Bringing you closest to the source of vanilla with a fully integrated and sustainable vanilla supply chain!
29 Jun 2021 | Symrise
Consumers want to know where their favorite vanilla comes from, who has grown the beans, under which conditions, and how this impacts the planet. Today's vanilla lovers regard these factors as crucial elements in their purchasing decision. This requires high-quality vanilla delivery that brings certainty and mutual growth through a transparent supply chain. Find out how Symrise can bring you closest to the source of "the queen of spices."
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Welcome to this webinar where we will introduce you to how SimRice creates value for consumers, customers, and farmers in the world of vanilla.
We are going to bring you closest to the source of vanilla during the next hour.
We are all living in a very particular demanding context today, and it's important to take that into consideration, not only for us as a business, but also for us as consumers of vanilla, a spice and a taste we all love.
I think we all agree that today it is very clear that consumers want to know where their favorite vanilla comes from.
At the same time, we know that about 80% of the world's vanilla supply comes from Madagascar, a country where farmers who grow vanilla undergo climate change, hurricanes, market volatility, price fluctuations, all of parameters that add pressure to their livelihood conditions and to vanilla as a whole.
That is today's Vanilla context and sets the scene for our next presentation.
Hello there and welcome to today's webinar, which is hosted by Food Ingredients First and sponsored by SimRse.
My name is Gaya Selby, an editor at CNS Media, and I'm today's moderator.
CNS Media is the publisher of the world of food ingredients, food ingredients first, and nutrition insight.
This webinar from SimRse is about bringing you closest to the source of vanilla with a fully integrated and sustainable vanilla supply.
Consumers want to know where their favorite vanilla comes from, who's grown the beans, under which conditions, and how this impacts the planet.
Today's vanilla lovers regard these factors as crucial elements in their purchasing decisions.
This requires the delivery of high quality vanilla that brings certainty and mutual growth through a transparent supply chain.
Shinrise creates the vanilla flavors enjoyed across the world, from delicious ice cream applications to crunchy biscuits.
Working with a network of Madagascan farmers, Sinrise sustainably sources vanilla, ensuring that it's traceable and of premium quality.
Shortly, Yanique Lean, Global tastes competence director Vanilla at Symrise will reveal how the company can bring you closest to the source of the Queen of spices and take you through the journey in Madagascar.
Yannick has 15 years' experience in the flavor industry and holds his current strategic role on vanilla for the past 5 years.
He's passionate about vanilla and the island of Madagascar.
During his presentation, you will discover how Simrise delivers high quality vanilla while at the same time exerts a positive impact on the vanilla growing communities in Madagascar and their environment.
See how direct partnerships with the farmers who grow vanilla for their living can add to the control of the entire chain of vanilla production from the beans.
Before handing over a quick reminder that there will be time to address any questions that you may have at the end of this webinar in a live question and answer session with Yannik and myself.
This webinar will also be available on demand on food ingredientsfirst.com and a link will be emailed to you after the presentation.
OK, Yannick, over to you.
Thank you, Gaynor.
So as explained in the, in the prefix, and in the context, by Gaynor and myself, there is a specific context in Vanilla, and that specific context leads also into very specific industry pain points.
I think we all know and have to face challenges around security of supply.
We have challenges on quality.
We have, of course, challenges about the sustainability of the sourcing and over the last years as , the challenges around the price volatility.
And that is the reality we all live in now.
Our answer to this and how we bring value and benefits to the cus to our customers is all about Sirice bringing you closest to the source of vanilla in Madagascar.
During this webinar and in the next couple of slides, we will explain to you which benefits we bring by being closest to the source of vanilla and how we deliver these benefits through the choices we make.
So first we will focus on the different benefits we deliver to the industry.
By being closest to the source, we have a secured supply to our customers.
We guarantee that by our local presence 365 days a year.
We ensure maximum traceability again by being closest to the source.
We are also closest to every farmer we work with.
We know every farmer we work with, and we have our supply chains certified by third parties.
In addition to that, we have a very strong focus on quality, so we deliver the highest quality vanilla solutions to our customers by managing the entire vanilla supply chain from farm to final, final vanilla solution.
