“Operating sustainably at all levels of the organisation is an integral part of who we are.” Joe Fabbri, Head of Global EHS and Sustainability.
Sustainability mission
At Givaudan, we approach sustainability by generating solid business performance and growth without depleting resources and taking into account the needs of present and future generations. An integrated approach to sustainability, unifying economic success, environmental and social stewardship, needs to inspire our people, adjust to new customer expectations and make a positive impact in our global and local communities. In this way we can ensure Givaudan’s short-, medium- and long-term success.
As a business driver, sustainability contributes to value creation and is an integral part of our business model. When producing flavours and fragrances we collaborate with our suppliers to ensure they reach best practice in responsible sourcing standards. We constantly look at reducing water use and energy use, waste and carbon emissions at our operations. And our leading scientific research means that customers are benefiting from products that use fewer resources and have a lower environmental impact.
The future still holds new challenges for us, which we are keen to address. We’re working hard to meet the needs of a growing population, discover innovative ways to keep providing a rich variety of flavours and fragrances, and significantly reduce the environmental impact of the materials we manufacture.
Complex challenges require holistic thinking. So we’re working with employees, customers, suppliers, local people in the communities in which we are present, and many other stakeholders all over the world, because only together can we make a positive difference.
> Visit our sustainability section
Our Sustainability Report, written according to the GRI G4 reporting guidelines with ‘Core’ option, will be published in March 2017. In this report we disclose our management and performance information about our environmental, social and economic impacts in 2016.
Innovation is central to our success in driving current and future growth and enhancing our competitive advantage.
It is central to what we commit to our customers, and is more than simply creating something new – for Givaudan, innovation is about doing things differently as well as doing it better and before the competition. It is this culture of innovation that drives us in creating new horizons for our business and offering leading-edge and sustainable solutions to our customers.
As the industry leader, we are expected to be an innovator and our customers look to us to be an innovation partner able to successfully anticipate the future market and customer needs. Our Science and Technology teams help meet these expectations by creating value through innovation that supports and grows the business today and looks as well for opportunities for business growth tomorrow.
In the following sections we outline the approaches we are taking to ensure our long-term innovation success and highlight examples of our innovative technologies and products that underpin our current leadership.
Givaudan Science and Technology
Our innovation is guided centrally by Givaudan Science and Technology (GST), which has among its responsibilities to prioritise innovation opportunities, leverage internal and external capabilities across our two business divisions, and identify together with the divisions strategic opportunities for competitiveness. Led by Chris Thoen, a member of the Executive Committee, GST also aims to strengthen Givaudan’s network of strategic partnerships to become the undisputed partner of choice.
GST’s mission is to drive the long-term development of cost-effective and memorable innovations that surprise and captivate the senses and create new business value. Its strategy is aligned with the 2020 business ambition and has four pillars to guide Givaudan’s innovation.
We seek to ensure a transparent flavour and fragrances portfolio that will drive our mid- to long-term choices in innovation. We want seamless connections between the Science and Technology organisations and our business divisions so we can have a clear view on the choices to make and where we are heading. But how do we know if we are making the right choices? Ways of measuring the success of our innovation decisions will be developed, and this is the second pillar of the GST strategy.
The third pillar is taking the longer term view in shaping the future of our innovation and going beyond our current core activities. We want to prioritise the long-term success of our innovation portfolio and build the required technological capabilities to achieve this vision.
Finally, by connecting and collaborating, we want to strengthen internal collaboration so that we have united and holistic approaches to potential external partners, customers and suppliers. We also want to be more active in the innovation landscape outside Givaudan.
Please read page 20 of the 2016 Annual Report for more information.
The scientists, technologists, flavourists and perfumers in our Science and Technology community are central to the success of our innovation strategy, and we will continue to promote an environment where their learning, creativity and interactions can flourish so they can respond with agility to the ever faster changing needs of the business.
Some of the platforms and products that further establish our innovation leadership position and deepen our capabilities to be the innovative partner of choice are detailed below.
Technologies and products
Using world-class technology platforms, our Science and Technology teams in the two business divisions drive value in innovation so we can engage and delight the senses of consumers around the world. Achievements by these teams during 2016 helped to further establish our leadership position and deepen our capability to be the innovation partner of choice.
Please read pages 64-65 of the 2016 Annual Report for more information.
Our supply chain is under increasing pressure, compelling us towards excellence and agility.
Procurement
We source more than 10,000 different synthetic and natural ingredients from over 100 countries. Our network includes more than 3,000 raw material suppliers and more than 12,000 indirect material and services suppliers. These procurement activities are influenced by a changing external environment: the fast-growing global population is increasing demand; consumers are more connected and better informed, driving us to higher standards of compliance with sustainability specifications; and digitalisation is enhancing business intelligence and support to meet consumers’ need for transparency.
To prepare for the future, we are going beyond the traditional approach to procurement by creating closer partnerships with suppliers, based on solid governance and innovative business models.
This new approach ensures that our activities create shared value with our customers, our business and our suppliers. It is the underlying theme of our new procurement strategy developed in 2016.
Guided by this strategy, our team will focus on four key areas: cost and cash, risk, innovation and responsible sourcing. In all four areas we will ensure excellence and differentiation through talent development, state-of-the-art systems and business intelligence.
