Sustainability at Savo Design

Our family company – Savo Design & Technic Oy – has been operating since 1982. During the four decades we have made numerous choices that have promoted values related to sustainability. Even in the name of our company we communicate responsibility goals: we want to bring to the market durable, technologically advanced and high-quality products. In this way, we can demonstrate long life cycle for our products and solutions.

We have invested in long-term partnerships with our suppliers, and many of our business relations have lasted already more than 30 years. We co-operate with many family companies and our products with few exceptions are made in Europe.

We develop the responsibility of our product range together with our partners. However, we recognize that sustainability is a journey, and the work will be continuous. Therefore, we have now decided to communicate where we are now and what are the near-term goals under the sustainability umbrella. We also want to state that we commit ourselves to communicate our sustainability development annually.

Environmental responsibility

As a company focusing on import and distribution of products and solutions, our biggest opportunities in terms of environmental responsibilities are in the choices we make with our suppliers. In our own activities we can make the biggest impact with our recycling and energy supply choices, as well as the selections made about freight alternatives.

In this area, we cooperate closely with our suppliers, and for example, in 2021, 77 % of our turnover came from companies that have already certified or are in the process of transferring their operations to the standards required by the ISO 14001 environmental management system and/or ISO 9000 quality management systems. In addition, many of our partners already have advanced programs, e.g., in terms of energy efficiency, recycled materials & recyclability, and achieving carbon neutrality. In future supplier negotiations, we will systematically encourage our partners to develop these issues.

When choosing products and their packaging materials, environmental issues have become more and more important. For example, our new DUAL Modular cooker hood product family significantly reduces the need for different parallel products, as they have been developed to work together with almost all different ventilation technologies. In product packaging, we prefer environmentally friendly materials.

Since most of our products are manufactured in Europe, their freight-related emissions are significantly lower than products imported from further afield. When we deliver our products to our customers, we cooperate with Schenker, which is a pioneer in the field of responsibility development.

In the spring of 2022, we moved to new premises, where all storage takes place under the same roof. This reduces our emissions from logistics. We are currently also investigating energy solutions for the new office space, such as a more energy-efficient ventilation system, building automation and geothermal heating. Our electricity procurement is already 100 % based on renewable energy.

Social responsibility

Savo is known for our employees’ long working careers: our personnel are long-term committed. We offer our employees modern employment benefits, take care of their well-being, and offer opportunities for training and development. In addition, we promote equality in accordance with the prepared plans.

Social responsibility also extends to the employees of our supply partners. In addition to EU labour legislation, the fair treatment and good working conditions of our partners’ employees are guided by various ethical commitments and external audits. Most of our turnover comes from companies whose employees, subcontractors and other partners have committed to a separate written code of conduct.

Economic responsibility

Ownership of the family company Savo has already partially passed from our main owner Mr. Harri Savo to his daughters. Second-generation ownership brings sustainability and predictability to operations.

Savo employs more than 30 people in Finland, and pays its taxes to Finland, contributing to the Finnish society.

We have invested in long-term and reliable partnerships, which is visible to our own customers, e.g., as prompt deliveries and security of delivery even in exceptional circumstances. It is important to us that both our supply partners and customers share common values ​​with us, and that the cooperation is fruitful for all parties involved. We also comply with the financial and statutory requirements according to the Customer Liability Act.