On top of that, we continue to develop and innovate together with farmers, together with our flavorist, together with our application technologists to support our growth, your growth together for the future.
And as explained by Gayor already in the introduction, a very strong part of our approach is we impact people's lives.
We partner up with local, local communities.
We create real value with them the whole year round, and that's the cornerstone of our approach.
And I'll explain to you, I'll explain that a little bit later as.
Because we've understood that behind vanilla there is life.
We've understood that we have to work together with farmers in order to have the best supply of vanilla.
That is why we're closest to the source.
We are closest to the source to grow together with our customers, but also to grow together with our partnering farmers in Madagascar.
The cornerstone of our approach is the way we have set up our unique network in Madagascar.
We have a direct cooperation with vanilla farmers as the only flavor house in the industry.
We have done that and we have revolutionized our approach for over a decade now, and our approach is delivering secured long-term supply, traceability, and quality to the food industry.
Now, how do we do that?
We've, we've, we've come across and I've explained a little bit the benefits we're delivering to you.
I've explained how our supply chain and our approach is by a direct partnership with farmers.
Now I'll, now I'll go a little bit more in detail how we've constructed, how we've built our approach over the years by being closest to the source.
So first and foremost, We have a very strong mindset on building trust and transparency.
We create long-term partnerships with our farmers.
We create trust through those partnerships with them.
At the same time, because we own the full vanilla transformation, we can provide the transparency from that farmer to the final solution to our customers.
And on top of that we have invested in a full-fledged quality lab on Madagascar where we control the quality through the full process, which again reinforces the trust and the transparent supply we can deliver.
Maximum traceability is a very important issue and benefit for the industry nowadays.
And this is a claim that is often used by many, often also followed by very complicated explanations of how this is achieved.
Now at SimR it is very simple.
We know every farmer we work with because we are 365 days a year on the ground and we are very close to them.
We have detailed knowledge, knowledge of every farmer, who they are, where they are, how they grow the vanilla beans.
We are fully vertical, vertically integrated from being to bikes.
And that that ultimately delivers the traceability that our customers and their consumers are looking for.
Our traceability is also verified by third party certifiers, that is additionally offering a value to customers and consumers as.
Now, we've spoken a little bit about the quality and the focus of the quality that we have to ensure the highest quality standards and the highest quality solutions to our customers.
Now.
The focus on quality we have is consistent.
It is not only at the very end of the supply chain, it really goes back to farm level.
And I've explained a little bit in the beginning that our cornerstone is really being closest to the source and closest to the farmers because we've actually understood that every farmer is different, every farm is different, so we are going to every farmer individually to consult with them and support them technically with consultancy in order to improve their crop quality and improve their yields.
That is very important.
Now, on top of that, our quality lab, as I explained before, is enabling us to scientifically analyze the bean quality we get from our farmers and really monitor that on a very detailed level.
And the results we get from that quality lab again, they go back to our farmers.
We share these results with them.
We consult with them, and therefore we create, together with the farmer network, we have a common sense of quality and the ambitions we have in terms of quality.
Now I've explained as before that we've understood that if you want good vanilla, traceable vanilla, high quality vanilla, we need to make sure that the people, the farmer communities that grow vanilla are having progress as and are thriving.
Now we support vanilla farming communities as a as a part of our approach with the most holistic, sustainable development program in the industry.
Today, over 34,000 people benefit from our program, that is a program that increases resilience to economical and environmental shocks.
Through actions and approaches like health insurance and as education support.
Many of our actions as also are increasing income security towards our farmers.
As I explained in the beginning, farmers do suffer from price fluctuations, do suffer from economical shocks.
So it is important that increase their income security.
We do that through, for example, financial and business trainings in farmer business schools and as providing them opportunities to diversify their income through growing different crops.
Now that is important that we can do that because we are not only present during the harvest times, we are present during the whole or closest to the source during the whole full cycle of vanilla 365 days a year, and that is a key differentiator to our approach.
Now, in summary, we can say that growing together really happens through cooperation, and that's the way we've set our approach up.
