Consumer demands lead commercial performance and a brand that doesn’t satisfy ethical needs can be a real roadblock to success in the health and nutrition sector, he says.
The business has seen a significant shift in market priorities from the point of view of both customers and consumers, he explains, which will see pharmaceuticals, commercial health and wellbeing, functional ingredients and biomedical technology companies leverage sustainability as a competitive edge.
As such, the company is reviewing its entire supply chain from sourcing and manufacturing to logistics, resulting to “progressive changes” to align with market expectations and achieve its five-year sustainable target.
Rehné comments: “Our team is currently in the phase of roadmapping how we will achieve this, but what remains key is that we do this in a data-led way, making every single element more measurable.”
Evolution, not revolution
Clasado will take an analytical approach to the business review “to understand where our operations currently sit” and identify areas where it can make “operations ‘greener’ – in a meaningful way”.
“When it comes to building a more sustainable business, it’s definitely a case of evolution, not revolution. Through the full length of our supply chain, we aim to make smaller, more numerous improvements rather than sweeping changes,” Rehné explains.
“This approach means we can measure and monitor our performance and improve our environmental performance gradually and organically.”
Making positive changes to reduce its environmental footprint will also appease ‘formulators’ looking for sustainable ingredients.
Rehné maintains: “By shoring up our own ‘green’ performance, we’re boosting the value proposition of our own prebiotic ingredient and supporting the next generation of consumer-led health products.”
Broad approach
Building on the success of Clasado’s Bimuno galactooligosaccharide (GOS) prebiotic brand, will continue to be a main area of focus and especially plans for global expansion into other geographical regions, including Australia and New Zealand, and EMEA.
“For Bimuno, both the functional ingredient and range of finished prebiotic supplements, our drive to be a more sustainable business further marks us out as a forward-looking partner and a leader in our industry.”
A project to develop sustainable packaging for Bimuno supplements is already underway, and Clasado is seeking Sedex certification for ethical supply chain compliance, as well as working towards full compliance to the UN Global Compact commitment on corporate sustainability.
“I think it’s also important that we look at the wider elements of what it means to be a sustainable business – environmental and social governance (ESG),” claims Rehné.
Furthermore, Clasado will participate in national initiatives such as the UK’s Green Claims Code and the Race to Net Zero, to further raise its environmental profile.
He adds: “At the heart, we want to ‘leave the world a better place than we found it’. For us, this means also partnering with charitable causes that aim to make a real difference. As a globally operating business, we feel it’s imperative to ‘give back’ wherever possible.”
