Strategi

Strategy

Rudolph Care's sustainability strategy is inspired by the definition of sustainability in the historic '87 Brundtland Report.

We look at our overall activities as a result of,

“…making development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

That is why we say:

Rudolph Care
– since 2009, for generations to come

Sustainability in more than one sense

We are sustainable in the classic sense based on impact on the environment, social considerations and financials.

  • Environmental impact is minimized by always applying for the most stringent environmental certifications – often supplemented by our own even more stringent standards.
  • Social conditions are based on how we affect the local communities in which we purchase our raw materials and the working conditions of local employees.
  • Financial sustainability is basically achieved by Rudolph Care building its business for the long term rather than for fast profit. We invest our profits in profit sharing in the places in which we buy our resources, in the development of Rudolph Care and in a wide range of partnership projects that benefit the environment, people and the climate.

Positive sustainable development takes place at all levels in society as well as in our business which is currently experiencing rapid growth. We therefore expect to have to upgrade our ambitions and strategy further in the coming years.

Sustainable Development Goals

To us, the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the 193 member countries of the UN represent a shared and universal responsibility which therefore also extends to us.

All the UN Sustainable Development Goals deserve attention and action. We have chosen to focus on three goals which are particularly close to our business and especially relevant to us. They work as our indicator when we attempt to ensure that the development of our business is in balance with the generally defined goals for global sustainable development.

Rudolph Care works actively on:

  • Sustainable Development Goal No. 3 Good Health and Well-being.
    By only offering products that do not expose the consumer to harmful chemicals. This is based on a philosophy that caring for our bodies and minds is an important prerequisite for being able to care for others.
  • Sustainable Development Goal No. 12 Responsible Consumption and Production.
    By sustainable and efficient use of natural resources and by reducing waste in the form of prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
  • Sustainable Development Goal no. 15 Life on Land.
    By sustainable use of nature by prioritizing documented certified resources that are not based on negative intervention in existing ecosystems.

Support

As a sustainable business and active member of the B Corp movement, we’re committed to using our business as a force for good. Our saying is Since 2009 for generations to come, which is why we support selected organizations, nationally and internationally, who identify with the same SDGs as us, share our values and reflect our care for people, nature and the future generations.

Internationally, we currently support a specific project in our value chain that is to improve the conditions and facilities of our partners, their families and the local village in Brazil from where the açai berries are harvested. It’s a project you can read more about further down this page.

We’re working on establishing more international value chain projects.

We support and collaborate with the following Danish organizations around specific activities and projects.

  • LGBT+ Denmark works actively for a better world with equal opportunities and enhanced well-being for all, irrespective of gender identity and sexuality – locally, nationally and globally. Rudolph Care supports LGBT+ Denmark with their youth projects.

    ”… With support from Rudolph Care, LGBT+ Denmark can improve the wellbeing of young LGBT+ people in Denmark. Many LGBT+ youths feel alone with their thoughts on gender and sexual orientation, which makes it crucial to provide a safe space and a community where youths can be exactly who they want to be and meet others who are in similar situations. Rudolph Care takes part in making all of this possible.” - Susanne Branner Jespersen, Executive Secretary of LGBT+ Denmark
  • Save the Children helps vulnerable children to a better future, urgently and on long-term basis. For a family of children with limited resources and network, Christmas time can be a tough challenge. In 2019, numbers from The Economic Council of the Labor Movement revealed that 59.700 children were of poverty-stricken families. That’s 59.700 children struggling with adult concerns with less possibilities when growing up. Rudolph Care’s founder, Andrea Elisabeth Rudolph, is a Save the Children ambassador, and Rudolph Care supports Save the Children annually. The funds are dedicated to supporting vulnerable children in Denmark, arranging trips, experiences and holiday memories – all year round.

  • We need nature. The Danish Society of Nature Conservation fights for greater biodiversity and more nature in Denmark. Rudolph Care supports the project Sommerfuglejagten (The Butterfly Hunt). Swirling butterflies is a healthy sign in nature, but do you know the difference between the species? With the app from The Danish Society of Nature Conservation called Sommerfuglejagten (The Butterfly Hunt) you can get acquainted with the 73 day-butterflies and help register them. The goal is to engage more Danes in nature, and nonetheless to collect data that can strengthen nature initiatives around butterflies and other animals and plants. By enhancing the mapping and development of Denmark’s butterflies across the country, we’re strengthening the biodiversity and a multifarious plant life in Denmark.

  • The Soulfuls Community, Mentorship & Consultancy. Our founder, Andrea Elisabeth Rudolph, met social entrepreneur, belonging & inclusion advocate Aram Ostadian-Binai during Fall 2022 Elle Awards, where both were nominated. Aram won the title 'Voice of the Year 2022' for her inspiring work with the organization, The Soulfuls, a non-profit organization offering mentorship and guidance for young women of all backgrounds with a mission to pave the way for a free, fair and inclusive future.

    In 2023 Rudolph Care's will support for The Soulfuls mentorship program including both financial contributions and mentorship opportunities. By donating to the program, Rudolph Care helps to ensure that the program can continue to offer valuable resources and opportunities to young people who might not otherwise have access to them.

    In September 2022, Rudolph Care supported the art exhibition Women Life Freedom - Art Exhibition created by Aram to highlight Iranian artists and the messages of the women-led revolution currently taking place in Iran.

    Read more about The Soulfuls here.

Founder and owner of Rudolph Care, Andrea Elisabeth Rudolph, has raised DKK 1.400.000 for the Danish Cancer Society. She has also co-hosted the TV2 & Danish Cancer Society ’Knæk Cancer’ tv show that raised DKK 169.848.989 for research, prevention and support for patients with cancer.

