Improve Consumer Trust with Sustainable and Ethical Supply Chains

Supply Chains Drive Modern Marketing 

Modern marketing is designed to help customers vote with their wallet by clearly aligning a product with their lifestyle values. For example, Millennials doubt corporate impact, but reward “clean” principles. The Deloitte Millennial survey, conducted each year as a bell weather for consumer purchasing drivers, indicates that 38% of millennials have started or deepened business relationships because they believe a company’s products or services are having positive impacts on society and/or the environment. i The good news is that brands now have ample opportunity to meet this demand – from cause marketing campaigns to sustainable packaging innovations. Yet, while these tactics attract immediate visibility, brand leaders gain long-term trust when they embrace a 360-degree values system to promote sustainability. This holistic approach should be part of a new modern era of marketing. Supply chains are at the heart of this system and can bolster consumer trust in an era in which digital natives spend more than 3.5 hours on their phones and expect immediate access to ingredient sourcing data.ii    

Three Supply Chain Commitments to Underpin Modern Marketing

1. Commit to measurement

Reducing your C02 footprint and improving environmental or social impacts starts with defining and optimizing an end-to-end Supply Chain strategy to reduce waste, improve efficiencies, and conserve natural resources. Identifying GHG outputs, land use, energy use, and water use metrics can start the conversation. Companies that work towards this effort will be leaders of the pack. For instance, many suppliers are lagging in implementing carbon reduction efforts. Although the number of global suppliers that met the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) “A” list for transparency and environmental action increased 45 percent from 2019 to 2020, that only represents 5% of the 5,800+ companies scored by CDP on their climate change, forests and water security disclosures.iii  The beauty and personal care industry in particular can lead this change when everyone in an organization, from marketing directors to logistic managers, work to achieve a common set of goals. Examples of measurement tools and organizations include the UN Global Compact, Ecovadis, or the Global Reporting Initiative. 

2. Commit to internal buy-in

Measurement requires a commitment from those in charge of achieving sustainability goals. Amyris, for instance, developed key steps to ensure buy-in from the entire organization including R&D labs, direct to consumer brands, and supply chain systems. This process resulted in a variety of impacts. For example, in 2019 Amyris scientists removed inefficient and unnecessary freezers and implemented a system to track defrosting which saved 30-40% in energy and won the My Green lab award which was featured in Nature. In 2020, Biossance committed to carbon neutral shipments. In 2021 and beyond we will continue to build on these important milestones. Based on this experience, these key steps can help ensure brand achieves internal buy-in:

Designate a working group of leaders across divisions 

• Assess baseline energy, water and waste profiles
• Determine validation frameworks through third parties 
• Evaluate what to measure, when, and how
• Determine principles for how to reduce waste and increase efficiency for each segment of the organization
• Build excitement within the organization with champions and communications 

3. Commit to consumer transparency

The hard work of improving supply chains can turn into a compelling value proposition for consumers demanding transparency. According to the Women’s Facial Skincare Consumer Report by the NPD group, nearly 50 percent of women surveyed preferred to research products online before making a purchase. The study also found brands making a public commitment to ingredient transparency have higher awareness-to-purchase conversions. iv Choosing ingredients that not only are ethically and sustainably sourced, but also carry third party certifications can empower communications to consumers. Formulation briefs should ensure that ingredients meet this criterion when possible.

How Bonsucro Certification Can Sustain Growth for Decades 

Bonsucro certification is a premier example of how ingredient sourcing can underpin modern marketing and supply chain commitments. Amyris products are derived from sugarcane fermentation and we have certified this feedstock against the Bonsucro Chain of Custody Certification to provide brands, manufacturers, and partners the highest level of transparent, ethical, and sustainable ingredient sourcing. The certification covers all elements of the sugarcane supply chain, including, farmers, millers, traders, buyers and support organizations. 

Amyris, in partnership with Raizen, recently launched Clean Ethanol, a non-GMO ethanol sourced from sustainable and renewable sugarcane backed by the Bonsucro Chain of Custody Certification. Brands that use Amyris’ clean ethanol, which is a drop-in replacement for traditional ethanol lacking transparency, benefit in specific ways because it ensures:  

• Support for non-GMO feedstock claims 

• Sustainability claims that are traceable from farmer to end user 
• Ethical and fair-trade practices 
• Commitment to supply chain transparency 
• Fair wages and safe working conditions for farmers and facility workers 

The Chain of custody standard uses the principle of mass balance for traceability of sustainability claims, ensures all links in supply chain certified, and complies with 100% of indicators to reduce C02 emissions. Bonsucro Impact projects support inclusive economic growth and safety standards reduce accident rates, wages are 20% above national average and certified mills use less water, and certified mills reduce C02 emissions compared to non-certified mills.  

By using ingredients certified against Bonsucro, new product development teams gain an effective ingredient with a genuine sustainability story, sourcing teams gain peace of mind via third party certifications, and consumers are re-assured that the product they choose to spend their hard-earned money aligns with their own aspirational values.  

The result is a 360-degree strategy with 360-degree results.