Anchoring sustainability strategically: how Vorwerk is mastering double materiality with DFGE
Customer: Vorwerk SE & Co. KG
Category: Household and consumer goods industry
Date: May 2025
The Vorwerk Group is a family-owned company founded in 1883 and based in Wuppertal, Germany. The courage to innovate and the demand for the highest quality have made Vorwerk an internationally successful company with a 140-year tradition. Vorwerk is the number 1 in direct sales in Europe and a global leader in the marketing of high-quality household appliances – such as the Thermomix® and Kobold cleaning systems.
Sustainability is a central component of Vorwerk’s corporate strategy. Particularly in the context of the new regulatory requirements, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the company is increasingly addressing the ecological and social impact of its business activities. In the course of this development, Vorwerk commissioned DFGE to carry out a double materiality analysis for the first CSRD report.
Challenges
Reconciling CSRD compliance, direct sales and stakeholder integration
Vorwerk was faced with the task of carrying out a double materiality analysis for the first report in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The CSRD places high demands on the methodology, implementation and documentation of this process. Companies must not only assess their financial and non-financial impacts, but also the risks and opportunities that sustainability issues present for the company. In addition, the results must be documented in a transparent and comprehensible manner.
The materiality analysis required the expertise of employees from different departments at Vorwerk – from Sustainability and Compliance to Purchasing and Product Development through to Sales and Communications. This interdisciplinary collaboration was essential in order to gain well-founded insights into the key topics and to obtain a comprehensive picture of the company’s impact, risks and opportunities.
In addition, the direct sales business model entailed specific characteristics: products such as the Thermomix and the Kobold are sold by independent representatives who are not considered employees of the company. This made it necessary to take a close look at the topics of the S2 standard (workers in the value chain). In addition, as a B2C company with a strong brand perception, Vorwerk’s impact, risks and opportunities in connection with consumers had to be included in the analysis.
Solution
A structured approach to the goal: The DFGE methodology for double materiality
DFGE supported Vorwerk over a period of approx. 6 months in close cooperation in carrying out the double materiality analysis. This comprised several analysis steps, including document, industry, competitor, media and customer analyses. In addition, an expert interview was conducted with Vorwerk’s sustainability team to identify potential impacts, risks and opportunities.
Workshops were then held with the various departments at Vorwerk to assess the identified impacts, risks and opportunities (known as IROs) in accordance with the CSRD requirements. DFGE was responsible for evaluating the results, documenting the project in detail and assisting Vorwerk in coordinating with the auditors.
Result
Foundation stone successfully laid for the first CSRD report
With the successful implementation of the double materiality analysis, Vorwerk has taken an important step towards the first CSRD report. The analyses and workshops carried out by DFGE made it possible to precisely identify the IROs (Impact, Risks & Opportunities) that are material for Vorwerk and now determine the disclosure obligations to be reported in the CSRD report.
The project also raised awareness within Vorwerk of the requirements of the CSRD and the topic of sustainability in general.
