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complementary and additional product groups.l 2007 - The owners of Birkenstock Orthopädie GmbH & Co. KG take over their long-standing distribution partner Birkenstock Distribution USA, Inc. (BDUSA).l 2009 - A new, larger footbed production facility is commissioned in spring 2009 in Görlitz.l 2013 - 2013 heralds one of the most significant turning points in the company’s history: BIRKENSTOCK becomes a corporation. The traditional company successfully makes the transition from a loose network of 38 separate companies to a group with three business units (production, distribution, services). The group is led by an executive team, which for the first time is not composed of family members – an unprecedented event in the company’s almost 240-year history. Oliver Reichert and Markus Bensberg are in charge of the activities of the BIRKENSTOCK Group.l 2014 - BIRKENSTOCK enters the licensing business. With the help of licensing partnerships, the shoe manufacturer takes over new strategic business segments, markets and target groups. The new lines focus on four themes that perfectly complement BIRKENSTOCK’s brand essence: healthy living and sleeping, healthy workplaces, healthy feet, as well as running and a healthy approach to life.

PRODUCTThe main product lines are the cork footbed sandals. The sandals are made for children, ladies and men. All BIRKENSTOCK products are designed to provide the best comfort.

PROMOTIONBIRKENSTOCK have always been aware of their responsibility to the community. This attitude has allowed them to attract and keep environmentally aware customers. These customers, in turnb, spread the word about the brand to their friends.It should be the endeavour of each and every one of us to use the resources nature provides in the most careful way possible. In private households this awareness now extends to sorting garbage and composting. What applies to private households should equally apply to industry, which bears particular responsibility for staff, consumers and nature.

Right from the start BIRKENSTOCK has used “Nature as Inspiring Example” and will continue this way in the future.

BIRKENSTOCK was one of the first shoe manufacturer worldwide whose production almost exclusively used water-soluble and solvent-free adhesives. Over the last years they have successfully worked out ways to drastically reduce the amount of adhesives containing solvents.In 1987 the portion of solvent-free adhesives in their production amounted to 17%, in 1990 this number increased to 46%. Today 95% of their adhesives are environment-friendly.This measure not only helps to reduce the impact solvents have on the environment, it also helps them to produce better quality.Code of ConductThe BIRKENSTOCK Group is a global shoe manufacturer. They are aware of their responsibility to their customers and their employees. Therefore, they have established strict ethical and social policies for themselves that guide them in their business activity. BIRKENSTOCK expect that their suppliers, i.e. all companies that have a business relationship with companies in the BIRKENSTOCK Group, take the same ethical principles as the basis for their conduct. For this purpose, BIRKENSTOCK has compiled the Code of Conduct for Suppliers. The Code of Conduct is fundamentally based on the principles of the Global Compact of the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation. It is binding for all BIRKENSTOCK suppliers and also for BIRKENSTOCK employees.The content of the Code of Conduct for BIRKENSTOCK Suppliers is:l Compliance with the lawsl Prohibition of corruption and briberyl Respect for the fundamental rights of employeesl Prohibition of child labourl Health and safety of employeesl Environmental protection

l BIRKENSTOCK have more than 230 years of experience in the fine art of shoemaking.l The brand started in 1774 by Johann Adam Birkenstock and Birkenstock remains a family run business.l The main product lines are the cork footbed sandals.

THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUTBIRKENSTOCK

MARKETWith more than 230 years of experience in the fine art of shoemaking, and with the knowledge they have gathered in the traditional way from one generation to the next, BIRKENSTOCK can guarantee to you that their shoes exhibit the finest workmanship and are of the utmost quality. BIRKENSTOCK remains a family company, maintaining these traditions up to this day.

BIRKENSTOCK represents not only top-end products manufactured with close attention to detail and a high proportion of manual work; there are many other positive factors involved in the company which emerge, not least in the quality of yheir brand. Ecofriendly production and the use of select, high-grade and therefore long-lasting materials all helps to protect nature`s environment.

BIRKENSTOCK’s workforce is committed and highly motivated, which is part of what satisfies their customers throughout the world. By maintaining a total of ten locations in Germany and continuously developing their production processes, BIRKENSTOCK also support Germany as a location for their operations. BIRKENSTOCK products are, and will remain, quality products from the buckles all the way to the sole.

Of course BIRKENSTOCK moves with the times. They are continuously developing their products in order to keep pace with their customers` high standards. New manufacturing processes aided by the latest technologies and the development of new materials and attractive models all form the foundation for this. In this way they will be able to offer you unique quality and unmatched comfort, walking and standing, today and tomorrow – you can rely on it.

The brand targets the mid market segment with about 55% ladies, 33% mens and 12% childrens. In terms of market share BIRKENSTOCK goes from strength to strength.

ACHIEVEMENTSOver the decades BIRKENSTOCK have

attracted the attention of discerning customers from all over the world. They have also garnered more than their fair share of accolades from within and without the industry. However, BIRKENSTOCK’s most lasting achievement and the one of which they are most proud is the fact that they have a very high instance of repeat business from satisfied customers.

