The company was founded in 2023 by Kurt Hansen and Lars Løvendahl-Hansen, LAKUDA is dedicated to delivering high-quality products for professional with an exceptional customer service. Headquartered in Hedensted, Denmark, and with sales representatives across the Nordic region and Europe, we strive to offer the best products, from batteries for calculators to custom-designed battery solutions.
We offer a comprehensive range of LED flashlights, batteries, chargers, battery-powered garden tools and power tools, LED lighting, as well as IT and electronics accessories. Our 7,000 sqm warehouse facilities in Vejle ensure efficient logistics and high customer service levels, from order processing to shipment. As a leading partner in distribution, sales, support, and internal logistics in the Nordic region, top brands choose LAKUDA for our experience, local networks, and innovative solutions. Our focus on customer service and competitive pricing ensures that we deliver an outstanding customer experience in a competitive market.
Do you want more information about the ESG report?
If you wish to learn more about the content of our ESG report, please feel free to contact us:
Lars Løvendahl-Hansen, CEO & Co-Founder: (+45) 28 30 41 21
Kurt Hansen, CEO & Co-Founder: (+45) 40 35 71 96
You can also find the ESG report on our website: https://dealers.lakuda.dk
We look forward to sharing our commitment to sustainability and social responsibility with you.
PREFACE
At LAKUDA, our mission goes beyond providing exceptional products and services. We are committed to sustainability and responsible business practices, ensuring that our operations have a positive impact on both the local community and the global environment. Our approach involves developing and formalizing our processes to enhance efficiency and transparency, particularly in our collaborations with dealerships.
In alignment with our dedication to sustainability, we are initiating an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) project this fiscal year (01.05.2023 – 30.04.2024). This project aims to formalize our work in this crucial area, reflecting our commitment to minimizing our environmental footprint, promoting colleagues’ well-being, and fostering ethical business practices. We have already established a local labor safety organization to ensure a secure and healthy work environment for our colleagues. Our management team continuously monitors and addresses issues that arise in day-to-day operations, reinforcing our proactive approach on workplace safety and colleagues’ welfare.
Our dedication to sustainability is also reflected in our efforts to support the United Nations’ Sustain-
Kurt Hansen CEO & Co-Founder
able Development Goals (SDGs). We have identified three SDGs that are particularly relevant to LAKUDA:
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
These goals guide our ongoing efforts to improve our environmental responsibility, create a positive workplace, and enhance our management practices. We believe that by taking responsibility for our actions, we can contribute to a more sustainable future for all.
As we continue to grow and expand our product offerings, we remain resolute in our commitment to delivering high-quality products, exceptional customer service, and sustainable business practices. We invite you to join us on this journey and look forward to building a brighter, more sustainable future together.
We hope you will read our ESG report with great interest and join us in our commitment to excellence and sustainability.
CEO & Co-Founder
LAKUDA
The company was founded in 2003 by Kurt Hansen and Lars Løvendahl-Hansen. LAKUDA provides high-quality products for professionals combined with exceptional customer service, fostering longterm customer relationships. Headquartered in Vejle, Denmark, the company has sales representatives in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. Today, we are 39 dedicated colleagues at LAKUDA. We strive to deliver the best products, whether it is a new battery for a calculator or a custom-designed battery solution. Our product range includes LED flashlights, batteries, chargers, battery-powered garden tools and power tools, LED lighting, IT, and electronics accessories.
At LAKUDA, we place great emphasis on customer service, which is an integral part of our product. Our service spans from accurate order processing to warehouse management and timely shipping. Our 7,000 sqm warehouse facilities in Vejle ensure that our skilled team can maintain a high service level and efficient flow of goods.
We are one of the leading partners in the distribution, sales, support, and internal logistics of batteries, flashlights, chargers, LED technology, and related products in the Nordic region. Leading brands choose LAKUDA because of our extensive experience, local networks, efficient processes, and innovative solutions in partnerships, marketing, and logistics.
At LAKUDA, service is paramount, and it influences all our decisions. While competitive prices are important, it is our high level of service that sets us apart in a market characterized by tough competition and increasing international trade.
Today, our product range includes leading international brands in batteries, flashlights, chargers, LED technology, and more. We are growing rapidly, but we never compromise on our renowned service level and excellent customer experience. Lars Løvendahl-Hansen, CEO & Co-Founder.
Customized development and production
Our core service at LAKUDA is to create the perfect match between brand and customer while ensuring efficient logistics. Additionally, we have significant in-house production of customized battery products and various solutions for the industry. We have developed our own brands from scratch, delivered OEM solutions to established companies, and collaborated with startups on product development. This broad experience gives us deep insight into the entire value chain from production, distribution, and sales to after-market service.
VISION, MISSION & VALUES
OUR WHY
We make it easy for people to energize their lives.
