Competing on price, standing out through professionalism: How Firmagave A/S took control

Firmagave A/S operates in a market where price often determines the final choice and standing out from competitors can be difficult. The company experiences this every day in a fast-paced environment with a constant focus on remaining competitive. With ISO 14001 certification, Firmagave has chosen another path. The company has professionalised its entire value chain and established a strong foundation for running the business. But one challenge remains: how do you make customers recognise the value rather than focusing solely on price?

At Firmagave, ISO 14001 certification did not begin as an internal project. It began with questions from outside the organisation - questions about circularity and responsible sourcing.

"We found that these questions became a regular part of our dialogue with customers and suppliers. They were asking us, but often they themselves were unclear about what it actually meant," explains Allan Karlskov, Managing Director and Partner at Firmagave A/S.

At the time, Firmagave was experiencing rapid growth. The focus was on sales, product range and operations, and as in many trading companies, processes were characterised by speed and flexibility.

For Allan and his business partner Dorte Holm, it was a strategic decision to work systematically with environmental management and achieve ISO 14001 certification. The aim was partly to create structure and documentation around the initiatives the company was already undertaking, but also to strengthen its professional foundation and become better equipped to respond to questions from customers and business partners about the environment and sustainability.

ISO 14001 certification has given Firmagave a systematic structure that enables the company to identify, document and manage environmental impacts throughout the value chain.

The right suppliers - rather than many of them

Firmagave A/S is a Danish trading company supplying corporate gifts to businesses across Denmark. In recent years, the company has grown significantly, developing from a smaller operation into an organisation with offices, warehousing and an extensive supplier network both in Denmark and internationally.

Every day, the company manages large product flows and complex deliveries, particularly during peak seasons such as Christmas, when activity increases significantly and additional resources are required for packing and logistics.

The supply chain is one of the company's most important - and most complex - areas.

"We are a trading company with many moving parts. There are many products, many suppliers and many decisions that have to be made quickly," explains Managing Director Allan Karlskov.

He continues:

"Before we started working with ISO 14001, supply chain management was largely driven by experience, relationships and speed. It worked, but it wasn't systematised. We made a lot of decisions along the way without necessarily having a consistent structure behind them."

With ISO 14001, Firmagave has gained a practical tool for managing this complexity in a structured way. The certification has provided greater visibility of suppliers, their origins and their contribution to the company's overall environmental impact. It has also made supplier selection an area of increased strategic focus. 

Although customer demand continues to play a central role in purchasing decisions, the company is working deliberately to incorporate environmental considerations and documentation more systematically into its supplier relationships.

A management tool - not just a certificate

Today, ISO 14001 functions as an active tool for developing the business, and according to Ole Overgård, Auditor at Bureau Veritas, this is precisely where the greatest value has been created:

"By using ISO 14001 as an active management tool, Firmagave has gained a much better overview of its environmental impact, particularly in areas such as transport, packaging, energy consumption and suppliers. It has not only created greater structure, but also provided a stronger basis for identifying opportunities to reduce waste and optimise workflows. At the same time, it has strengthened the integration of environmental considerations into day-to-day operations."

Firmagave has also reduced its exposure to risks relating to legislation and future requirements, including ESG and CO₂ reporting.

“More customers have these requirements. More tenders include environmental criteria. And expectations for documentation are increasing. We now have the structure and the knowledge in place. The next step is to become even better at using it actively in our business.”

Allan Karlskov, Managing Director and Partner, Firmagave A/S

Turning the value of certification into market value

Although ISO 14001 certification has significantly strengthened the company internally, the work is not finished.

The biggest challenge now is: 

How do you turn the effort into value in the market?

"We are proud of the certification, and we can feel that we have become a better company. But we are still working out how to communicate that value clearly to our customers," Allan Karlskov explains.

In a market where products can often look similar and purchasing decisions are largely driven by price, the underlying processes are rarely what attract the most attention.

"Customers have traditionally focused heavily on price. They want to hear about sustainability, but when they make their decision, the product and the price still tend to carry the most weight. Through our ISO 14001 system, we have significantly strengthened our ability to document our work, and we systematically collect documentation from our primary suppliers regarding product origin and production conditions. But the question is how much of that ultimately matters to the customer."

Although the value is not always immediately visible in sales, Allan Karlskov has no doubt that the work is necessary. ISO 14001 certification is not only about differentiating the business today - it is also about remaining relevant tomorrow.

"More customers are setting requirements. More tenders include environmental criteria. And expectations for documentation are increasing. We now have the structure and the knowledge in place. The next step is to become even better at using it actively in our business."

One of the changes brought by ISO 14001 is a greater peace of mind. Where Firmagave previously had to navigate complex questions without always having clear answers, the situation is very different today:

"We are now better equipped to ask the right questions, request more documentation and make more informed decisions throughout our value chain," says Allan Karlskov, Managing Director and Partner at Firmagave A/S.

ISO 14001 certification has helped Firmagave develop from a traditional trading company into a more structured and responsible business partner, with a stronger foundation for documenting and following up on conditions throughout the value chain - from purchasing to delivery. For Firmagave, the question is no longer whether the work creates value, but how that value can be translated into the market. This is precisely where Bureau Veritas helps organisations get more out of their certification.