Givaudan senses the challenge and opportunity in getting it right

Have you ever wondered what’s involved in making every-day, consumer products taste and smell great, and what needs to be done to improve the sustainability of these products?

Givaudan has. As the largest manufacturer of fragrances and flavours in the world, with sourcing from over 14,000 different raw materials to make ingredients for products ranging from fine fragrances to fabric, personal and household care products as well as soft drinks, ready-made meals, dairy and sweet goods, Givaudan knows their sustainability challenges are significant, and their efforts can have enormous reach throughout whole value chains.

To meet this complex challenge head-on, Givaudan turned to The Natural Step and its whole systems approach, and great progress has been made. Over the last 18 months Givaudan has, among other things:

• Fostered commitment from senior management and internal leaders to create an overarching structure for their sustainability programme
• Established 5 strategic “pillars” covering the full life cycle range of their products.
• Defined clear and measurable ultimate aspirations to turn these pillars into tangible goals
• Gathered baseline data to measure current progress
• Piloted new approaches to assess performance using robust sustainability principles
• Launched an internal education campaign and activated new teams with the mandate to embed sustainability across the business.
• Expanded its fair and sustainable sourcing programme

“We have put an overarching programme in place to better coordinate our efforts and drive sustainability principles right across our organization and beyond. Givaudan, as an innovator and market pioneer, has a key responsibility to lead this process in the favours and fragrances industry.”
CEO Gilles Andrier

This week Givaudan is launching their inaugural sustainability report, which sets out the new vision and roadmap, underpinned by The Natural Step Framework. By partnering with The Natural Step, Givaudan has been able to take a step back, see the big picture and set up the structures that will help them manage their sustainability journey effectively.

With vision and strategy based on science-based sustainability principles they have created a clear picture of the company’s value proposition, activities and role within a sustainable society.  Watch this space as Givaudan follows its new roadmap for success.

More about Givaudan’s sustainability efforts can be found at www.givaudan.com.