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Cargo is committed
Our mission: To develop and distribute useful, appealing and high-quality products to enhance everyone's daily lives while limiting our impact on the environment and maintaining an awareness of our role in society.
Consumers are increasingly expressing their need to live in a more ethical society, one that consumes more mindfully and in a more sustainable way. We share this vision, and this is why we've decided to integrate the concepts of environmental and social impacts into everything we do through the setting of ambitious CSR commitments centered around four pillars aligned with our business:
Our four CSR pillars
Our
products
- Controlling product life cycles
- Bringing products to market that are compliant and safe
- Providing labeled products using responsible materials
- Selling functional and sustainable products
Our
environment
- Reducing waste and controlling its flow within our operations
- Limiting pollution on the production and transportation side
- Reducing energy consumption within our operations
RSE environnement
Our
Employees
- Being a responsible employer who's committed to the region
- Being an ethical and supportive employer
- Providing a suitable work environment and conditions for employees
- Managing skills and encouraging professional growth
Our
suppliers
- Drawing from a pool of reliable and reputable suppliers
- Understanding, auditing and controlling our production line
- Implementing responsible purchasing and service delivery practices
RSE collaborateurs
RSE fournisseurs
Our
products
Compliant and safe products
We pay great attention to the products from our subsidiaries. Compliance with standards is rigorously controlled by independent laboratories. However, a standard does not guarantee that a product will properly function or that it will last over time.
By creating Cargolab, our in-house test lab, we wanted to take it a step further by conducting our own functionality and durability tests.
Cargolab assists subsidiaries in defining their product offerings through decision support for sourcing and purchasing, along with an analysis of possible anomalies as reported by customers, etc. Regular sampling is carried out in stores to ensure that the original specifications are respected.
With Cargolab, we focus on bringing functional, sustainable products to market that are accessible to all.
More responsible raw materials
With the help of our suppliers, we systematically explore the incorporation of more responsible raw materials in our products.
For example, working with our subsidiaries, we've developed a line of cooking utensils made from recycled materials like aluminum, straws made from natural and biodegradable straw and a line of toys made from FSC wood.
We are also committed to favoring FSC and PEFC certifications in the printing of our communication materials (i.e., catalogs, POS materials, etc.)
Our
environment
Improved packaging
As soon as a new product is conceived, we work closely with our subsidiaries and suppliers to design it in such a way as to limit its impact on the environment in every way possible.
One of our main levers is in the area of packaging. Specifically, we work around the following three axes:
- Reducing packaging
- Changing its composition (e.g., from plastic to cardboard)
- Choosing more environmentally-friendly materials (e.g., from sustainably managed forests for paper and cardboard)
Sometimes we also revisit the very design of the product order to completely or partially eliminate its packaging.
From here on in, this notion of eco-design will be integrated into the specifications of all new products.
Before
After
Slide up and down to see our before and after
Before
After
Slide up and down to see our before and after
Before
After
Slide up and down to see our before and after
Optimized management of our containers
Our supply chain and logistics unit manages the consolidation of orders from subsidiaries in order to optimize the filling of containers.
We also make our suppliers aware of the available space in a container, so they can adapt their packing and make the most of this available space.
All of these actions have resulted in an average occupancy rate of 82%.
More ecological transportation methods
Most of our products come from Asia, but we work hard to optimize their transportation in order to limit our impact on the environment. The merchandise is shipped by boat, and we refrain from using waterways that go through the North Pole. Air transportation represents less than 1% of our product flow, and we don't use road transportation from Asia. Once in France, more than 50% of our containers are transported by rail between the port of discharge and our warehouses, which allows us to further reduce our transportation's carbon footprint.
For example, sea transport emits much less CO2 than air transport (e.g., Ningbo/Lille):
SEA + ROAD : 0,12 ton CO2/transportable ton
AIR : 7,08 tons CO2/transportable ton
RAIL + ROAD : 0,40 ton CO2/transportable ton
Source : ecotransit.org
Better waste management
To encourage recycling, we set up sorting bins in our break rooms for recycling organic waste, paper, cardboard and metal. Paper is also collected from each office for recycling.
In our warehouses, wooden pallets are also recovered for reuse.
Encouraging soft mobility
We encourage our employees to use more environmentally-friendly methods of transportation, such as bicycles, electric scooters and public transportation, by offering them a sustainable mobility allowance to support them in their endeavors.
Our combustion engine service vehicles are gradually being replaced by low-emission vehicles. Charging stations are already installed on site.
Limiting travel
We've equipped 23 of our meeting rooms with video conferencing systems to facilitate remote meetings, thus reducing our carbon footprint.
Our
employees
Supporting young graduates
We partner with the « Nos quartiers ont du talent » (Our Neighborhoods Have Talent) association, which allows young graduates to be mentored by experienced employees in their search for a job or a work-study program.
Providing a comfortable work environment
We are committed to the well-being of our employees. Our new hires receive a welcome kit when they join the company. Cargo also makes life easier for young parents with four spots reserved in a daycare near the Saint Martin du Touch location. Activities are organized throughout the year to promote friendship and interaction between employees.
Supporting disadvantaged populations
The Fondation Engagés Solidaires (Committed to Solidarity Foundation)
Everyone on the planet shares basic needs, including health, safety, the ability to raise a family and the hope of improving their lives.
As a major player in the consumer goods industry in Europe, a privileged area of the world in terms of economic and human development, the CARGO Group redirects a portion of its profits to less privileged areas in order to encourage and support development for the populations that need it most.
Since its creation in 2011, the Fondation Engagés Solidaires includes:
80+ Projects
supported in approximately 15 countries
35+ Association
partners
+ more than €900,000
distributed in order to help disadvantaged populations
Le Coeur des Entreprises
Cargo is co-founder of a group of approximately fifteen companies, "Le Cœur des Entreprises", who work throughout the year with associations recognized as benefiting the public with social and solidarity-based vocations. The goal is to help homeless, fragile, handicapped and extremely precarious people by providing human and material assistance to associations and volunteers.
Investing in solidarity activities
Café Joyeux
The Group is a sponsor of Café Joyeux, downtown café-restaurants who make it their mission to include people with disabilities in the workplace. It's with great pride that we're contributing to the opening of Café Joyeux in Toulouse, a venue with approximately ten employees.
Partnerships with associations
Several of our subsidiaries are also involved with other associations, such as Restaurants du coeur through the collection of food items, and Petits Princes, an organization that makes dreams come true for children with serious illnesses.
Our
suppliers
Supporting our suppliers
Based in China, our Qinsky office ensures that our specifications are respected among our suppliers.
Our desire is to establish a « win-win » relationship with them. This is why we regularly conduct quality and social audits to ensure working conditions and compliance with good manufacturing practices.
Some of our subsidiaries are also members of the Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), a program which aims to improve the social and environmental performance of factories manufacturing import products.
This implies ensuring that the manufacturing conditions are at least a source of economic development for local communities and are respectful of their environment.
Sourcing
A large part of our production comes from Asia, but we regularly ask European suppliers for certain types of products.
For some subsidiaries, production in Europe represents half of the collections, which are ordered from potters, carpenters and glassmakers.
Others offer their customers "Made in France" products with a selection that represents up to 35% of their catalog.