In summer 2021, the HAIX family expanded, welcoming 10,000 busy new members. Their workplace: a meadow of wild flowers behind the HAIX logistics centre in Mainburg. These new workers are two colonies of bees, who not only produce our delicious HAIX honey, but also make a huge contribution to our eco-system by pollinating plants.

The bees are merely one example of HAIX’s commitment to sustainability as we’re well aware that sustainability is no trend, it’s a necessity. With our “Made in Europe” products, it’s not just heroes we’re protecting, but the environment too.

Short shipping distances and more flexibility

“Made in Europe” means our production takes place exclusively in Europe – that’s the standard of quality we promise. But the “Made in Europe” concept also protects the environment, as it means that shipping distances are kept short – provided that most of the material used in production comes from Europe too. At present, HAIX obtains around 97 percent of its material from Europe, such as the leather used to make our high-quality functional footwear. This leather is a by-product of the meat industry and comes exclusively from European producers who are committed to using chemicals sustainably and observing the highest standards.

This means that added value is generated more locally, resulting in several competitive advantages in comparison to supply chains which operate on a global scale – speed, flexibility, lower costs and greater predictability. The main advantage, however, is that the short shipping distances produce significantly fewer emissions, and our supply chain is substantially more environmentally friendly. Our logistics centre is just a bee’s fly away from our production site in Mainburg and even our site in Mala Subotica, Croatia, is accessible by car in just a few hours. Furthermore, we avoid unladen lorry journeys, bringing our emissions down even further.

Our commitment to Europe

At HAIX, we do more than just keep our shipping distances short in order to minimise our carbon footprint. We also make use of three photovoltaic systems for sustainable energy production. And our mission to reduce emissions doesn’t stop there: we use heat recovery and energy-efficient LED lighting, as well as server virtualisation in order to minimise the impact our IT infrastructure has on the environment. We also abide by the REACH regulation to prevent the use of harmful chemicals and our environmental management system is certified in accordance with ISO 14001. Our in-house repair workshop breathes new life into worse-for-wear footwear as another way to save valuable resources – HAIX shoes are by no means throw-away products.

We have also established the interdisciplinary working group “Footprint”, so every HAIX employee can get involved in our sustainability action. This group has helped get measures to improve our sustainability off the ground, such as our in-house beekeeping and our wildflower meadow, and contributes to raising awareness of sustainability among all our colleagues. For HAIX, “Made in Europe” represents a promise of high quality and a commitment to Europe and to improving sustainability, as after all, sustainability is no trend, it’s a necessity.