AMSTERDAM — Corbion, a supplier of biobased food and biochemical ingredients, has achieved a gold rating in its latest Ecovadis assessment. The independent review, whose findings have just been released, put Corbion in the top three percent of all suppliers audited worldwide across a wide range of industries.

2018 was the third year in which Corbion's CSR practices have been evaluated by Ecovadis, and the gold rating is the culmination of consistent improvements across all the themes assessed: fair business practices, sustainable procurement, labor practices and the environment.

"This is great news both for us internally and for our customers," said Diana Visser, Corbion's Sustainability Director. "While sustainability has been a cornerstone of our business for over a hundred years, its importance and value to customers has soared in recent years. Subjecting ourselves to Ecovadis's rigorous independent scrutiny demonstrates clearly how committed we are to ongoing improvements in CSR."

Ecovadis evaluated Corbion's policies, actions and results across all its production facilities worldwide, and the company scored particularly high in the areas of environment and labor practices.

"Since we achieved our silver rating last year, we've conceived and implemented several new initiatives, which are already bearing fruit," said Visser. "This is particularly the case in sustainable procurement, which is a key focus area for Corbion as it raises the bar across the whole supply chain and delivers further assurance to customers and consumers that their CSR expectations are being met by everyone."

Corbion's participation in Ecovadis began with a request from a single customer. Since then, it has become an integral part of its dealings with many more. Over this time, an increasing number of customers in the food, agrochemicals, pharmaceutical and HPC industries has requested access to Corbion's Ecovadis scorecard through the Ecovadis platform, strengthening the transparency and collaboration that underpin all Corbion's partnerships.

"The Ecovadis recognition supports our entire business strategy of creating sustainable growth," said Marcel Wubbolts, Corbion's CTO. "By reducing our reliance on non-renewable resources, addressing the needs of a growing population and taking care of our people, business partners and the planet, we really do create long-term sustainable growth. It's a journey, and recognition like this is an important milestone in that journey."