Products

Rudolph Care creates exclusive, certified beauty products that prioritize sustainability as a crucial part of our care for both people and the environment. We view our certifications as the minimum requirements we make of our products and work continuously to increase sustainability in all elements of our processes and products.

  • Currently, the majority of our beauty products are certified with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and the organic COSMOS Organic label. The double certification is a guarantee that all products live up to stringent requirements for environmental as well as personal health for the consumer in terms of everything from raw ingredients, growing, processing and production to working conditions and packaging.
  • By far the majority of our beauty products also carry the Vegan Trademark. With the exception of a few products that contain beeswax and honey.
  • All our products for children are allergy-certified with the international AllergyCertified label. This means that these products contain no known allergens or allergenic preservatives. Our Mommy & Me range is certified with the Asthma-Allergy Nordic label, ‘the blue wreath’, which sets stringent standards to ensure that substances that frequently trigger allergies in a wide range of people are not found in the certified products.
  • Our towel, Beach Buddy Towel, is GOTS-certified. GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is a globally recognized standard for organic fibers, including independent certification of the entire supply chain from harvest to final product. When we produce tote bags, they’re either made from 100% recycled textile or GOTS-certified textile. Therefore you will also find the GOTS label in several variants of our totes.
  • None of our beauty products contain any of the 26 fragrance allergens that the EU recommends we avoid.

Social projects

At Rudolph Care, we are very conscious of the fact that we are a manufacturing company and, as such, have a responsibility both to the environment and to people. That is why we focus (in addition to our work on the development of environmentally friendly products and packaging) on ensuring that the people handling the harvesting and processing of our raw ingredients work under the best conditions possible. We work on the basis of the principles of the ABS Protocol (also called the Nagoya Protocol). In practice, this means that we purchase our raw ingredients in places where people benefit directly from our business – often in addition to their immediate financial income from sales, e.g. in the form of profit sharing.

For example, our connections in Brazil are about much more than the purchase of açai and the country’s natural resources in general. We enjoy a personal partnership with a closely-knit group of local families who pick the açai berries.

Since 2019, we’ve worked on establishing local projects with the people in the village of Nazarezinho do Meruú and the aid organization Instituto Beraca.

The projects are as follows:

  • The establishment of a plant nursery and kitchen garden. The kitchen garden is situated in relation to the local school EMEIF São Sebastião and aims to improve nutrition at the school, teaching students how to sort waste, compost and grow vegetables with great respect for traditional, local cultivation varieties and methods. At the request of the local population, an additional separate plant nursery of 500 m2 will be established. The nursery has the capacity to grow approx. 20,000 - 30,000 seedlings annually. Local plant varieties that strengthen biodiversity will be cultivated, providing the community with the opportunity to gain an entirely new source of income through the sale of indigenous Brazilian plant varieties.
  • The renovation of the local school EMEIF São Sebastião’s facilities to create functional rooms and basic equipment in the daily educational activities as this is crucial elements of the pupils’ learning. The school is, among other, in need of fans, desks and clean water supply.
  • The establishment of a project focusing on biodiversity and forest restoration where the açai berries are harvested. The project aims to strengthen biodiversity and preserve and create robust ecosystems in the Amazon that we love.

Our business

Rudolph Care believes that it is important to generate a balance between purpose and profit.

  • We create excellent, environmentally friendly, exclusive quality products. We also want to create a better world. One of our basic values is that we always conduct ourselves professionally in everything we commit to. This includes running a transparent, legal and socially responsible business.
  • Good business practice is also about documentation. That is why we use certification agencies to ensure that our natural raw ingredients are in fact organic.
  • We comply with legislation in Denmark as well as in the countries with which we trade. We dissociate ourselves completely from all forms of bribery and dishonest agreements.
  • We prioritize transparency in our supply chain highly and work continuously to document where and how our raw ingredients are grown, harvested and processed.
  • Good business practice is also about Rudolph Care as a workplace. About giving employees continuous opportunities for development, further training, job rotation, leave, health insurance etc. One example that currently makes Rudolph Care an attractive workplace is our extended maternity leave scheme which gives employees one year’s paid maternity leave.

Business partners

Rudolph Care is based on excellent relationships. We are in close contact with a wide range of operators and prioritize forging warm bonds with important business partners very highly.

We find it natural to support organizations that are fighting actively for a better environment and climate. For example, we support Plastic Change in their efforts to reduce the use of plastic. We are working with designer Mads Nørgaard and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation to launch a waste collection scheme in 2022 where businesses will be mobilizing dealers and customers in a major campaign across industries.

Rudolph Care annually reassesses the organizations we wish to support and/or work with. Our aim every year is to partner with a major Danish organization working for a cleaner natural environment and a better climate or programmes for children, young people or the socially vulnerable.

Packaging

At Rudolph Care, we use clean materials for packaging. Our packaging consists of plastic, cardboard and glass.

  • We recognize that glass can be the best alternative in many scenarios, even though it is heavy to transport and is energy-intensive to produce. Its overall environmental footprint is, however, slightly offset by the fact that especially in the Nordic countries, but also in our future growth markets we currently have good, efficient schemes in place for the recycling and reuse of glass.
  • We only use clean types of plastic (PE, PP and PET) that can all be recycled when they are correctly separated. In addition to clean types of plastic, we only use packaging that does not emit harmful chemicals into the product itself which may affect the user and the environment. At Rudolph Care, we have chosen to focus on alternatives to fossil plastics as fossil plastics represent an environmental and climate-related challenge. Until we have found or developed an alternative to packaging based on fossil plastic, we will continue to increase our packaging’s content of reused plastic as much as possible.
  • When it comes to our use of cardboard and paper, we currently only use recycled materials. We are also looking at the possibility of using C2C-certified paper and cardboard in the future.