfluous.
Our curious minds feed on the discovery of a culture and its rites, and our eyes are filled with these unusual and unique landscapes. Beyond what is given to us so warmly to see, taste, smell and touch.
From an environmental approach to a CSR approach
Once we decide to use organic raw materials out of conviction and to manufacture certified organic products, it makes sense to streamline this approach through a global commitment at the company level: assessing the impacts of our activity on the environment, raising our team’s awareness regarding waste reduction, saving energy, limiting water consumption and trips...
This is the challenge we set ourselves in 2007, using the ISO 14001 standard as a tool, and which certification we obtained in 2009, hence rewarding our group efforts. A project that brings people together and unifies.
This echoes in our team’s strong engagement: in each department someone’s assigned to carry out an action plan and monitor improvements using indicators. In 2022, our company mission pushes us further into overseeing all our projects and actions in relation to social responsibility on the basis of the organisation set up in 2009 regarding the preservation of the environment.
Every year, before the Bureau Véritas audit, we report during a « greening » of all the pilots and make the most of this period to discover an environmentally-linked activity.
Changing our perspective to imagine a different world... the CEC
In 2020, Terre d'Oc has become a member of the Business Convention for Climate Change (CEC in French), which gathers more than 150 female and male leaders representing the French economy, committed to being agents of change by pairing up with their “Planet Champion” to orchestrate the overhaul of their model internally.
Taking the Citizens' Convention main focuses as a starting point and broadening them with topics belonging to the business world, supported by the best scientific and educational experts, transition experts, a guardians committee, external observers and coaches, we are working hand-in-hand to shift lines to create and try out actions that will enable companies to achieve the objectives set by Europe and the Paris Agreements: aiming for a national 55%-decrease of greenhouse gases emission by 2030, while safeguarding our biodiversity and nurturing social equity.
A real joint adventure that takes place in six sessions of 2 days each spread over 8 months, a learning pathway that challenges us, shakes us up and leads us to resolve the dissonance between ecological urgency and economic priorities!
The carbon footprint®
Taken as a tool to assess our activity’s impact on greenhouse gases emission, the carbon footprint® allows us to evaluate the emissions stemming from our activity, based on the company's internal data: energy and water consumption, types and volumes of transport, staff, customer and visitor trips, waste, fixed assets, purchases of materials and products packaging and the impact of products consumption...
A comprehensive review of 2021 to analyse our situation and set ourselves a "climate" roadmap for the impacting sectors. We will then set up actions and reduction targets over several years.
Concrete examples...
Piggyback transport and pallet optimisation
More than 35% of our product shipments to our French customers are made by combined road-rail transport, thus reducing our CO² emissions by 4 tonnes. We use a tool to optimise the filling of boxes and pallets in order to reduce empty transport.
Our business travel
We have seen a decrease in our business travels since 2018, due to our will to work using videoconferencing and to save time on our trips to Paris. The COVID context has sped up this process as trips are done only when necessary and we always favour rail travel outside our area (Southern France).
Transport of goods
For our purchases of tea and endemic raw materials, we only use sea transport. All our post deliveries are carbon offset.
Our waste
In 2020, 72% of our waste was recycled through "material" recycling chains after internal sorting and 5% through energy recovery.
The suppliers
In 2020, 84.3% of our purchases were made in France, 3.7% in Europe and 12% worldwide, and 68% of our raw material purchases were organic.
Our office supplies
41 eco-labelled products are referenced to reduce our environmental footprint (FSC, Blauer Angel, NF, PEFC, Ecolabel...)
The paper
A 20%-reduction of recycled paper reams purchased in 2020 compared to 2018, 5.5 tonnes of paper have been recycled since 2018 and 95% of supplier payments are done online, check payments are down by 62% in 2020...
Individual initiatives
Used cardboard and packing materials are recovered according to size, our suppliers are made aware of the need to reduce packaging, printed information is grouped on a single label...
Ecodesign
Packages in 100% cardboard from managed forests, 0% PVC, respect for the principles of eco-design in all our product developments, display furniture in cardboard or wood, referencing of biosourced and compostable items.
Terre d'Oc occasionally uses a life cycle analysis and comparison tool in order to find out the packaging that will have the least impact on the environment.
The BEE tool (in French: “Bilan Environnemental des Emballages”) offered to CITEO members makes it possible to analyse each item of packaging, from the cap to the label, to the glass, to the transport pallet.
After detailing each material of the articles, this tool reviews the method of extraction, how each article is manufactured, its source, its processing, each stage of transport, up to its end of life. Each package is evaluated and can be compared with another thanks to 6 indicators. This tool helps the design team being critical in its eco-design approach and allows us to launch improvement processes with our suppliers on our packaging.
Energy
Since 2020, Terre d'Oc has financed the production of renewable energy equivalent to its own electricity consumption.
Water
Adjusting our machines, optimising uses and leak tracking all enable a stable consumption along with an increase of our turnover.
A shared organic garden
Growing our organic vegetables in permaculture and getting together in natural surroundings to share a good time!
This is how we can summarize the benefits of our garden which we created a few months ago, after a training in permaculture and the advice of two vegetable growers in the field.
80 m² of vegetables have seen the light under the curious and amused eyes of the staff of whom most are new to gardening.
Clearing, shallow tillage, sowing, planting and the pleasure of harvesting the vegetables right through the summer. A little bit of nature where we can recharge our batteries, learn and produce… together.
