Cuddle Fair | economy

• ofHannes Koch

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As one of the first toy companies to manufacture in China, the Neustadt plush manufacturer Heunec committed to higher social and ecological standards. The specially founded Fair Toys Organization wants to reform the entire industry

The sandman is fair. What else should you think of the bedtime companion that has been popular with children and parents since 1959? Today the figure in its plush doll variant comes from China – but you don’t have to worry about poor quality, dangerous materials or poor working conditions in the factories, according to the company Heunec in Neustadt, Bavaria, not far from Coburg.

The company has two million plush toys and dolls manufactured in China every year, including the Sandman. Company boss Barbara Fehn-Dransfeld is concerned that the conditions there are okay. “Our partners in China confirm that they pay their employees significantly more than the low, state-set minimum wages, for example,” says the Heunec co-owner.

In order for the toy industry to accept higher standards overall, Fehn-Dransfeld co-founded the Fair Toys Organization (FTO) and works there on the association’s board. Ten companies have joined so far, including Fischertechnik and Zapf Creation. However, this is only a start: The market share of these companies is well below ten percent of the industry in Germany. With double-digit million sales and 30 people, Heunec plays in the regional league of the local toy industry.

The living wage is an important point in the organization’s code of conduct. Whoever joins the FTO is committed to the goal that the employees of the foreign supplier factories get more money than the mostly meager minimum wages. However, the code does not contain exact figures. Further rules say, for example: The staff should not regularly work longer than 48 hours a week, one day off per week is mandatory. Unions can be formed.

“The member companies are obliged to progressively approach the goals of the Code of Conduct,” explains FTO initiator Maik Pflaum from the Christian Initiative Romero (CIR) in Nuremberg. “You have to name specific steps and implement them verifiably.” The organization describes the path, but knows that there are deficits even among the member companies. “Anyone who claims to be able to rule out labor law violations 100 percent is dishonest,” it says on their website.

Fehn-Dransfeld admits there is tension in her company too. “The remuneration in the Chinese companies that manufacture Heunec products is a living wage,” she says on the one hand. On the other hand, the German company has not yet checked this information from China itself, nor has it had it checked by commissioned certification organizations. “But the topic is on the agenda,” says Fehn-Dransfeld. That won’t be enough in the future. Then Heunec and other companies have to take a closer look, document the conditions in their supply chains, and bring reality and goals into line.

That is work and costs money. Why does Heunec take this trouble? Above all, she is annoyed about the poor working conditions in many Chinese factories, which the CIR points out year after year in its critical industry report (see box), says Fehn-Dransfeld. Because that indirectly threatens to cast a bad light on their own company. “Customers read ‘Made in China’ on our labels.” The company’s boss is afraid of damaging its image.

But can – viewed the other way round – the high ecological and social quality become a sales argument? Are consumers looking for such products in a targeted manner so that membership in the FTO pays off? This is possible, as company examples from the clothing and food industries show. On the other hand, the proportion of sustainable products in comparison to total retail sales is still very low: the majority of consumers are only theoretically interested in the ethical added value of the items they buy.

The toy market will only find out in a few years whether that will change. “If the companies keep their promises and achieve the required number of points in the FTO check, they can use the FTO logo to advertise their products in stores,” says Maik Pflaum. In this way, customers will be able to decide in two years at the earliest whether they prefer fair stuffed animals to conventionally manufactured ones.

However, the public procurement market segment also appears important. The city of Nuremberg – the location of the annual toy fair – is already a member of the FTO. “I can well imagine that the Nuremberg city council will decide in the future to only buy products with the FTO seal for public institutions,” suspects Pflaum, who sits on the committee as an independent member of the Green Party. Other municipalities may follow the example and then only buy fair toys for their daycare centers.

Initiatives like the FTO are definitely in vogue. With its National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights, the federal government is exerting gentle pressure on companies. Development Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) also advocate a supply chain law so that local companies can improve working conditions in their foreign supplier factories.

Many companies are waiting, some trade associations apply the brakes, while others try to make the most of the development. The Federal Association of the Toy Industry (DVSI), which represents around 240 medium-sized and large companies, has already joined the FTO. And a spokeswoman for the manufacturer Simba-Dickie, one of the big names in the industry, says: “We are open to the Fair Toys Organization, are in close contact and are considering becoming a member there in the future.”

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