Coöperatie DELA is an international funeral insurer and funeral services organisation. We have been providing care and financial peace of mind around when a loved one passes away for nearly 90 years now. That is our core. It forms the basis on which we build our relationships with customers, members, funeral directors, suppliers, and partners.

We do business in three countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. In the Netherlands and Belgium, we provide funerals at our own locations and externally. We ensure that we offer the same high quality and warm services at every location. In Belgium, we also have a repatriation centre. We offer insurance in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.

Because we are a cooperative, our members have an important say in what we do. Via the general meeting, they actively contribute their thoughts about the future of the cooperative and the services that we provide. Their ideas about our insurance policies and locations, for instance, help us make better decisions. Solidarity is at the heart of DELA; it forms the basis of our organisation.

We strive for an affordable and dignified funeral for everyone. Inflation makes funerals more expensive every year, which has an impact on insurance premiums. As a cooperative, we minimise this increase by keeping funeral costs low. Growth and efficient business operations have been key to achieving that since our very beginning. Growth gives us scale advantages, while continuous process improvement enables us to keep costs low and provide high-quality services.

With our collective purchasing power and by investing our premiums, we are able to inflation-proof our funeral insurance and keep increases in premium rates under control. It is not our goal to maximise profit: profit is a means to invest, grow, and strengthen our solid financial basis. That is how we safeguard our future.

Every day, our committed employees are there to serve our members, policyholders, bereaved families, guests, and fellow funeral directors with personal care and attention. We tailor our services to what people really need by listening to what they have to say. We always look to the long term because we also have financial obligations that need to be fulfilled in the distant future. We therefore continue adapting our products, services, and facilities to the changing requirements of customers and to trends in society.

In 2025, we developed a new strategic plan that sets the course for our cooperative for the next five years. We stay true to our core: funeral insurance and funeral services, with care, quality, and commitment. That is where we want to excel and to make a difference for our members and customers – with the cooperative as our compass. As a cooperative, we are guided by what our members need. Their well-being is what drives us. The new strategy gives us a three-pronged approach. We will continuously strengthen our services to improve the well-being of members and customers. We will accelerate innovation through digitalisation, among other things, so that our services better meet the needs of today and tomorrow. And we will take extra steps to support members in their well-being in the period before, during, and after a loved one dies. This course will lead to added value for members and customers, an organisation where employees are proud to work, and sustainable business continuity.

In 2025, our stakeholder dialogue was further intensified to make more targeted use of the outcomes in defining and implementing our strategic course. We drew a distinction in that respect between a dialogue about material topics that are strategically relevant and the regular dialogue via departments and employees. This way of working was developed after consultation within DELA and with external experts; it included defining the protocols for providing the stakeholder groups with feedback.

We will use information from the regular conversations with our stakeholders and the more in-depth discussions about the strategically relevant topics as input for the successful implementation of our strategic course for 2026-2030. We take account of what is important to stakeholders, the environment, and our organisation. By truly engaging in dialogue and gaining insight into our choices, we will succeed in building on long-term relationships and a resilient organisation.

Sustainability and community involvement are becoming increasingly important in the expectations of customers, employees, and partners. In addition, technology, data, and artificial intelligence are changing how we work as they contribute to transparency and remote collaboration and create opportunities for service innovation. Geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and changing laws and regulations make the world less predictable, while the growing number of organisations in the funeral and insurance sector make the playing field more dynamic.

The value creation model shows how an organisation can use its resources and activities to have an impact on people, the environment, and its financial performance.