HISTORYThe brand started in 1774 by Johann

Adam Birkenstock and Birkenstock remains a family run business. In 1896 Master Konrad Birkenstock began manufacturing and selling flexible footbed insoles. In 1963 Karl Birkenstock launches the Madrid model, the first fitness sandal with a deep and flexible footbed, thereby laying a foundation for today’s comfort footwear market.The company first started with selling,

insoles also famously known as the “the blue footbed” in 1986. From there on

they started manufacturing sandals and it remains a family run business with more

than 230 years of experience in the fine art of shoemaking.The BIRKENSTOCK timeline is:l 1774 - Johann Adam Birkenstock is listed in the church archives of Langen-Bergheim, a city in the German state of Hesse, as a “subject and cobbler”.l 1896 - Master cobbler Konrad Birkenstock, who runs two specialty shoe stores in Frankfurt, begins manufacturing and selling flexible footbed insoles.l 1899 - Konrad Birkenstock begins giving specialist lectures for leading master cobblers and guilds to explain his concept of fully malleable, custom-made shoes and sells licenses allowing others to produce his innovative footbed shoe design. He travels throughout Germany and Austria for fifteen years promoting his ideas.l 1925 - In Friedberg,

Hesse, a larger

factory with extensive grounds is purchased and expanded. A substantial daily production rate is necessary to meet the demands of the company’s large customer base and production runs around the clock in day and night shifts. The “blue footbed” is among the products manufactured.l 1932 - Carl Birkenstock launches the BIRKENSTOCK training courses, which are soon highly regarded within the industry. In the years that follow, over 5,000 professionals take part in his week-long podiatry and specialist footwear courses. Leading physicians endorse the courses and the “Carl Birkenstock system”.l 1947 - Podiatry - The Carl Birkenstock System is published with a print run of 14,000 copies. Over 112 pages and with 55 illustrations, Carl Birkenstock expounds his theories about the “natural gait” – the footprint system – and healthy footwear. At the time, it is the highest-selling podiatry textbook.l 1963 - Karl Birkenstock launches the Madrid model, the first fitness sandal with a deep and flexible footbed, thereby laying the foundation for today’s comfort footwear market.l 1972 - The Book of Foot Care by Karl Birkenstock is published with a print run of 30,000 copies.l 1973 - An electromechanical molding machine is developed that can produce all sizes with the correct proportions in a seamless process based on a single model. This process also makes it possible to adjust the width and customise the heel and front areas of the shoes. This development makes BIRKENSTOCK a leading shoe manufacturer worldwide.l 1983 - The Birkenstock Foot Primer by Karl Birkenstock is published with a print run of 360,000 copies.l 1984Alex Birkenstock, Karl Birkenstock’s second son, joins the family business.l 1988 - Environmentally friendly adhesives are used in the production process for the first time. The move reflects BIRKENSTOCK’s environmental awareness and sets an example worldwide.Christian Birkenstock, Karl Birkenstock’s youngest son, starts working for the family business.l 1990 - Stephan Birkenstock, Karl Birkenstock’s oldest son, joins the family business. Footbed production is expanded and modernised with due regard for environmental considerations: energy consumption is reduced by over 90%.l 1991 - A variety of licensed trademarks are

established over the following years, so that the company

can offer

l Supply chainThe social and ecological minimum standards

that the respective suppliers must observe are considered and acknowledged in the Code of Conduct. With the supplier’s signature to this declaration of intent, BIRKENSTOCK ensures the implementation of the Code of Conduct in its “supplier qualification process”. In addition, this Code of Conduct is to be bindingly included in all new purchase agreements and all purchase agreements to be renewed. In this way, BIRKENSTOCK ensures high standards with its suppliers and sustainable competitiveness on a long term basis.

BRAND VALUES 30 years ago, when hardly anybody was talking about environment protection BIRKENSTOCK began to intensively look into the subject matter of energy-saving and energy-efficient technologies. In-house development of special equipment, constant advancement of production techniques and continued improvement of production processes support BIRKENSTOCK‘s mandate to invest in energy-saving technology and machinery.Reducing the energy consumption of machinery and heating equipment has been and still is BIRKENSTOCK’s main concern.

Energy consumption could be decreased by more than 90% e.g. by:l Improvements in the field of our large leather punches, which now require only approximately 10% of the electric power of regular punches.l Implementation of their own environment-friendly power generating plants.l Three large combined heat and power plants.This combined heat and power process recaptures the generated heat and reuses it. A tangible example is their cork footbed drying process. The heat that would normally be wasted is used to heat the cork footbed drying plant, through which each and every cork footbed travels individually. (This is quite an effort but BIRKENSTOCK are more than happy to accept this worthwhile process to protect the environment.BIRKENSTOCK’s values are:- Comfort, health and Wellbeing.- Best Quality and Comfort.- Unparalleled Comfort

There are strict quality checks done before the goods are released from production.

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