We really consider farmer communities as our partners.
We are relying on them for traditional know-how on vanilla.
They're also supplying them really important information from the field, what they're seeing, and of course, they're also providing us with the access to the raw material and the flexibility to cope with, fluctuations in demand as we've seen over the last months, during COVID times.
For example, now, in return, our approach is we, we provide our farmer communities with sustainable development program.
We provide them technical support to make sure that they can use and produce the best vanilla for us, and we're present all year long, during the year.
Now that is really the cornerstone again of our approach is our local team.
Our local team is closest to the source in Madagascar, and they have a really trusted relationship with the farming communities we work with.
Now, as I've explained before, vanilla is really connected to nature, and Madagascar is a country where as climate change is showing its effect.
Now, as you might know, vanilla is an agroforestry crop, so the health of the very precious biodiverse environment of Madagascar is critically important for vanilla, but also for the planet.
That is why we're heavily invested and heavily investing in protecting the biodiversity there.
We do that by raising awareness to the younger generation through education programs.
We also train our farmers how they can preserve ecosystems in our farmer business schools.
We provide them tools how they can do that there.
Now, at the same time, we've.
Together with our farming communities, are diversifying their activities by providing them agroforestry crops, preserving the local biodiversity as.
Now, and, and on top of that, we are constantly consulting, innovating, and sharing best practices with our farming communities in order that they can improve their productivity and they can produce more with the same land they have.
Now that is really critically important and not only now but for the future survival of vanilla as a crop.
Now in the next video we will show you how that works and how our team is closest to the source with the farmers to really protect the biodiversity in Madagascar.
Za.
As you have been able to witness in the previous slides and in the video you have just seen, our project and approach in Madagascar is the most holistic one in the industry.
We do not only achieve that by being closest to the source 365 days a year, but also by working together with a large network of partners.
Both public like GIZ or BMZ or NGOs like the MFR Meson Familial Rural or the UEBT Union of Ethical Biotrade.
And working and working side by side with third-party certifiers like Rainforest Alliance.
It really is that network of partners and the collaboration between us and these different partners that makes the difference.
It is a true example of how SDG 17 Partnerships for the goals brings exponential value.
Now we've we've been speaking a lot about our approach in Madagascar now, and now I would like to zoom in a little bit more on how we use these very precious and rich vanilla beans we receive from our farmers to produce the best products and solutions to our customers.
We are using the best beans we receive from our farmers in the best extraction processes to ultimately deliver the best solutions.
Now By being closest to the source, we understand vanilla inside out.
We are constantly investing in innovating approaches both in Madagascar as as in our development centers around the world.
We're decoding and have decoded the vanilla taste over the course of our experience, and we are investing in consumer studies to understand what consumers expect today.
That ultimately delivers us a very strong vanilla innovation pipeline that continuously has projects to make sure we keep our portfolio optimized for the taste consumers really love.
Our portfolio now is one of the most holistic in the industry with solutions going from certified extracts to natural flavors and flavors.
So over the last couple of slides we've explained to you our approach by being closest to the source.
Now we've nearly come to the end of our session.
I would actually like to give the last word to our committed team in Madagascar.
This is An illustration of how Simrais and the team we have locally really go the extra mile to be closest to the source and deliver value to our customers and our consumers.
In the video, you will see how this happens and the motivation our team has on the ground.
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Yes anemolozing Latin tuntulombanvul that's tunulombanvulzeng gravuni manakurawanga mamoon's twingambanvulze.
It's called.
So with this we're coming to the end of our session.
Sira is bringing you closest to the source of vanilla in Madagascar.
It's all about delivering three main key benefits to you, our customers.
We are delivering security of supply both in volume as as in quality.
We're delivering the highest quality and the highest traceable vanilla beans and vanilla products in the industry.
And at the same time we strive for mutual growth, mutual growth to our customers, but also to our partnering farmers in Madagascar.
So thank you for tuning in today.
Now we'll go to the question and answer session.
Great presentation Yannick, thanks very much for sharing your insights with us and our audience.
