Symrise Nominated for the German Sustainability Award 2012

Recognizes commitment to vanilla cultivation and farmers in Madagascar. Finalist in the “Germany’s Most Sustainable Initiative” category. Greater integration of sustainability into the corporate strategy.

25 Sep 2012 --- The German Sustainability Award committee has nominated Symrise AG for its approach to the sustainable procurement of vanilla in Madagascar. With this nomination, the company is one of this year’s three finalists in the category “Germany’s Most Sustainable Initiative”. With its approach of supporting the vanilla farmers from cultivation right through to the harvest, as well as local production, Symrise is forging its own entrepreneurially, socially and environmentally responsible path.

For the fifth time, the German Sustainability Award is recognizing companies which take on a special degree of responsibility and combine economic success with social responsibility and environmental protection in an exemplary manner. The award will be presented at the evening event following the German Sustainability Day on December 7, 2012. Symrise submitted an entry in the “Germany’s Most Sustainable Initiative” category and has now been invited to the awards ceremony in Düsseldorf as one of the three finalists. “We are very excited about the nomination. It confirms that we’re on the right path with the ongoing integration of sustainability into our business model,” explained Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, CEO of Symrise AG. “We pursue concrete sustainability targets along our entire value chain. Our motto: Creating value for Symrise, for our clients and for society.”

Symrise’s commitment to sustainability in Madagascar is an expression of this corporate strategy. Every year, the company purchases the vanilla harvested by many thousands of farmers and is one of the spice’s largest buyers on the island. The entire procurement process, starting with cultivation and harvest, right through the fermentation of the vanilla beans up to the extraction of the vanilla, takes place locally. “We are the only company in our industry to produce directly in Madagascar, and in this way we contribute to creating value locally,” explained Stephan Sielaff, Senior Vice President Global Operations, adding, “Thanks to our close cooperation with the vanilla farmers, we know how we can improve their socioeconomic situation by means of targeted measures in the areas of nutrition, health and education.” And the company itself benefits from long-term access to high-quality raw materials and can therefore offer added value in global competition.

To ensure that the social and environmental projects are successful over the long term, Symrise is working together with a network of qualified partners – development aid organizations, NGOs and local farmers’ associations. A public-private partnership with the German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ) has been in place since 2010. “Our goal is to combine sustainability and commercial success. And as sustainability should focus on long-term results, Symrise will continue to commit to Madagascar in future”, summarizes Stephan Sielaff.