Melitta Group Annual Report 2023

Time and again throughout our long company history, we have recognized that the key to success is to focus on people and their needs. We believe that this focus will become even more important in the future and is an essential part of Next Entrepreneurship. In the coming years, we will therefore align our ideas and actions even more firmly with societal needs and our commitment to being part of a society for which we want to create added value.

This not only applies to the products and services we offer, but also to the way we do business. Our responsibility does not end when we sell a product. More than ever, the focus is on processes. We are learning to understand many systems anew and, above all, what far-reaching effects they have. And how we can and must use our skills to achieve the desired wide-ranging effects.

Like many other companies, we are currently in the midst of an unprecedented transformation process. Global events and trends require us to be more responsive, but also more sensitive and predictive in order to safeguard our supply chains – and thus our business model. At the same time, we need to analyze vast amounts of data in order to make our medium and long-term investment decisions.

The future is no longer planned on the drawing board. We are constantly shaping it – and at full speed. “Learning by doing” and “trial and error” have become the cornerstones of our approach.

More than ever before, entrepreneurship requires an ability to adapt to changing dynamics and intensities, to focus and to act quickly – while at the same time maintaining sufficient composure within the whirlwind to avoid making rash decisions. We have to (learn to) deal with ambiguity and ambivalence and not get lost in it. This poses new challenges for managers and entrepreneurs.

There is no doubt that the “here and now” presents us with many challenges. The concerns and needs of the people in and around our organization are real. But for those with an entrepreneurial spirit, a transformation such as the one we are currently experiencing and helping to shape is also a tremendous opportunity. And one we intend to seize.

Our current approach to strategy is one of constant reflection and readjustment. Strategy needs a framework, but this framework must also be flexible and adaptable. Rigid, inviolable, and long-lasting structures are a thing of the past. Understanding the world in all its complexity and being able to act within this complexity – this has to be the goal of an impact-oriented strategy.

Permanent reflection is essential for building resilient value chains and networks in order to be able to react to sudden changes, breakthroughs, disruptions, or opportunities. Adaptability and the constant monitoring and assessment of change processes are therefore the essential ingredients of Next Entrepreneurship.

We want to help pave the way from a consumer society to a meaningful society, while preserving and promoting an intact environment in harmony with people’s well-being. We want a world in which an ecologically meaningful way of living and working becomes a self-evident and collective reality.

We have therefore aligned our corporate identity, our structures and processes, as well as all supply chains and our entire portfolio of products and services, with the strategic dimensions “Regenerative Value Creation”, “Work Culture”, and “Social Business”.

It goes without saying that our aim as a company is to always be relevant to people. For this to be true, we know that we must dedicate all our efforts to meeting the needs and demands of modern consumers while doing everything we can to preserve our living environment.

We are therefore working on the further development of our corporate strategy, in which sustainability requirements are systematically integrated. This is being done holistically in all areas of our organization – from Group level to the operating divisions and our brands. The focus here is on the evolution of our product portfolio and our production processes.

Companies are living systems. They are a construct of people who interact with one another. This creates a culture and a mindset that are decisive for how and, above all, how quickly the transformation can succeed.

We therefore believe that the way we treat each other, what we are passionate about, and how we are organized are key aspects of corporate management. Every day, we have to assess how much freedom and delegation of responsibility inspires us – or burdens us. And how much guidance and support are welcome and helpful – or restrict and slow us down.

For us, sustainable transformation is therefore closely linked to cultural change, at the heart of which lies future-compliant entrepreneurship. We want as many employees as possible to recognize the need for a sustainable business approach and to take responsibility for driving change in their particular field of activity. After all, we can only achieve the pace we are targeting with a combination of top-down and bottom-up stimuli – and if we all pull together.

Developing an understanding of systems and the relationships between them

In our increasingly networked world, systemic thinking is not an option, but a necessity. It requires us to think beyond traditional silos and develop holistic solutions that have a long-term positive impact on companies, society, and the environment. This is undoubtedly a tall order – after all, systemic thinking necessitates a radical reassessment.

It requires an understanding of how systems are structured, how they work, and how they – or their constituent parts – influence each other. This is the only way to recognize and accurately interpret development momentum in order to make informed business decisions.

This applies in particular to our value creation processes. If we want to operate sustainably, we need to analyze how these processes are networked within themselves and with each other. How they are influenced and what effects they have.

This is why we are analyzing our value chains so carefully. In our coffee business, it enables us to identify challenges and opportunities, interactions, and potential approaches. It starts with coffee cultivation and extends to the recycling of coffee grounds. The same applies to our plastic, pulp, and electrical appliance value chains: in-depth analysis of these value chains reveals the impact of our actions, or lack of action, and whether we can actually make a difference. Much of what we want to do requires not only innovation and a desire for change, but also collaboration and co-creation so that regenerative value creation, a circular economy, and fairly distributed prosperity can flourish.

We believe that the health of our planet and its inhabitants are inextricably linked. Our aim is therefore to help shape an economic system that maintains and promotes the resilience of ecological systems. Production processes and product cycles that are 100% circular are central to this endeavor. We therefore intend to promote their development and implement them as quickly and systematically as possible in our value creation processes. In doing so, we will focus on renewable energy sources, regenerative agriculture and resource utilization, as well as the circular economy. We attach great importance to green tech: innovative technologies that prevent or reduce environmental harm from the outset or remedy damage that has already been done. Our approach for all our value creation processes is: ReDesign – ReCycle – ReUse – ReDuce.

All our actions are based on appreciation and respect – for people and the environment. We strive to uphold this principle each and every day – both within our Group and in our value chains and their environment. This is because we are convinced that long-term success is only possible in tandem with appreciation and respect, thus ensuring our license to operate. A comprehensive transformation requires diversity, co-creation, and empowerment. We therefore want to create a fertile breeding ground for innovative learning and the sharing of knowledge and experience. We want to educate and empower, while generating a networked culture of inspiration, creativity, and inventiveness that will enable us to unleash our individual and collective potential.

At the same time, we want to empower employees to think and act like owners – with a Next Entrepreneurship approach – and create sufficient space for them to achieve this. We are promoting collaboration – both within the Group and with external parties – and strengthening our adaptability. After all, we believe that close collaboration, a common quest for solutions, and fluid organizational structures are the only way to answer the major questions of our time.

As a globally active group of companies, we see ourselves as part of a global network, a global community, and as an impact-oriented organization. We want to take responsibility – also beyond our core business – and play our part in making people’s everyday lives easier and better. We are convinced that actions based on fairness and trust will increasingly determine the success of a business model.

For our part, we have decided that the social business concept will become an increasingly integral component of our business model. In its purest form, this concept involves reinvesting profits in the company, its supply chains, and/or its environment. We have already launched our first social business initiatives – and more will follow.

Together with our partners, we want to help solve the world’s social and environmental problems and to improve the living conditions of all stakeholders in a way that ensures long-term prosperity, human dignity, and social justice.

We aim to link ecological and economic processes, especially in developing and emerging countries, and to drive those technical innovation processes and infrastructures that deliver both positive environmental outcomes and economic benefits. The aim is to enable people to lead an affordable and dignified life.