Our society has become more and more demanding and careful about its purchases. It is no longer a question of offering good products to consumers, but responsible products, respectful of the environment, and manufactured under the right conditions. At a time of global warming, the deterioration of natural resources, societal disorders and inequalities, it is therefore becoming essential for businesses to take part in new global challenges because the State can no longer respond alone to social issues. and environmental.
We all want to build a new economy that reconciles economic efficiency, social utility, individual success and sustainable use of natural resources. It is in this sense that Epycure was created 2 years ago now and that it is committed to a CSR policy to have a positive social and environmental impact.
What is CSR?
At a time when ecology, ethics and kindness are central subjects, certain brands and companies have taken this turn by implementing CSR policies. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the consideration by brands of environmental, social, economic and ethical issues in their activities. It actually brings together all the practices put in place by companies with the aim of having a positive impact on society and respecting the planet while being economically viable .
The PACTE law (Action plan for business growth and transformation) requires all French companies to take into consideration environmental and social issues in their activity. This approach can be voluntary and therefore go beyond the legal framework. This is the case for companies with mission company status, which advocates equality between economic performance and contribution to the common good .
Committed brands that are part of CSR strategies develop around three clear issues: the environment, social and governance. The environmental pillar is based on the rejection of acts harmful to the planet through the sustainable use of natural resources, the recovery of waste and recyclable materials, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, or even the use of non-polluting transport. The social pillar includes territorial anchoring, ethical, social and cultural diversity, working conditions, employee training and the development of fair trade. Finally, the pillar of governance involves changing production and consumption patterns through the promotion of responsible purchasing or respect for business ethics.
All companies can implement a CSR approach, regardless of their size, status or sector of activity.
Epycure, a committed brand
CSR at the heart of our concerns
Epycure is much more than a new start-up in the well-being market, it has a role to play in the face of current challenges and carries an ambitious societal project. In a logic of health prevention, Epycure is not a magic potion but a one-off or long-term boost to invite each of you to take care of your health by supporting you in a well-being routine . Through our vitamin, plant and mineral cures, we are not looking for individual overperformance but rather a return to basics. As you know, in addition to having formulas made in France, vegan, lactose-free, gluten-free and GMO-free and whose effectiveness is scientifically proven, our formulas are developed using an eco-responsible approach to limit the impact on the environment.
Indeed, Corporate Social Responsibility is a strategic axis at Epycure. We work every day to improve the well-being of the French people , our employees and so that our company has a positive impact on the planet . For us, it is about giving more meaning to our work by truly engaging in actions that matter. We know that it will take time for us to be a 100% responsible brand. But with this objective, we work on our environmental and societal impact every day. To accelerate our progress, we use the Zei tool , a platform for companies that want to become more responsible. This tool encourages us to progress by giving us objectives to achieve and promoting our commitment. It also allows us to involve the entire Epycure team in our progress towards an even more responsible company.
Today we are explaining to you the main points of our CSR policy based on the 3 main pillars of CSR, namely, the environment, social, and governance.
The environment
It is essential for us to develop products that are as effective as they are eco-responsible . It would be unthinkable to push each of us to take care of our well-being while destroying nature , especially since it is the basis of our formulas . It is thanks to it that we can formulate great natural products while benefiting from all the benefits of plants and minerals; it would make no sense to destroy it. We therefore do our utmost to find solutions, whether internally at the company level or at the product level.
Internally, we have appointed an environment representative to deal with all these CSR issues. It defines KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and monitors their evolution within the different teams involved (marketing, operations, development, tech). It also shares good practices and CSR initiatives that exist around the world and thus raises awareness among all employees of these essential subjects. Finally, every month, it summarizes the actions implemented by Epycure so that the entire team has an overall vision of the evolution of the project.
To limit the company's internal impact on the environment, we have also decided to limit the use of transport . For this, all employees have the right to telework, two to three days per week. To go even further, we are working on implementing actions for eco-mobility for employees. Finally, no business travel by plane is financed by Epycure in order to limit our carbon impact.