Now let's begin with our Q&A session because we've got some very good questions coming in from the audience.
Let's start with a question about, about the work of Symrise.
One of our listeners asked how does Simrise stand apart from its competitors?
Yeah, thank you for, for that question, Gaynor, and thank you for the question from the audience.
I, you know, as, as we've, as we've explained in the, in the presentation, we're, we're basically, we're basically standing apart from competition on a number of levels.
And, you know, we can summarize it on three main points I would say.
One is, one is, one is, you know, we're closest to the source and we're.
You know, we're having the largest scale in terms of our projects on the ground.
We reach a large number.
Of, farmers there, and we do that, and that's the second point by a local presence, yeah, we do that through being 365 days a year on the ground, not only during harvest times, and that's, by the way, something that we get played back very, very often by the farmers themselves is that they say that they see sea rise.
All year round they see our employees, our team on the ground all year round, and not just during harvest, in July and August.
And I think the, the 3rd, the 3rd element where we really stand apart is the, the, the holistic approach, the multitude of actions we take in Madagascar.
I think we've, we've really understood that, you know, there is not a, a silver bullet to, to the challenges, in the supply chain, and in the value chain.
So we've, we've, you know, we have set up a, a large number of actions, a large number of, partnerships.
On the ground that really make a difference.
And it's that coordination of these actions, the coordination of the, , the different partners, the collaboration of the partners between farmers that, that makes, that makes really the difference, yeah, and, and I can, I can also name, you know, make 11 concrete example of how it really works.
We've explained in the beginning that, you know, that there are, , you know, challenges in terms of quality for the vanilla supply.
We've, we've, we've invested, in a full-fledged quality lab, in, the Saba region, as the only flavor house, having that there, we're, we're able actually to now measure the quality of the beans that we get from the farming communities we we work with, and that, that information.
Is, is used for us of course but also for our relationship with farmers so we share that information openly with them, we interact with them, we consult with them and how we can continue to, grow and improve the quality we're looking for, you know, we're creating a common sense of quality, and, and we can only do that because we're, you know, we're on the ground, we're there 365 days a year and we have.
You know, that, that holistic view of different elements coming together, of, collaboration.
OK, I see clearly you do lots of good work on the ground there and our listeners are picking up on that.
So somebody's asking why is it now so important to support farming communities in Madagascar to have high quality vanilla?
It's, it's, it's always been, it's not only now, it's, it's always been really important to be very close to farming communities.
And those of you who are on the line, and, and I know many of you, , that are working with us, who have been with us to Madagascar know that, the environment there is, is such that, every, every farmer is different, yeah.
So every reality or every farmer farmer's reality is different.
So, you need to be very close to them to understand what, the challenges are they have, how they are, coping with, the challenges they, they, they're having, and, then offering, services, solutions to, how they can improve, their livelihood conditions.
And it's been, you know, it's been, it's been really important to do so, and it will be so in the future because, you know, we, we, we know that when farming communities are, are doing , they can also, you know, they can also focus and, and they can also work on the vanilla crop in a focused way.
So many of you know that as , farming communities in Madagascar.
Have a, have, have a major challenge.
Yeah, they have 11 crop a year, and that is taking place in July and August, and with that one crop they need to generate income.
They need to provide for their family.
They need to provide for their kids, and so on, and that is often a very stressful situation, certainly in times when.
Vanilla bean prices are fluctuating.
It can be very stressful for farmers, and, we know that if they are, you know, not having the right support, not having the right, ecosystem around them.
That it's very difficult for them to cope with that.
So, sometimes they are stressed to leave the vanilla beans too long on or or not long enough on the vine, which then leads into lower quality vanilla bean cells or lower matured vanilla beans being harvested, and that's then very negative for the quality in the end that comes out of the process, so.
It really goes hand in hand, yeah, working together with farmers, support, supporting them, providing them with support is also about making positive impact, and it is about, , you know, making sure that the supply of vanilla is one of high quality and is a secured supply in the future as.
OK, I see.
And what about any effects of climate change in Madagascar?
Yeah, that is actually a very good question.
