Sustainability guides everything we do, from how we collaborate with customers and partners, to the way we design, innovate, source and manufacture, and ultimately how we deliver to market.
Our Sustainability Leadership Team is composed of sustainability specialists as well as representatives of both our businesses and key partner functions. This ensures we take a company-wide, end-to-end, value-chain approach to our work.
Our goal is to bring progress to life through our products and services and we are committed to Progress for People and Planet in the way we run our business. We acknowledge a great deal must change for everyone to be able to flourish on a thriving planet and we have selected focus areas as outlined in the graphic below.
As key enablers we consider:
Broad engagement of employees across the company in our sustainability work and strong collaboration with customers, suppliers, and other partners
Embedding sustainability into key business decision-making processes
Leveraging data and technology for insights, transparency, and automation
Impact measurement and reporting
Sustainable Portfolio Steering (SPS) is an important strategic tool for dsm-firmenich.
By understanding the potential impact of our current product portfolio and innovation pipeline, we can steer our activities toward ever more sustainable business.
We are developing a new integral assessment approach that is agnostic to our business activities. This assessment will aim to address impact areas from the use of raw materials to the effects of products during the use phase, and will also consider elements linked to health, social, climate, and nature.
To create a future-fit method, we are collaborating with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to develop sustainable portfolio management best practices and are also aligning with the concepts of the EU Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework. Integrating SPS into our stage-gate approach for innovation further strengthens our ability to select projects that contribute to progress by combining a sound financial business case with well-understood sustainability impact.
Contribution to SDGs
Our sustainability work supports delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through our business activities we contribute primarily to SDGs 2, 3, 8, 12 and 13, while for our people and operations we focus on SDGs 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10.
Business-activity-focused SDGs:
People-and-operations-focused SDGs:
Our integrated report and value creation
ESRS SBM-1
The Integrated Reporting Framework from the IFRS Foundation defines an integrated report as a concise communication about how an organization’s strategy, governance, performance, and prospects – in the context of its external environment – lead to the creation of value in the short, medium, and long term. We have been publishing integrated reports for many years to support informed decision-making and positively impact investor and stakeholder relations.
The Framework’s value creation model depicts the organization's capital inputs, business model, and capital outputs, which help deliver sustainable growth and positive impact. Our business model and value chain can be described as follows:
Inputs
Financial
€22,511 million
Shareholders' equity
€2,556 million
Net Debt
Manufactured
330
Sites
60
Countries
Intellectual
>16,000
Patents
€796 million
R&D expenditure
Human
28,214
Employees
36:64
Female:male ratio
Social
160,000 hours
Training
Natural
17,100 TJ
Primary energy use
5.4 million m3
Water consumption
Value Creation Model
Click to learn more about our businesses
Outputs
Financial
€2,118 million
Adjusted EBITDA
€0.94
Basic earnings per share
Manufactured
HaloScent® Pure, VertisTM, life’s®OMEGA, Mycofix®
and other products
Intellectual
164
New patents
15
R&D hubs
Human
0.24
Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR)
79%
Employee engagement
Social
620 million people
improved nutrition
Natural
95%
Renewable electricity
11,934.20 kt CO2e
Scope 1,2,3 emissions
Taste, Texture & Health
At dsm-firmenich we have the recipe to lead a new era in Taste, Texture and Health. Our boundless creativity and broad portfolio of unique and nutritious ingredients ensures consumer preferred food and beverages for every taste and occasion. We bring progress to life by co-creating with our customers to transform how the world eats.
Animal Nutrition & Health
We help the animal farming industry navigate – and accelerate – the all-important transition to sustainable food. Whether it’s neutralizing nasty toxins on feed grains, reducing methane from bovine burps, or putting higher-quality protein on our plates, we bring tomorrow’s farming solutions to life.
Health, Nutrition & Care
We go beyond the essential to co-develop desirable and sustainable science-backed products, powered by our expert services. A healthier world takes more than just ingredients. It takes an end-to-end, purpose-led partner that brings progress to life.
Perfumery & Beauty
Smell that? That’s the scent of conscious perfumery and beauty – all with a more positive impact on people and planet. Using outstanding ingredients, we bring together the best of nature and science through a responsible and sustainable approach.
Capital inputs and approach
- Financial capital: sourced from shareholders and invested into operations to drive innovation and expansion
- Manufactured capital: includes production facilities and technological infrastructure
- Intellectual capital: represented by extensive R&D capabilities and proprietary technologies
- Human capital: embodied by a talented and dedicated workforce
- Social capital: built through strong relationships with stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and communities
- Natural capital: involves the sustainable use of resources such as water, energy, and raw materials
The organization gathers, develops, and secures these inputs through strategic investments, robust R&D activities, talent management, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable resource management.
Business model and value chain
The business model leverages these capital inputs to create value through interconnected activities. The organization operates as one Group, united by a common purpose and values. It has four Business Units – Perfumery & Beauty; Taste, Texture & Health; Health, Nutrition & Care; and Animal Nutrition & Health – each with a high degree of autonomy and full accountability for manufacturing plants and supply chain. These Business Units are supported by Business Partners who enable excellence and efficiency. The organization's purpose is to bring progress to life by combining the essential, the desirable, and the sustainable.
The main features of the organization's upstream and downstream value chain include key suppliers, customers, distribution channels, and end-users. The organization maintains strong relationships with these business actors to ensure efficient and effective value creation. Key suppliers provide essential raw materials and components, while customers and distribution channels help deliver products and services to end-users.
Capital outputs and outcomes
The outputs of the model are multifaceted and contribute to value creation for stakeholders:
- Financial outputs: revenue growth, profitability, and shareholder returns
- Manufactured outputs: high-quality products and innovative solutions
- Intellectual outputs: patents, trademarks, and industry-leading research
- Human outputs: employee development, engagement, and well-being
- Social outputs: contributions to community development and stakeholder engagement
- Natural outputs: responsible management of environmental resources and reduction of ecological footprint
These outputs and outcomes provide current and expected benefits for customers, investors, and other stakeholders, ensuring sustainable growth and positive impact.
