Safe driving with BRIO toys! A roadmap to our quality demands, materials and production.
More than a century of BRIO play
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BRIO’s history dates all the way back to
We are also conservative. We do not
1884 when BRIO came up with the idea to
change things from one day to the next
sell quality products. BRIO created its first
without rigorous testing. This is to ensure
wooden toy, Osbyhästen, in 1907.
joyful play, proper design, durability –
BRIO’s goal at the time was to produce toys
and, above all, safety.
of the highest quality – and this is still our
Many adults remember their BRIO toys.
top priority.
That’s why we like to say that we create
Then and now, our position is that children
happy childhood memories. And our
of any size deserve to play with the best
hope is that the children of today will ex-
products when it comes to materials,
perience BRIO in the same way that many
design and imagination. And our employees
generations have done before them.
believe that it is always possible to do
That’s when we know we have
yesterday’s tasks even better tomorrow.
succeeded.
Playroom picture from the late 1940s. Three children appear in the foreground playing with BRIO’s locomotive with green wheels and carriages from 1945 and a BRIO tractor from 1947.
In the 1950s, the Ivarsson brothers (BRIO) started collaborating with SAS and the Swedish American ferry line. The airplanes were equipped with BRIO toys to allow the younger passengers to play while travelling. Together they held a competition for families with a flight theme. The three top prizes were flight tickets to go with 97 other prizes designed to attract participants. A separate competition was held among retailers. The first prize was flight tickets to Zurich with a visit to Franz Carl Weber, Europe’s largest specialty toy store. The picture shows Helicopter from 1948, Duck from 1948 and a sports car from 1950.
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Wood is the heart and soul of our toys! Some may call us old-fashioned because we have held on to wood as our most important material for BRIO’s many toy models for more than 100 years. That’s just fine with us. We believe that wood as a material is timeless, very durable and naturally appeals to children and adults alike. And we believe we have a point. New generations of children are just as excited when they play with our wooden toys as their parents were before them.
Beech Wood: Beech is far and away the most frequently used ingredient across BRIO´s product range. Beech is ideal for producing toys. It is hard and very difficult to break. Additionally, beech is an ordinary wood species that is not endangered and is replaced, which is vital for us.
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We test our toys meticulously
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At BRIO we know that safety doesn’t
pressure than the required amount.
only come down to materials.
Another example is that we carry out
Children are creative in their use of
drop tests from greater heights.
toys, and sometimes they may use the
But above all, our vast experience
products in ways that the designer
and insistence on producing proven
had not even considered when the
concepts provide a strong guarantee
toys were on the drawing board. That’s
for BRIO’s durability. Our toys have
why BRIO takes a greater responsibility
been tossed, squeezed, hugged,
than the law demands. One example is
beaten, chewed and sucked on by
that we perform load tests with more
children for decades.
5000 tests a year BRIO complies with international toy standards for durability. Additionally, BRIO performs approx. 5000 toy tests and inspections every year during and after production. Two-thirds of them are performed by external experts.
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Safe choice of materials Though wood is the foundation of
different components across BRIO’s
many of our toys, we also use several
entire range of toys.
other materials, for instance when
The raw materials we use are sub-
producing a train set (as shown on
ject to rigorous testing both before
the image).
and after the processing.
Magnets and other metal parts
Additionally, we continuously take
may be included to assemble the
random samples of the toys during
carriages and enable them to
production and of the completed
move. And we use paint to create
products to secure that they comply
a smooth and durable surface. All
with the demands from the authori-
in all, we work with thousands of
ties and our own quality standards.
International rules and legislation BRIO complies with applicable law on safety and materials outlined in more than 40 different standards and legislative statutes. This includes mechanical, physical and chemical standards for toys, the REACH regulation for chemicals in consumer products, the RoHS regulation for electronic products and Azo-Dye for coloring of fabric, just to mention a few.
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Plastic: The plastic is completely non-toxic and made from the most frequently used plastics within toy production. Free from PVC and phthalate.
Mega Crane 33555
Paint: Approx. 80% water-based, 20% nitrocellulose-based. Tested in accordance with applicable law. Wood: European re-planted beech
Magnet: Ferrite magnets (iron magnets). All magnets are enclosed and fixed to prevent them from becoming loose. Metal: Steel with no nickel release.
Metal parts All metal parts in our toys are subject to strict quality demands to secure that they will not fall off or put children in danger in any way. This also includes smudging and substance remnants that children should not be exposed to. For instance, in 2011 we decided to change all our metal parts in our toys going forward because the technology had made it possible to reduce the potential content of nickel in the new metal parts.
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Responsible production
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BRIO’s many toy models are sold all
on long-term deals with companies
over the world. However, production
capable of delivering proper quality,
is confined to China and the Czech
and doing so in a responsible way.
Republic. We have had production
Our wood components have been
in Sweden for more than a century,
delivered by the same supplier since
expanding to China in 2003 and
2004 and our plastic components have
2006. Some of the machines used
mostly been delivered by the same
in production in China are originally
supplier since 1993. We regularly send
Swedish, and the Chinese employees
BRIO representatives out to our sup-
work under the same safe conditions
pliers to stay in touch and ensure high
as in Sweden.
quality on a continuous basis.
When we select suppliers, we focus
We demand that our suppliers follow
the ICTI Care process, which is the
reschedule their production through
toy industry’s ethical manufacturing
smarter production planning, thus
program aimed at ensuring safe and
avoiding seasonal peaks and ensuring
humane workplace environments for
a smoother workflow.
toy factory workers worldwide. BRIO
At BRIO we are aware that this pack-
collaborates with the suppliers to
aging should not harm the environ-
make sure the ICTI Care process is be-
ment. Therefore we make sure our
ing followed, and we perform annual
packaging complies with applicable
inspections and change processes
law, and we have made deals with
together with the suppliers. An ex-
authorized waste collection firms to
ample of a change implementation is
collect packaging for recycling in the
that we have enabled our suppliers to
countries where this is possible.
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At BRIO we have four ground rules: • All our toys must be safe for children to use • All our materials have to be of high quality • All our toys must always adhere to regulations and laws • All our productions have to take place under socially responsible conditions Want to know more? Follow us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/BRIOPlay and brio.net