I, I think we're, we're, we, we, we need to be aware of that, and we have, , we're, we're seeing, you know, we're seeing the effects of climate change in Madagascar.
Yeah, we've, for example, during the last, flowering season, we've, we've seen that there has been a longer period of drought in Madagascar.
And that, you know, is, is something that we see reoccurring over the, over the last years.
We've, we're seeing that periods of drought are there and that has an effect on how many flowers are then on the vanilla plants.
And therefore also can be having an effect or could be having an effect in the future in how many vanilla beans will be, will farmers be able to produce, on their, their land.
So, it is extremely important to be aware of those effects.
It is again an extremely important signal for us to make sure that we have the right services in place.
To help farmers to cope with the climate change effect.
That's also why the reasons why we've invested in an innovation center in the Saba regions close to, close to our factory in Benavoni, where we're actually testing the effects of, for example, you know, irrigation, the effects of dryness, droughts on , on, on, on, on flowering and how, we can help farmers to implement, changes and tools to, cope with that and, , continue to guarantee an income from, from vanilla.
Hm, OK, Yan, thanks for that.
Let's move on to our next question because we've got some great questions coming in from our audience now.
One listener asks, do you make the field level activities and details available to your customers?
Can a potential customer see activities and progress in the field as and when they happen?
Yeah, thank you, and, thank you for that question.
Absolutely, I think this is, for us a really important part of, working together with customers as partners, so, you know, many of, many of you are on the line as.
We have a very close partnership with, with our customers, and we're.
You know, we're sharing the progress with them.
We cannot do that in real life, so we cannot show that as it happens in real life in Madagascar.
But we're definitely sharing the progress we're making we're definitely sharing also the the the support we get from our partners specifically if our customers are are co-investing and co creating solutions for our partnering farmers we're of course sharing the progress of these programs.
Mm, I see.
And we've got some more questions coming in, they've touched on it, but people are really interested in how SI rise can contribute to the better quality of life for the farmers in Madagascar.
If you could just go into a bit more detail.
Yeah, indeed we've already touched on that a little bit before.
There's a number of, number of examples that we can, we can, we can mention here, you know, , I've mentioned before, a, a vanilla farm, or a vanilla farmer in Madagascar with the one crop he has, , is, is, a main issue for them is cash flow.
Yeah, it is really about how making sure that the income he generates from that crop can, , you know, can provide for his family.
So we're, you know, we're providing support, into, into that specifically.
So how can we help.
Farmers to plan financially how can we help farmers to increase yields from their vanilla plots so that they can generate more income, more volume from their land.
We're also providing them with opportunities to diversify their crops so that they are.
Able to generate income in other parts of the year, yeah, and, and, and that's also critically important.
Here I can, I can really mention the importance of one particular effort we're, we're undertaking in, in Madagascar.
This is the, diversification we offer to farmers through, ginger.
So, partnering farmers are growing ginger, as , and that ginger crop, actually is.
Or the ginger harvest is actually just before the vanilla harvest takes place.
So really just before the income from vanilla comes in, and this is right at the time when what we call lean season, so a very difficult time for farmers.
Now providing them with with an opportunity to generate additional income in that particular period of time, reduces the stress levels for them and also reduces their, you know, increases actually their ability to leave vanilla longer on the vine.
And therefore also increases the, , you know, the, the, the fact that more mature vanilla is coming to the market and more quality vanilla is coming to our processes.
Mhm, I see.
And somebody else is asking a two part question really, can it be claimed that vanilla from Madagascar is the best vanilla and what about any other activities in other countries for sim rise, anything now or anything that you've got coming up?
Yeah, , vanilla in Madagascar has a very long, history, yeah, so there is a very long tradition, of, vanilla in that country, specifically in the Saba region.
It is, it is, it is where, , farmers have, have, have, you know, our understanding how to grow vanilla.
It is also the place where, the curing process has been perfectionized over the years by sharing knowledge from one generation to another.
And it really is that, you know, it really is that combination of, both having, the right growing conditions, having the right growing practices, as as the right curing processes, that makes, you know, makes a high quality vanilla, yeah.
