The dispenser wholesale in Fresh Fresh Food Products received on November 5, 2024 the Label Relations Supplier and Responsible Purchasing (RFAR). An event, Because this is the second Reunionese economic player to obtain it, After Reunion-Roland-Garros airport in November 2021, and the first private company from the DROM. This success distinguishes the courage of an SME of 46 employees who faced the test of a reputable repository requiring to prove his commitments and perfect his practices. Import costs is reinforced in its relations with its suppliers and customers.
On import business business cards, Reunion is placed in the center of a planisphere from which dotted lines escapes to all parts of the globe. Costs imports a large number of product references. On its more than 300 suppliers, 90 % are French, A good number in Reunion itself, and a part on other continents. Founded in 1995 by William Giraud, The company celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Import costs has always placed responsibility at the highest, Not hesitating to see on site how the products it distributes are made, social conditions included. The principles of corporate social responsibility (RSE) were naturally integrated into the business growth, Responsible purchases becoming one of the four pillars of its CSR policy. Specialist in particular the importation of ultra-fresh products, frozen and refrigerated, as well as grocery store and drink, Import costs also owes its success to the strategic choice which was its to settle in the south of the island, While guaranteeing an impeccable delivery service to its customers throughout Reunion territory. In April 2021, This strategy binding responsibility and performance has experienced major development : Entrance to the Roland-Hoaareau activity area near Pierrefonds airport of a burst logistics platform, Equipped with a photovoltaic power plant reducing its energy bill by some 28 %. Nothing forced to go even further by subjecting purchasing practices and relations with suppliers to the RFAR repository. William Giraud's meeting with the regional delegated mediator of the Marie-Françoise Jourdan companies decided otherwise. "I saw the opportunity to confront the resilience of imports in the face of the requirements of this label, Because insularity is often perceived as a source of fragility in certain large suppliers ", William Giraud. The answer is given by the RFAR labeling, Based on the ISO 20400 repository, International standard on responsible purchases, that the company now has. A double guarantee of solidity and reliability.
Less than 120 labeled FRAR
In each region, a(e) mediator(e) of companies is responsible for helping to settle disputes between administrations and companies and to promote the RFAR label. This label was created in 2017 on the initiative of the National Purchasing Council (CNA), The Professional Association of Buyers, supported by the Ministry of Economy. To name only one of its justifications : In France, delays in the payment of invoices are – in normal time – The cause of a quarter of the stallions of TPE and SMEs ... The actors engaging in the process first sign a charter comprising ten commitments having the value of intention of intention. The label then proves the implementation of the ten commitments. Nowadays, less than 120 administrations and companies have the label. Weight actors for many (ministries, major industrialists, ETI, banks, etc.). The presence among them of a Reunionese SME of 46 employees as Import costs is all the more remarkable. The Import Frais Star also shines with a particular shine in this list because it is the only company labeled from the overseas departments and regions. "We feel a great pride in seeing our names alongside companies such as Michelin, Thales, EDF, Cap Gemini, CMA CGM… », recognizes William Giraud.
One year of work
The decision to embark on labeling was made in June 2023. In November, The Charter of Ten Commitments is signed and Import Frais goes directly to the next step. A project manager is appointed : GRÉGORY MARCED, Product and services manager. If the purchasing service and its seven buyers and buyers is at the heart of the process, He is not the only one concerned. The created steering committee also brings together the accounts, human resources, logistic, the sales force. Goal : identify all purchasing practices and procedures, grant them, Update them and formalize them according to RFAR commitments. The work turns out to be very quickly considerable. He mobilizes a consulting firm to be guided and the recruitment of a young QHSE-RAR engineer, Lisa Darmendrail, which will in particular create several new work supports, as the drafting of responsible purchasing policy and purchasing risk mapping. At the end of an audit deemed convincing, Import fees was labeled with regard to the trajectory of progress now followed by the company with an action plan in three years. "I thought it would be easier, But the approach was very structuring, very professionalizing, For teams. It has changed our perception of the company by making us aware of its territorial footprint. She empowered us individually and collectively ”, testifies William Giraud.
Which evolves in commitments
Commitment to sustainable development means promoting the circular economy, The short circuit, local suppliers, the most committed suppliers themselves in CSR (82 % of import suppliers are VSEs/SMEs). It was already the case, it systematically becomes : "Concretely, with equal service quality, The choice is then made to a local supplier and we take into account a socio-environmental criterion in the choice of our products ", specifies Grégory Marlarou. The relationship with suppliers : His watchwords, respect, benevolence, equity, are now engraved in marble. "The revision and improvement of our general purchasing conditions are examples, Particularly on the approach to payment deadlines where Import costs has always granted exemplary rigor to its suppliers. »Transparency : an internal mediator, Independent of the purchasing service, has been appointed to settle disputes, Like an anti-corruption alert referent. Import costs becomes the first Reunionese company to integrate such missions. External advantages of the label ? Import costs received a number of suppliers' congratulations, but also customers, also engaged in CSR and for which the guarantee of responsible sourcing becomes an absolute necessity. The echo looks obvious, for the same reason, in public orders. The RFAR label is also added to the professional profile of employees.
Import costs open to requests for information
The goal of the RFAR label is to expand the virtuous circle of responsible purchases thanks to its labeled. Reporting their experience is part of their obligations. The example of import costs has all the more value since it shows that the labeling is within the reach of SMEs of medium -sized, especially in terms of cost. Import costs is available to companies for any information request.
