Conservation-conscious and sustainable corporate governance using the example of the Fruchthof Konstanz

As the succeeding company of two well-established family-enterprises the Fruchthof Konstanz GmbH was founded 1993 as a specialized wholesale trade for fruit, vegetables and southern fruit. Currently the company engages 38 employees from 7 nations full time. It is committed out of conviction to an ecologically aware and sustainable corporate governance. Thus the Fruchthof Konstanz has already introduced the environmental management system in 1995 according to the EC-eco-audit-decree (EMAS) as the first wholesale company in Germany.

During a tour of the company premises the participants learn in step with actual practice how the environmental management system is realized: The active energy strategy uses the soil temperature in the summer-time as a cooling energy for the cooling system and in the winter-time as a heating for the tempering of the storehouse. The solid architecture and intensive roof greening are part of the passive energy strategy. Aspects such as these are shown to the participants and are demonstrated vividly. The storage and logistic systems are also presented to them. The wholesale trade for fruit and vegetables daily serves approximately 350 customers.

During a tour of the company premises the visitors do not only get to know the energy concept of the Fruchthof Konstanz. They also come to know what a valuable contribution the company makes to the development of the sustainable agriculture in the border triangle.