Germany-headquartered Symrise joins the European Brands Association (AIM) in its global initiative AIM-Progress to unite consumer goods manufacturers with suppliers committed to ethical and sustainable supply chains.

Speaking to FoodIngredientsFirst, Helmut Frieden, vice president of corporate sustainability explains how Symrise will accept only fair and equitable labor conditions in its supply chain.

The move comes amid pressure from consumers and government alike to ensure more transparent and resilient supply chains.

Last month, the German government reached an agreement to implement the Supply Chain Act, which will require companies to carry out due diligence regarding human rights and environmental issues along the supply chain from 2024. 

“Symrise has committed to the rapid implementation of the Supply Chain Act,” affirms Frieden.

Transparency “top priority”
Being a member of AIM-Progress, Symrise will be able to evaluate its main suppliers according to sustainability criteria, which include labor, environment, health and safety as well as business integrity, such as anti-corruption or anti-bribery. 

“Our customers’ demands for sustainability and fair wages are increasing. As a member of AIM-Progress, Symrise can improve in this area and make its supply chains sustainable efficiently,” Frieden adds. 

Consumer concerns over their F&B products’ origins are highlighted in Innova Market Insights’ Top Ten Trend for 2021: “Transparency Triumphs.”

“Ultimately, we together as supply chain members are interested in sustainable supply chains to meet consumer demands. Our customers consider it top priority to support and improve their brands sustainably,” says Frieden.  

Building bridges between parties 
AIM-Progress provides members with a forum for collaborative exchange, mutual audit recognition and networking to build synergies with other initiatives. 

Bernhard Kott, chief sustainability officer at Symrise, explains that the membership will help improve existing processes.

“We have set out the framework for responsible procurement in our Supplier Guidelines and our Supplier Code of Conduct, which we developed in 2016,” explains Kott. 

“Thanks to the mutual recognition of audits, we can, for example, assess our suppliers more quickly according to sustainability criteria.”

Furthermore, it enables the development of joint strategies between customers and suppliers to make supply chains more sustainable and equitable. 

Symrise to expand its assessment of suppliers
AIM-Progress has developed a four-stage process that checks compliance with common quality standards, among other things. 

This allows participating companies to see, which suppliers have already been assessed and how, for example in terms of sustainability criteria and quality.

Symrise uses around 10,000 mainly natural raw materials from more than 1,000 suppliers from over 100 countries for its products. 

The company has already assessed more than two-thirds of its main suppliers according to sustainability criteria, which together account for 80 percent of its procurement volume. 

By 2025, this figure is expected to rise to 100 percent and consequently, the procurement volume covered is expected to reach 90 percent.

“In order to cover our total raw material portfolio, we are interested in the entirety of our raw materials, big and small volumes alike,” affirms Frieden. 

“We will obtain a very good overview of the sustainability performance of our suppliers and raw materials at the end of our journey.” 

Focus on ethical workforce
In addition, AIM-Progress looks at human rights compliance throughout the supply chain. It provides information on how companies can verify human rights compliance, how workers can report violations and how companies can procure goods from sustainable sources. 

In doing so, it helps members develop auditing procedures for suppliers, as well as establish opportunities for employee involvement and ensure the payment of fair wages. 

Fair supply chains are another area of development that Symrise has been involved in before the membership with AIM. Last September, Diana Food, part of the Symrise Group, launched a clean label, organic and fair trade-certified acerola powder.

Symrise also works with ethical supply chain platform SEDEX and environmental organization EcoVadis to advance its sustainable goals.