And, we, we see that the, the, the quality of vanilla that we get from Madagascar is, is very high, it's also very rich.
It is, bourbon vanilla is, is also the vanilla that, our flavorists are, , you know, prefer to use when they're creating the richer extracts they're producing or they're creating for our customers.
So yes, it is, it is a very high quality vanilla that we see coming from Madagascar now.
When it comes to other countries or other origins.
We're, of course, also at SIMRS exploring other origins.
We're exploring, , India.
We're exploring Uganda, to, , diversify our supply.
And also to see how we can bring, also very high quality vanilla from these countries to the markets.
I see.
Let's move on to the issue of traceability.
We, this is talked a lot, in the FNB landscape generally.
So, how, how does SIRS ensure its traceability here?
Yeah, I, I think, I think, you know, I've touched on it in the in the webinar.
It is, it is, you know, for us it's very simple.
We're, we're, we're, we're, we're closest to the source.
We're 365 days a year on the ground, you know, we basically know every farmer, we work with.
We, we have, For every farmer, farmer and every farm, we have a detailed file where we, we know how he's growing vanilla, how he's, , you know, what other crops he's growing as , for example, where his plot is situated exactly, how much he's supplied to us.
And, that's, that's, that's, that's really critically important for us.
So we have that very, we, we have that approach, we have that very being very close to, to our farmers, and at the same time we're also having our chain of custodies, or chain of custody certified by third party, , organizations like the Rainforest Alliance.
For example, so, you know, we can really guarantee, that very high traceability to our customers.
Other people are asking if there's any other specifications that can be added to a product.
Yeah, , we, we work, we work with, with most of them, yeah, we, we, we have a, a good portfolio of certifications available in, in, in our, our solutions.
So, Rainforest Alliance, as I, as I've mentioned, we also have organic vanilla, we have, UTZ certified vanilla, we have.
Fair trade certified vanilla, so you know, I, I think the, the, the platform and the way we work, on the ground in Madagascar provides us actually with that ability to, offer that wide spectrum of certified vanilla to our customers.
Mm, OK, that's great.
We've got lots of questions here, but I think we've just got time for one more.
People are asking, can you explain, explore a little bit more what the highest quality actually means?
Yeah, basically it all comes down.
To, you know, what makes a really good quality vanilla, basically it comes down to two things.
It comes down to making sure that, a vanilla bean is mature when, when it's harvested, and, and, you know, I've, I've spoken a little bit about the approach, the sustainability actions we're taking with farmers in order to enable them that they can, you know, keep vanilla beans long enough on the vine so that they are mature when they are harvesting.
That's really important because actually in the two last weeks before maturity, the precursors for the rich profile that a cured vanilla will develop later are formed in, in the bean, yeah, so.
You know, that really is critical that two last weeks, that's, that's absolutely crucial.
Now, when, when a vanilla bean is harvested, obviously it's green, it has, it has no taste, it has no smell, and then I come to my second criteria, you need to have.
The appropriate curing process.
Yeah, you need to make sure that when the vanilla bean is harvested and the precursors are formed with within that very mature bean, you form or the, the, the, the taste, the, you know, the flavoring substances in the bean are having the time to develop through the appropriate brewing process.
And it's really a matter of having the right process in place with the right steps at the right time.
And letting that process having its time.
Yeah, so that's, that's a really important part as.
And then in the end, you come indeed, indeed to, to a vanilla bean, a vanilla product, that is very rich, yeah, has a beautiful bouquet of Of, of, of, of a beautiful smell, a beautiful bouquet, all of the, the flavoring substances that are needed for a flavorist to then create, very rich, and, you know, very appreciated, vanilla extract that we then supply to our customers.
OK, that's great, Yannick.
Some great questions there from our audience and some very detailed responses there.
That concludes today's question, and I'd like to thank everyone for tuning in to this webinar and thanks again to you, Yannick, and to Timm Rise.
Any questions that we didn't have time to answer today will be answered by email, and an on-demand version of this webinar will be sent to you shortly.
Thanks again for joining and enjoy the rest of your day, everybody.
Goodbye.
