New Sustainability Award Shines a Spotlight on Suppliers With Impact

The first recipients of the Beckers Sustainability Award for Suppliers with Impact have been named as Yuanli Chem (China) and Crest (India).

Launched with a digital awards ceremony in which the winners from 2019 and 2020 were announced, the new award showcases the significant efforts and achievements of our global network of suppliers in the areas of people, product and operations.

Strengthening the sustainability competence of suppliers and partners is a critical part of our 2030 Sustainability Strategy, which includes the target of net sustainable products making up 50% of sales, 50% reduction of CO2 emissions from third-party logistics as well as 55% reduction from our own operation by 2030.

For our supply chain partners upstream we have set the long-term target of sourcing 80% of our global raw material demand from suppliers, that Beckers has approved as sustainable partners. We have followed this objective since 2015 and have made significant progress towards these goals. In 2020 we reached 75%, meaning three quarters of our supply comes from partners who have gone through the globally recognised EcoVadis CSR rating and their results qualify for Beckers approval.

The focus now is on bringing all our partners to this level, particularly in Asia where despite high profile success stories—the 2019 and 2020 recipients are from China and India respectively—there remains an urgent need for further action and leadership on the part of suppliers.

In selecting the winners, the jury looked at specific market conditions as well as visibility of impact and connection to Beckers’ values and business.

Introducing the awards, Thomas Lüder, Beckers’ Global Director Procurement and Supply Chain Management, praised all the shortlisted partners, which included suppliers from Europe, the Americas and Asia. He called the winners “pioneers” in their markets, “holding up the stick for sustainability.”

A theme that was highlighted in the opening remarks by Nicklas Augustsson, Beckers’ Global Sustainability Director, and picked up again by Thomas Lüder was the importance of industry-wide cooperation and common benchmarks:

“It’s important that we’re not requesting something from partners that is just for us and creates a lot of workload for them that is not productive, but that we come together on an industry platform and work together as a whole industry.”

He also expressed his hope and belief that the award winners will help to inspire other partners to further improve their CSR efforts, promising that: “[Beckers] will intensify our cooperation with suppliers, especially in the development of sustainable products.”

Nicklas Augustsson was equally emphatic about the need for continued and sustained cooperation, saying: “This is a challenging journey that we cannot do alone.”