Through cost and cash leadership we aim to secure meaningful financial results for the business divisions. An increased focus on collaborative value creation on top of traditional supplier relationship management will make Givaudan and its suppliers connect as their mutual partner of choice.
Supply or price volatility will be mitigated through a robust cross-functional risk management process, differentiating business models such as long-term partnerships, and direct presence and collaboration in countries of origin with producers and suppliers.
Please read pages 66-68 of the 2016 Annual Report for more information.
Supply chain
In 2016, building on the solid foundations of the global supply chain excellence programme of 2011-2015, we defined our internal 2020 strategy for the supply chain function, to aim at improving customer service levels and satisfaction while optimising inventory and supply chain costs.
Both business divisions improved their service levels during the year and continued work on further reducing supply chain cost ratios. This was done through a combined effort of the Flavour Division and Fragrance Division and supported by the fully deployed SAP platform and leveraging on the tools and processes developed by the supply chain excellence programme.
The strong collaboration between the divisional supply chain organisations and procurement is resulting in valuable synergies on risk management, supplier inbound optimisation and transport costs transparency.
Collaboration with sales teams and customers is vital in our strategy to collect reliable forecast information as part of the sales and operations process.
Agility and a customer-centric mindset will be central themes to our supply chain journey in 2017-2020. Our shared mission is to deliver superior value to our customers through agile, reliable service and continuity of supply at optimised cost and with minimal environmental impact.
It is our mission to foster a great place to work where our people impact their world and contribute to making a positive difference.
We value our employees around the world, which is why it is our mission to foster an environment where our people can grow and shape their world and feel empowered to contribute to the Company’s success. This environment must also be safe and healthy and we encourage responsible practices at the workplace and beyond. Safety behaviour and awareness are embedded in Givaudan’s culture.
Our people
At Givaudan we understand that fostering a great place to work where our people impact their world and contribute to our success is an important driver for growth. We build upon the successful foundations of our existing approaches to ensure that we improve how we manage and motivate our people. In 2016, we revised our Human Resources strategy in line with our 2020 business ambitions, to capitalise on internal opportunities and embrace external trends.
Our 2020 people strategy is developed around three themes which support our business, our people and our culture to adapt to future demands.
Please read pages 69-72 of the 2016 Annual Report for more information.
Environment, health and safety (EHS)
The EHS function creates value for the Company by safeguarding the health and safety of its people, assets and the environment.
Our mission goes beyond rules and processes, aiming at empowering all employees to take responsibility in safeguarding the environment and protecting people’s health and safety. EHS is an integral part of our Company culture.
We are well on our way to achieving excellence in safety, an example being the reduction of 65% in lost-time injuries at the global level. Another example is in Brazil, where in 2016, Givaudan was awarded first place in the category of Safety Management and Occupational Health in the DuPont annual safety and health awards for 2015. The award acknowledged work over the previous five years for developing an EHS strategy, reducing accidents and promoting a better safety culture.
After the successful conclusion of our 2011-2015 strategy, EHS launched a revised 2020 strategy in 2016 which goes beyond the traditional focus on manufacturing. This strategy is based on the three pillars of safeguarding our ability to deliver to customers, implementing a risk management system, and embedding EHS in our business culture.
Please read pages 72-73 of the 2016 Annual Report for more information.
Innovative technologies, big data and predictive analytics will change the way companies do business.
In 2016, in pursuing our goal to better leverage innovative technology and offer superior business services, the Global IT organisation adopted its strategy accordingly and amended its name to Global Information Management & Technology (IM&T). It is also the first function to join Givaudan Business Solutions, the new global business organisation announced in 2016 to respond to the fast-evolving trends that will shape our industry and our business.
Global Information Management & Technology
Information Management and Technology (IM&T) better reflects the solutions and services offered that go beyond pure technical services. Fabien Jaunault, Head of IM&T, is responsible for driving the strategy and day-to-day business operations in IM&T, bringing the right vision to lead the Company successfully through the rapid digital revolution we are witnessing today.
In 2016, we continued to support our business in developing differentiating services and new ways of working with our customers, partners and employees by optimally leveraging digital trends and technology. For example, during the year, we launched mobile versions of our brief management tools (iBee for Fragrances and iAtlas for Flavours) to help commercial and development teams collaborate on customer briefs in real time, on the bench, or on the move. In supporting the business to provide the best customer experience, our lavender and citrus 360° videos were introduced to take customers on a journey discovering our naturals in the field through virtual reality. To better engage with our customers in key markets, we launched the Japanese version of our Corporate website specifically tailored to the needs of our customers, partners and key stakeholders in the Japanese market.
IM&T continued strengthening our big data capabilities. We have identified a number of opportunities and executed several projects as predictive analysis touching different domains of the value chain such as procurement, sales or creation. The IM&T team has also been working to support Givaudan’s growth with the integration of Spicetec into our systems platform; this integration will continue in 2017. Similarly, our Active Beauty business is benefiting from its integration into our global systems, as are our Soliance and Induchem North America activities; the integration of Induchem in Europe will continue in 2017.
IM&T aims to continue delivering competitive advantage through innovative IT solutions, accompanying Givaudan in its growth and adapting quickly to the digital world.