Roeper intern

Together with our contract supplier for Carnauba Wax, Pontes, as well as a partner company from the US, Roeper has initiated a sustainability project in the Northeast of Brazil, in Santa Rita, Maranhão.
This project aims to further a positive, sustainable change in the village, which is situated in one of the poorest areas of Brazil – for the good of the people of Santa Rita. It focusses on several aspects: quality education for the children of Santa Rita, environmental education and professional training for a sustainable Carnauba Wax supply chain, professional training for youth and adults. The community’s women were invited into a professional handicraft program on weaving baskets from dried Carnaubapalm leaves. A similar training program was initiated on beekeeping. These activities allow participants to craft products to sell on local markets, which is a leverage for economical development. The project also established a football school, which does not only offer leisure activities for the children of Santa Rita, but also led to greater solidarity among the whole population of the community. The various aspects of the project reflect the UN sustainability goals: quality education, gender equality, reduced inequalities, climate aspects and decent work. 
We recently visited Santa Rita and was stunned to see how much changed to the better within the community. It was clear to see that the project achieved so much for the good of the Santa Rita people. We are proud to be part of the Santa Rita project and excited to see the hope for a better life that is now tangible in Santa Rita.

In August, our managing director Joern Herrmann once again visited the bee pasture on the isle of Fehmarn (in the Baltic Sea) that Roeper has been supporting with a donation for several years now. Joern even had a chance to take a sightseeing flight in a small plane to take a look at the “Roeper” lettering the local farmer planted this year. If you are interested in a video of the flight please have a look at our homepage!

A bee pasture is a strip of meadow adjoining agricultural areas where crops valuable for pollinators such as bumble bees, wild bees, butterflies and other insects are planted to provide nutrition from sprint to fall and thus ultimately increasing their population. Such planting also provides a place of refuge and hibernation possibilities not only for insects, but also for birds and small animals such as field hamsters and small game. Bee pastures encourage biological diversity and species protection. During the last couple of years, there have been more and more initiatives to cultivate such bee pastures, which are not only pretty to look at, but a true contribution to nature protection.

Our contract supplier for Carnauba Wax from Brazil, PONTES Industria de Cera Ltda., has been dedicated to achieve goals like quality education, gender equality, reduced inequalities, climate aspects and decent work within its company and supply chain. For this commitment, Pontes has now received an award from the UN.
As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call for companies around the world to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption.
The UN Global Compact - Rede Brasil recognised the good practices of companies participating in the Human Rights Movements of the Institute's strategy for the Ambition 2030. The recognition took place on Thursday 14th during a parallel event at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the world's main forum for negotiating and monitoring international commitments on women's human rights. Other companies such as Unilever, Nestlé and Ambev have also been awarded.
Pontes was awarded for “Support for women's entrepreneurship through supply chains and marketing, with the implementation of business development practices that empower women.”
It is with great joy that we congratulate our friends from Pontes on this well-deserved award!

Roeper is now a member of Sedex (Supplier Ehtical Data Exchange)!
Sedex is a membership organization for companies committed to continuous improvement of ethical behavior in their supply chain. The internationally recognized database platform enables the ethical management of supply chains and thus makes an important contribution to greater transparency around issues such as workers' rights, health and safety, the environment or business ethics.
SEDEX is thus an online platform that serves the transparent exchange of information on the social and ethical sustainability of companies.
By becoming a member of SEDEX, we demonstrate to our customers and partners that we operate according to ethical, social and sustainable principles, thus contributing to the improvement of ethically responsible business practices along the entire value chain.

A fun outing with the kids such as a visit to the zoo can be a financial challenge for many families. Roeper was able to help make this visit happen for the kids of class 3d of elementary school "Grundschule Eulenkrugstrasse", who thoroughly enjoyed this special day! And we were rewarded with a whole bunch of wonderful drawings from the children.