We also work hard to limit the impact of our products on the environment. To do this, we have implemented a responsible purchasing policy with environmental and social criteria. All our purchases are made using an approach with a positive environmental and social impact. The sourcing of our natural ingredients is clean and is done as close as possible to France. In addition to being 100% Made in France , all our food supplements are formulated to be as natural as possible. The average naturalness of our products is today 87% and we are actively working to get closer to 100% while maintaining ultra-effective formulas. Our plants are grown without GMOs , using organic farming whenever possible.
In terms of packaging, they are all recyclable and/or refillable . The gummies, tablets, powders and refills for capsule cures are packaged in the form of recycled kraft doypacks and our capsules are also available in a glass pill box, refillable and recyclable, at the start of the cure. We have chosen not to use any excess packaging or individual packaging to limit the production of unnecessary waste. Along the same lines, we have reduced the number of prints in packs in order to reduce our use of paper. And the few prints that you receive today in your orders were printed by printers labeled Imprim'Vert .
Finally, our production is responsible since we produce in such a way as to have no unsold items . We prefer to have a small shortage of stock than to throw away products that have expired. We never obtain supplies by plane and we favor green delivery providers , notably Colissimo and Lettre Verte.
We are proud to have implemented all these actions to reduce our impact on the planet. We are getting closer to our objectives in terms of environmental responsibility but we still have many things to undertake and put in place. This is why we work on our goals every day. We are currently carrying out our carbon assessment on the Good Planet Foundation with the aim of selecting the best way to offset our carbon emissions . We are also working on a Green IT action plan to limit our digital environmental footprint.
The social
Our impact on society is a subject that is also close to our hearts, on which we strive to work every day and on which we wish to make further progress.
To begin with, by offering simple well-being rituals , we try to help you regain your autonomy and allow you to once again become actors in your health. We are entering into a more global approach than a simply curative logic. We defend a real social project, that of enabling change in individual and societal behavior linked to well-being & health. We also share with you all our knowledge on well-being, nutrition and health through scientific educational content and free events.
We also make a point of being close to people . Being close to people, for us, means working with French partners (in Maine and Loire), in a short circuit : from producers through workshops, to teams. Being close to people also involves setting up solidarity measures: financial donations to hospitals, particularly to the Pasteur Institute, and donations of vitamins and minerals to healthcare workers during confinement. It also means being at your side and listening to you every morning, from Monday to Friday, to answer your questions, to advise you on products or your lifestyle. Finally, being close to people means caring for all those who work around us, through positive and caring management (equal pay, 100% permanent contract, gender parity, personal life balance and professional, social dialogue, training, etc.).
We would like to go even further and further promote our activity with a positive social impact. We are considering the implementation of actions to further promote territorial anchoring , thanks to partnerships, donations and thoughtful patronage. We also want to put in place more systems for diversity and inclusion , for example by calling on ESATs. Finally, we are working on organizing micro- events with a positive impact with our community and our employees to make it a quarterly event.
The governance
To finish on our CSR actions, it seems essential to talk to you about governance at Epycure. Governance is the system by which a company makes decisions and applies them to achieve objectives. This is a very important factor in a CSR approach because it allows the company to take responsibility for the impacts of its decisions .
Angélique and Paul-Etienne, the founders of Epycure, wish to create working conditions conducive to collaboration, while contributing to sustainable development issues to perform in their CSR approach. This is why they want to be completely transparent about the decisions they make. Dialogue with stakeholders is therefore central to their management of the company. They set up a weekly meeting with the entire team with the aim of informing employees about all important decisions. In addition, regular interviews are planned with suppliers, monthly emails are sent to shareholders, 1to1s and annual interviews are organized for employees, customer interviews are regularly scheduled by telephone, etc.
Epycure is also founded on strong values ​​which guide all decisions relating to the development of the brand. Indeed, decisions are made based on their impact on stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, etc.) and on the environment. Thus, we apply our responsible purchasing policy on a daily basis (purchases of supplies, raw materials, etc. are made in a committed, positive approach) and our CSR policy , which describes our objectives in terms of environmental, societal and governance impact. . Finally, we have set up internal CSR communication and displayed our CSR objectives in the premises, so that all employees feel concerned by the subject and work in this direction.
To end on this notion of governance, Epycure places the security of its employees at the heart of its concerns. This is why we use a personal data governance system to secure employee data and we have written and sent to team members a document on professional risk assessment.
If you would like more information on our CSR actions and progress, you can go directly to the Zei platform, on our public profile .
