Symrise achieves UEBT membership

09-Jan-2019 - Last updated on 09-Jan-2019 at 09:50 GMT

The first leading flavor & fragrance house to join UEBT as a whole, Symrise has made strides in asserting its credentials when it comes to biodiversity conservation and ethical sourcing: two hot topics under the umbrella of sustainability.

The company has successfully passed the UEBT membership assessment and is now expanding its UEBT membership to the entire corporation.

What is the UEBT?

The Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) is a non-profit association that promotes sourcing with respect.

It has been internationally recognized for its work advancing business contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

UEBT supports and verifies companies’ commitments to innovation and sourcing that contribute to a world in which people and biodiversity thrive, the organisation states.

“Engaging for people and biodiversity in times of global environmental change and social transition is in the self-interest of our company,” says Dr. Heinz Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise.

“For this reason, we do everything to ensure that our sourcing systems operate well within planetary, social and ethical boundaries and continuously provide our markets with precious natural raw materials.”

How has Symrise earned this membership?

For a couple of years, Symrise Madagascar and Brazil have been members of the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), but not the whole company.

During this time, they have been successfully implementing a number of comprehensive programs. They are designed to promote sustainable cultivation and collection practices for natural raw materials and socioeconomic support for local smallholder farmers and collectors.

Symrise is now set to roll these practices out across its whole business and supply chain.

“We congratulate Symrise on its company-wide commitment to sourcing with respect for people and biodiversity,” says Rik Kutsch Lojenga, ED of UEBT.

“As a precondition to becoming a global UEBT member, Symrise has successfully passed a membership assessment where adherence of the company’s biodiversity policy commitments and its ethical sourcing system with the key indicators of the UEBT Ethical BioTrade Standard has been verified,” he explains.

“In addition, Symrise has developed work plans to continuously improve its management systems and procedures to promote positive impact for people and biodiversity across its entire business ecosystem.”