At Buencafé we are aware of our social footprint, that’s why we address several fronts so that our work contributes to development and well-being of all our stakeholders.
As a strategic partner in the territory, Buencafé contributes to development in different aspects:
• Benefits for 540,000 coffee grower families, the main purpose of our work.
• Quality jobs creation.
• Training and work experience.
• Strengthening of the regional and local economy.
Benefits for 540,000 coffee grower families, the main purpose of our work
At Buencafé we work to ensure more significant impacts on stakeholders, particularly the 540,000 Colombian coffee grower families, building local capacities so that these actors are agents of their own development. GRI 103-1
In this social context, we addressed the material topic “Visibility of contribution of resources to coffee growers’ well-being,” which was defined in the stakeholder dialogues, with the need to know in depth how the operation of Buencafé contributes to developing the coffee sector and to well-being of coffee growers and their families.
Given that coffee growers are at the center of our strategy, our mission and vision aim at achieving sustained growth that improves the standard of living of the 540,000 coffee grower families.
For this, we contribute 100% of profits to research and knowledge dissemination programs that increase productivity of coffee growers’ farms through the National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafé) and the Extension Service. GRI 103-1
Quality jobs creation
We have a great human team made up of 430 employees, whom we take care of through programs and investments in wellness spaces, professional and labor growth, and competitive remuneration policies above the market average. GRI 102-35
We achieve this through different mechanisms and processes to determine compensation for all positions in the factory.
Some of them are salary surveys and studies compared to the market behavior and feedback during recruitment with applicants, which we contrast with different salary surveys conducted in the country to monitor how we are versus the market. GRI 102-36, GRI 102-37
Total compensation at Buencafé includes: 73% as fixed compensation, 16% as variable compensation, and 11% as benefits. GRI 102-38, GRI 102-39
At Buencafé we value the experience and career of our workers, being proud to achieve an average job tenure of 11 years.
We are also aware of the importance of nurturing our work teams with young and multicultural talent. To date we have 15% of workers between 18 and 28 years old, with two workers in Japan and China.
At Buencafé, the highest position is held by a woman. The company’s Group of Directors is made up of 3 women and 7 men, of which 90% is human talent from the local community.
Note:
• Buencafé’s labor policy does not provides for half-day work. GRI 102-8.
• Local community refers to the territorial area of influence of the factory, located in the Coffee Triangle.
At Buencafé, we promote equal treatment at work, ensuring the same development opportunities for all and adopting a policy of zero tolerance for discrimination, in any of its forms. We also strive for respect for our workers’ freedoms, including that of free association. GRI 102-41. GRI 102-41. women and 7 men, of which 90% is human talent from the local community.
Labor welfare
To offer quality employment, it is necessary to recognize the 43 importance of families for our workers’ well-being. Thus, at Buencafé we seek to strengthen family cohesion through different sports, integration and recreation activities, which we facilitate over the year at the sports venue.
We also have wellness spaces, such as the restaurant, the sports venue, and enjoyment spaces for our workers.
Buencafé subsidizes 56% of the lunch price. However, during the pandemic (March 2020- september 2021) the benefit rose to 100% for all our workers. The price of dinner for night shift workers is also 100% subsidized. The restaurant is operated by Sodexo, which meets high quality and reputation standards in the market.
The sports venue was built for promoting physical and mental health of all. It has squash, tennis, and soccer-6 courts (the latter, synthetic), a multiple court (basketball/volleyball), Olympic pool, gym, children’s water park, and a 500-meter ecological trail.
To ensure its use, accessible schedules are offered to all work shifts. Admission records show that noon is the most crowded time slot, especially for using the pool.
Since capacity restrictions continued in 2021 due to covid-19, the sports venue registered a total of 5,536 admissions, with a monthly average of 554 people. As a response to this situation, we planned additional virtual activities. In December, for capacity control, services were offered through the booking option.
We have two so-called Un buencafé [A good coffee] spaces, strategically located in the plant and equipped with a vending machine for snacks, water, and coffee.
In 2021, 13 paternity leaves and 1 maternity leave were granted; 100% of the staff continued in their position until completing the leave. GRI 401-3.
Response to the covid-19 pandemic
Buencafé te escucha [Buencafé listens to you] is a program created during the covid-19 pandemic as a response to the need to offer emotional support and accompany the different situations that our workers went through.
We also trained team leaders to identify
signs of vulnerability and
psychosocial risk in the staff.
Vaccination:
Thanks to our commitment to vaccination against covid-19, we achieved that, as of December 31, 2021, 98% of employees had at least the first dose of the vaccine and 65% of our employees were fully vaccinated, exceeding the national and departmental statistics.
