Empowered by our ethos
Guiding light
The value of human life, looking after the planet, working together for the common good and treating others as you would like to be treated – these are the ethical values at the heart of the family owners’ endeavours. They provide a framework and culture focused on doing the right thing, operating sustainably, upholding human dignity and promoting social justice in everything we do.
These are ideas that any principled person can embrace, although following them is not always easy. They also happen to be part of Catholic Social Teaching – principles inspired by the Catholic faith and shared by family owners across generations. People of all faiths and none help uphold these values every day. You don’t need to worship the same God to believe in the same values.
A clear mission: To amaze customers and be a force for good
COFRA and its businesses strive to live up to this mission and make a positive impact every day, both in what we do and how we do it. This has big strategic implications, and we have reflected at length on what it takes to be a force for good. It starts with defining success not just in economic terms, but in terms of the value we create for everyone affected by our activities. We try to ensure no one is harmed or left behind, and never settle for less than good. The following guiding principles help us steer that path.
Reject profit as the only measure
By looking beyond the logic of the day that says all you need to do is create profit for your shareholders, we push ourselves to do more.
Rethink what’s possible for our industries
By imagining beyond our industries’ framings, we hope to set new precedents that start to change what normal looks like.
Reassess which costs should be ours
By identifying the costs that would ordinarily be pushed out to other sectors or communities or generations, we aim to absorb the ones our competence allows.
Harness as nature does
Instead of depleting resources by making, using and wasting, we try to reconnect to natural cycles that bring abundance.
Stay alive to the problem
By investing energetically and patiently in potential systemic breakthroughs, we aspire to unlock all sorts of extra value which may not have been realised with a singular focus on the bottom line.
Keep debating what's good enough
Routinely assessing what's good enough, what's not good enough, how to make it good enough and when to invest to get there sooner, keeps us moving in the right direction.
Join forces with competitors
Many of the world’s most pressing challenges require collaboration as much as competition. We explore new boundaries and partnerships that could enable innovation and growth without harming the wider interest.
Be excellent to be good
The real challenge is to achieve these ambitious goals while remaining competitive, standing alongside – or better still – ahead of businesses less focused on good. We strive to be ahead of where others expect us to be, striving to accelerate better practices in business.
Vision
For people and planet
Our vision for this decade is to contribute to the key systems transitions leading to a liveable planet and an equitable society. The challenges involved in a just transition cannot be tackled alone. This means partnering with forward-thinking investors and business leaders to maximise the impact of combined capital, capabilities and aspirations.
