Guaranteed not imported from Asia

What working conditions am I supporting when I import from Asia?

The working conditions imposed on workers by their employers vary greatly internationally. In Asian countries in particular, many goods are often manufactured under inhumane conditions. But despite human rights violations, many items are still manufactured in Asia. The media repeatedly reports on catastrophic production conditions: Employees usually work 12-14 hours a day. They get two days off per month and have to sleep in shared dormitories, which they are only allowed to enter and leave at certain times. There are reports of beatings, verbal abuse, psychological stress, and sexual harassment by employers and supervisors, as well as wages that are far too low, in some cases not even enough to live on, and which are sometimes paid weeks or even months late. In some factories, workers are fined if, for example, they arrive late for work or eat during work. Child labor is also often associated with Asian factories because abuses have frequently been uncovered here in the past. 

In the EU, and especially in Germany, such poor working conditions are unimaginable and are also prohibited by existing employment contracts. Among other things, labor law provisions, legislation, and trade unions provide the basis for humane working conditions in this country, thus ensuring a significantly better working environment.

Recent fires in textile factories and suicides at computer suppliers have made it clear that working conditions in some Asian factories that produce for the European and American markets are scandalous. Measures to combat these abuses include social chapters in trade agreements, quality seals, and voluntary commitments by companies.

Especially after tragedies such as the collapse of Rana Plaza, a building housing five garment factories in Bangladesh, many corporations were publicly pilloried for their business policies. Many people subsequently decided to rethink their consumer behavior. Many consumers do not want to benefit from human rights violations – even if low prices are tempting and household budgets are tight.

However, even though a lot has been achieved in terms of establishing and developing trade unions, and reports of inhumane working conditions have decreased, this does not mean that the situation of workers has improved significantly.

Should we therefore only buy European imports?

Regulated working hours, high quality, shorter delivery routes, and fair wages—being “guaranteed to be manufactured in the EU” can only be a good thing. And for the most part, it is. However, it must be said that there are also black sheep among manufacturers in the EU. These do not even pay their workers the living wage necessary to afford basic necessities. But as can be seen from the statistics from the European Working Conditions Survey 2015, workers in European countries almost always feel that they are treated fairly. This suggests that working conditions within the European Union are better than in Asian countries.  

What does this mean for Hofmeister Holzwaren GmbH's choice of production facilities?

For us, it quickly became clear that Both in Asia and in the EU, you can come across good or bad production facilities. However, we have had intensive business relationships with most family-owned companies for over 30 years and have visited many of them on site to get an idea of the production facilities, working conditions, and quality of the goods.
Because fair and sustainable production is rather the exception in Asian countries, we have decided not to source our wonderful wooden treasures from Asian imports. The supply chain is much more sustainable due to the short transport routes alone, communication is easier, and we have repeatedly found that the quality in Europe is often simply much better. We have also decided to make a further contribution to the ecological supply chain and only have our products manufactured from domestic and European wood. nbsp;This means that our raw material “wood” alone has an ecological advantage over Asian tropical trees. 
Further information about our different types of wood can be found here.