Training and work experience
The strategic goal of HR Management is to improve the experience of human resources (and other stakeholders) based on digital transformation by promoting an agile and innovative culture in our work teams.
Comprehensive training and wellness program
This material topic is addressed through the Modelo Trasciende [Trascend Model], which seeks to build skills in our workers through a process of cultural evolution to prepare them for the environment’s changing needs.
We achieve this through two lines of action:
• Technical skills.
• Soft skills.
To develop technical skills, we work on creating
digital tools with training in agile methodologies
such as:
• Scrum.
• Internet of things.
• Data science.
• Data analytics.
• Big data.
• Digital marketing.
For developing soft skills, we provide training in time management, problem solving, handling of difficult conversations, error handling, and prioritization tools, among others.
The Career Plan is aimed at operators, engineering technicians, quality analysts, administrative assistants, and the commercial team, seeking to promote the professional and labor development of the target groups through a route that ensures developing the necessary skills for team leadership.
The Succession Plan aims to develop the necessary skills and knowledge among our workers so that they can hold positions of greater responsibility once vacancies are available. GRI 103-1 GRI 103-2
To assess the effectiveness and assertiveness of these programs, we identify management indicators that are defined in the annual training plan. GRI 103-3
Strengthening of the regional and local economy
Our operation favors the local, regional and national economy, because we prioritize the purchase of Colombian raw materials of high quality. In 2021, our local supply figures (Chinchiná) reached purchases of COP 1.8 billion (USD 480,897).
We closed 2021 with 38 green coffee suppliers and total purchases worth COP 260 billion (USD 69.5 million).
At Buencafé we have in total 1,433 active providers of services, supplies and raw materials, whose production factor is mainly industrial. GRI 102-9
Our suppliers have been vital in our business continuity and strategic partners in maintaining and improving quality of our products. Thanks to their continuous improvement processes, we have also met our sustainability goals.
In 2021, Buencafé did not have significant changes at organizational and/or supply chain level. However, the circumstances of the pandemic required adaptation to new work models and exploring alternatives on packaging suppliers in search of sustainability. GRI 102-10.
Support for local institutions
and foundationsthat work for
the community’s well-being:
San Marcos Hospital of Chinchiná: Support to
provide biosafety supplies in the context of the
pandemic.
Coangel Nursing Home: Support with biosafety items
for 210 elderly people.
Camino de Vida Foundation: Support for vulnerable
population, delivering food to homeless people
isolated due to covid-19.
Nutrir Foundation: 505 Christmas gifts for girls and boys from the Foundation’s five dining rooms.
Dialogues with our stakeholders
Through stakeholder dialogues, we learned that the community in our area of influence wants to know more about our social and environmental initiatives underway.
For this reason, it was proposed, as a material topic, to keep clear and timely communication with stakeholders and implement an open-door channel and visits to the plant. GRI 103-1
To ensure that this initiative does not affect operation of the factory, we did previous assessment for preventing biological and legal risks (covid-19), interruption of work times, and saturation of human talent, among others. However, we seek to build a closer relationship with communities and other stakeholders to publicize Buencafé’s management and results for the good of Colombian coffee growers and the territory.
In 2021, the company created different spaces for interacting with stakeholders and publicizing, in academic and social environments, Buencafé’s work for Colombian coffee growers’ well-being. A proof of this is our determined commitment to stakeholder dialogues to build this first sustainability report under GRI standards. In the next dialogues, effectiveness of management of this material topic will be evaluated. GRI 103-2.GRI 103-3.
Social Results
What were our social challenges and opportunities?
In the context of the pandemic, care of human talent was a priority, and to deal with the social risks of covid-19, we implemented different strategies:
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Permanent availability to all our workers of the main personal protective equipment through a dispensing machine 24 hours a day, thus strengthening also the Occupational Safety Management System.
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Updated biosafety protocols and measures, preventive isolation, and massive testing for covid-19. We rigorously applied epidemiological fences and the corporate PRASS strategy (the acronym in Spanish for Test, Tracking and Selective Sustainable Isolation), which allowed all areas to be in continuous operation.
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Committed to covid-19 vaccination, by the end of the year 98% of our employees had at least the rst vaccine dose, and 65% of employees were fully vaccinated. This gure exceeded the national and departmental statistics. GRI 102-15
Employee training on human rights policies or procedures
We train all staff on human traffcking policies, given that it is a relevant risk in the social context of the factory. GRI 412-2