Responsible sourcing
The partnerships we build with our suppliers are paramount. We are developing pathways, (for example with our botanical extracts) to source locally, both reducing our environmental impact and supporting local farmers. Each of our suppliers undergoes a selection process that ensures they meet strict ethical and environmental criteria.
As we move towards a predominantly biobased portfolio, we want to understand and respect the pivotal role of nature and biodiversity. We do this through collaboration with respected groups such as Action for Sustainable Derivatives (with whom we are founder members), the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil and the Sustainable Castor Association.
We also have 12 field verifications performed by the Union for Ethical BioTrade within our actives supply chain. UEBT member companies commit to ensuring that their sourcing practices gradually advance sustainable business growth, local development and biodiversity conservation.
Using plant biotechnology, in particular ‘plant cell culture’, we are able to produce active cosmetic ingredients with substantiated efficacy and guaranteed reproducibility while significantly limiting our impact on biodiversity. A limited quantity of plant material is required to produce the active product, removing issues associated with conventional cultivation methods.
We have also developed an externally verified Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool, with which we are conducting both cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-grave assessment on our ingredients. This work gives us detailed insights, helping us to decide where we can implement the most impactful improvements to make our ingredients more sustainable - be that through a change in the raw materials used or an alteration in the way it is manufactured.