Consumers' interest in corporate responsibility, the origin of products, product safety and production methods, has grown markedly in recent years. Young people in particular are active in seeking information on these subjects. However, these changes are slow to affect real consumption habits and, for example, consumption of certified coffee has remained modest.

Consumers consider Paulig to be one of Finland's most responsible companies. In an annual survey of companies' reputations and corporate responsibility (TNS Gallup), Paulig took first place last year in the section for food industry companies. Paulig placed second overall in the survey.

According to the results of a survey of stakeholders carried out at the turn of the year 2013-2014, consumers want more information from Paulig about such things as conditions for coffee producers and conditions in the countries of origin. Paulig has been active in developing its communications and opportunities for interaction with consumers, especially in the channels of the social media. Paulig wants to inspire its employees to talk about their work and their subjects of interest in various channels, and training sessions to support this were held last year. Coffee purchasers have talked about their procurement missions, both on websites and on Instagram. The social media are also in use for recruiting new employees for teams, and for instance fashion bloggers in social media were invited to take part in updating Paula's costume.

Challenging targets for responsibility

As a trusted brand firm, we want to constantly enhance the responsibility of our products. The aim of the Sustainable Coffee responsibility programme started at Paulig in 2013 is for all of Paulig's procurements of both green coffee and packagings to meet the responsibility criteria set for them by the end of 2018. An important stage was achieved as part of the programme when all the Paulig Professional coffees intended for professional use as well as part of the retail-trade coffee products can now be delivered in aluminium-free laminate packages. Thinner materials reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, and aluminium-free packages can be disposed of as energy waste. This has been an important wish from customers and consumers, and the first steps have now been taken towards realising it. All of Paulig's packages will be made aluminium-free in stages.

A year of celebrations

In 2014, Paulig's prestigious coffee brands Juhla Mokka and Paulig Presidentti both reached the age of 85 years. Juhla Mokka invited coffee-lovers to take part in the anniversary in many ways. In the Back to the Moments photography campaign, internationally high-profile photographer Irina Werning visited Finland and inspired Finns to revisit their photographic moments from years past. Also, the Provincial Flavour Partners tour and Coffee Bee inspired coffee-lovers to take part in the jubilee year. Presidentti celebrated the anniversary on the LAB coffee channel and by launching the third blend in the vintage coffee series, Presidentti Special Blend 2014, a limited edition of which hit the shops in May.

Things are also moving in other product categories. Cupsolo got five new flavours and the coffee capsule set was augmented with the Cupsolo Lattensia appliance. Another coffee-lovers' wish was granted when lactose-free Frezza Forte hit the shops. In Russia, the Paulig Arabica and Paulig Extra product families were given new package sizes. The packaging for Paulig Mokka was also updated. On the out-of-home coffee front, the new items in 2014 were Fazer Blend, Traditional Espresso and Selected Vending coffee. No new certified products were launched during the past year.

The growing trend for small roasteries was responded to in 2014 by the acquisition of the Robert Paulig small roastery and Robert Paulig coffee brands.

Paulig listens actively to consumers' wishes through regular surveys, testing, the consumer service, and through the social media channels, as well as closely monitoring the trend for different product brands. The Paulig brands' recognition profile stayed strong in the main markets, rising sharply in Latvia. With an eye to young people's wishes in particular, a revamp of the Brazil blend was initiated, and to provide a basis for this broad-based consumer surveys and flavour tests were carried out. The updated Brazil was launched in spring 2015.

Consumers interested in environmental aspects of packaging

Responsibility-related themes became one of the most frequent lines of enquiries for Paulig's consumer service in 2014. Questions particularly focused on disposal and recycling of coffee packages. In addition to phone service, consumer service has increasingly in recent years also gone over to the social media, where questions and answers are available to a considerably wider audience. In 2014, another new channel was adopted, the customer service blog. Blog articles cover questions that exercise consumers, often anticipating them.

In 2014, consumer service in Finland received a total of 4,896 enquiries. In Russia, there were 1,007 enquiries, a considerable increase on the previous year. Most contacts were by phone but use of the social media channels has increased also in Russia.

The Vuosaari roastery was visited by a total of 19 groups of consumers. On addition to these, groups of customers and partners were given tours of the premises.

Product safety

In 2014, the ISO 22000 product safety management system at the Vuosaari and Tver roasteries was replaced with the more comprehensive FSSC 22000 system, which also received certification.

A total of 1,947 communications concerning coffee products were received. Of these, 656 were examined in the coffee laboratory and in production. The number of product complaints concerning roasted coffee was 14 per million kilos of coffee in Vuosaari and 3.7 in Tver. The number of complaints were down on the previous year, and the improvement was particularly striking in Tver (11.6 in 2013).

 

Year 2014 in figures