MISSION
We market and distribute brands in Europe with select reseller-partners and through direct online sales. We focus on products that makes end-users’ lives easier and safer while contributing to a more sustainable portfolio of solutions.
VISION
Be the preferred European multi-channel supplier of quality products with a customer-centric view on helping our end-users make more sustainable choices.
OUR VALUES
We are an honest, respectful and ambitious partner that applies teamwork, innovation and long-term commitment to deliver strong results, for the benefit of our colleagues, customers, partners, the environment, and LAKUDA.
We are in this long-term and will always prefer the choice that allows us to win together as a team over time.
Honest
We are always honest in our relation and communication to all related parties: Colleagues, partners and customers.
Respectful
We are respectful in our actions and the influence it has on all related parties: Colleagues, partners, customers the community around us and the environment.
Ambitious
We are ambitious in our approach and aspire to move forward and grow as individuals, as a team, and as partners.
Teamwork
We think teamwork into all our actions because we know that the team will always multiply our actions and effect while making it much more enjoyable.
Innovation
We are innovative in our way of thinking and applies new knowledge and technology in our efforts to improve.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
We have selected three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are most relevant to LAKUDA. By concentrating on these areas LAKUDA is contributing to a more sustainable future in alignment with these goals.
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
We strive to be an attractive workplace. We achieve this by ensuring a healthy culture with great colleagues, good routines, and strong leadership, as well as focusing on appropriate tasks and competencies for each individual colleagues.
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
At LAKUDA, we ensure there is room for everyone and strive to provide employment opportunities for all.
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
LAKUDA handles a large amount of packaging in the form of cardboard and almost all cardboard is shredded and reused as packing filler.
ENVIRONMENTAL
At LAKUDA, we are acutely aware that some of our products contain chemicals that must be handled with responsibility and care. This is a responsibility we take very seriously. Consequently, we choose solutions and collaborate with brands that share our view of the environment as a partner. Each year, we implement initiatives to reduce packaging waste and write-offs, as this is where we can make a significant impact.
As an importer of electronics, LAKUDA recognizes its role in the industry and focuses on ensuring that charging ports and chargers for our products are standardized solutions, compatible with multiple devices. Each product comes with a charger, but these chargers are designed to be used with several different products, further enhancing our commitment to sustainability and efficiency.
Energy Optimization
During and since the energy crisis of 2022, we have focused significantly on reducing our heating consumption, which currently relies on natural gas. Most of the areas we occupy consist of cold storage, meaning only the office areas are heated. This is clearly reflected in our energy accounts. We aim to keep the use of heating in the office at a minimal
level. LAKUDA rents its facilities, and we strive to influence the landlord positively regarding potential energy optimizations.
We have dedicated colleagues who contribute to solutions that make sense for them, while also focusing on energy optimization. For instance, the colleagues who pick goods in the warehouse have contributed to a solution that ensures the right temperature when they work. There must not be too high a temperature in the warehouse halls, as it is a poor combination with their physical work—it is not very comfortable to work in excessive heat. The colleagues have been equipped with electric heated vests, a solution they helped develop. With these vests, they can each set their own comfort temperature.
Circular Utilization
As an importer and retailer, LAKUDA handles a large amount of packaging in the form of cardboard. We focus on circular utilization of materials, which is why almost all cardboard is shredded and reused as packing filler. This circular solution saves us from having to dispose of cardboard waste and reduces our need to purchase packing filler. It also significantly reduces our plastic consumption.
We want to contribute to making a difference
SOCIAL
We value community, social interaction, and getting to know each other as individuals, and not just as colleagues. This approach helps us better understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, enhancing our daily interactions and teamwork. Each year, we host a Christmas Party, a Summer Party, and weekly Friday social gatherings, as well as other exciting events such as golf trips. We also encourage our colleagues to initiate their own activities, and LAKUDA is happy to support these initiatives with financial contributions.
At LAKUDA, we take pride in being part of the solution both locally and socially. We successfully employ individuals with special needs and see it as our mission to provide development opportunities for talented and dedicated colleagues. There is room for everyone at LAKUDA, and we strive to offer employment opportunities to all. Our team includes colleagues who are taking a “gap-year”, as well as flex job workers and others.
It is important for us to ensure a positive working environment, and everyone contributes to the companies development. The entire team at LAKUDA plays a role in this, and we are proud of that.
We also have our first apprentice colleagues in the company. This is new for us, but we can see it brings great value to both the apprentice and the entire team, creating a good dynamic with the different skill sets. We also have colleagues who have chosen to be an active part of LAKUDA for more than nine years. We are very proud of this, and it is of great significance to LAKUDA. It is important for us to have a good combination of different skills and levels of seniority in our team.
GOVERNANCE
We take pride in ensuring that technology helps us bring more humanity into our processes. We are pragmatic in our decisions, lean in our processes, and engage with colleagues at eye level so that everyone contributes to optimization. Every. Single. Day. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Technology must always provide higher efficiency and free up human resources for more important tasks such as partnership development, marketing, and personal service. Our approach has made it possible to devise and implement solutions that make us incredibly efficient and reduce waste, while also streamlining processes and lowering costs.
Code of Conduct
At LAKUDA, we recognize that the core of our identity lies in the ethics behind our actions. Being ethical means understanding and respecting the correct behaviour in a variety of situations, as well as having the honesty and integrity necessary to do the right things - even when no one is watching. Therefore, we are guided not only by applicable laws and regulations but by an inner commitment to always strive to do more and be better.
Our values: Honesty, Respect, Ambition, Teamwork, Innovation, and Long-term Commitments, are the cornerstones of our company’s ethics and business practices. We enforce a culture of openness and transparency, fostering strong and lasting relationships with all our stakeholders: colleagues, customers, partners, and the broader community in which we operate.
Honesty is our guiding principle in all forms of communication and transactions, while respect for people, the community, and the environment is reflected in every action we take. Our ambition drives us to continually seek improvements and growth, not just as individuals but as a collective team. We be-
lieve that collaboration is the key to success, and by working together, we can multiply our impact and achieve greater results while enjoying the journey.
Innovation is at the heart of our business strategy, and we are always seeking new and groundbreaking methods to improve and lead in our industry. Our commitment is long-term, and we prefer to make choices that ensure success for both ourselves and our partners over time.
It is with these principles as a foundation that the board of LAKUDA has adopted this code of business conduct. It serves as an umbrella for our core principles of business ethics and is crucial for our continued success. All LAKUDA colleagues are expected to adhere to these standards, and we hope to inspire our suppliers to share these principles, which we have defined under the following headings:
• Law and Ethics
• Corruption
• Money Laundering
• Competition Issues
• Environment
• Working Conditions and Work Environment
• Confidential Information
• LAKUDA’s Customers’ Code of Conduct
• Breaches of the Code of Conduct and Whistleblower
These guidelines ensure that LAKUDA and our partners operate in accordance with the highest ethical standards and with respect for confidentiality, legislation, and the various codes of conduct that may apply.
ESG KEY FIGURES
ESG encompasses three areas: environmental and climate conditions, social conditions, and governance conditions. Below there are several selected ESG key figures for the period 01.05.2023 - 30.04.2024.
* The company does not have significant hazardous waste. Any potentially hazardous waste (such as spray cans, batteries, etc. is removed as part of the municipal collection scheme.
** Almost all cardboard is shredded and used for packing material.
Calculation Practices for E metrics
Our E-metrics are based on data from utility companies and suppliers. To convert this data into CO2 equivalents (CO2e), we use the Danish Business Authority’s calculation tool “Klimakompasset”, which follows the principles of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol). The emission factor used for electricity is sourced from the relevant “Environmental Declaration”.
Scope Assessment
In preparing our first sustainability report, we have primarily worked with internally available data. As a starting point, we have chosen to focus on the data that contribute to the calculation of scope 1 and 2 emissions in the climate accounting. This covers our energy consumption for the operation of buildings and our transportation vehicles.
Scope 3
The majority of a company’s total climate footprint usually lies in scope 3, which typically involves factors over which the company has limited and often only indirect influence. This scope is not included in this report.
SOCIAL
* Not reported ** Number of men in the executive management is not disclosed
GOVERNANCE
* Not reported
Calculation Practices for S and G metrics
Social and governance data are compiled based on records in payroll and financial systems, as well as other internal records. The calculations are compared against statistics from the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA).
Notes on the report
The report is not verified by an independent third party. Although we have made every effort to ensure the content of the report is accurate, no guarantees are given regarding its accuracy and/or completeness. Therefore, we disclaim any liability for any damage or loss that may result from actions taken based on the report.
ESG GOALS
This is our first ESG report, and it has therefore not been possible to set quantitative targets for the upcoming period. Consequently, we have chosen to define specific focus areas within climate and environment (E), social matters (S), and governance (G) for a five-year period.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Energy Optimizations
Despite significant efforts, there is still potential for further energy optimization, and in the coming years, we will focus on the following areas:
• Replacing fluorescent tubes with LED lighting
• mplementing a lighting control solution to manage lighting based on needs
• Charging electric trucks and pallet lifters using a timer, with charging occurring after 9 PM to reduce consumption during peak periods. This will improve the pressure on the power grid while avoiding electricity purchases during the most expensive period.
SOCIAL GOVERNANCE
Apprentices
We see the value created by having an apprentice on our team. Therefore, we aim to continuously include apprentices as part of the team. This creates a very positive synergy within the company, which we intend to maintain in the coming years.
A Professional Board
It is important for us to run a healthy and solid company, and we believe that the establishment of a professional board will contribute to the company’s continued positive development. We aim to form a board with the right expertise that complements each other in the best possible way.
