Sustainability
Sustainability is at the core of HNC’s growth strategy, serving our purpose, Together elevating health. In 2025, we deepened partnerships across the value chain to accelerate progress on Scope 3 and broader impact areas. We collaborate closely with our suppliers to drive key sustainability levers, such as transitioning to renewable energy and implementing sustainable agricultural practices.
Our core ingredients portfolio is supported by the Sustainability Imp’Act Card™, a tool that provides transparent, science-based metrics on the environmental footprint of our products at ingredient level. It also includes data on traceability, certifications, and social impact, enabling customers to steer their portfolios toward sustainable outcomes. Formally integrating sustainability into letters of intent and agreements reinforces the role of sustainability as a business driver, while joint carbon reduction journeys — such as Product Carbon Footprint analysis — deliver measurable results.
Highlights this year include industry-recognized initiatives in decarbonization. A flagship example, featured in WBCSD Business Action Bank, showcases our low-carbon vitamin C solution with a verified 49% lower footprint versus mainstream alternatives, achieved through renewable energy and process optimization, and measured through life cycle assessment. This earned us Bayer’s 2025 Procurement Supplier Decarbonization Excellence Award, celebrating transformative practices at our Dalry (UK) site and our role in “setting benchmarks in the industry.” This is described in further detail in our story on the following page.
We are also addressing evolving stakeholder expectations on sustainability topics such as waste management and circularity, with our Dalry site revalorizing most of the process waste into fertilizers or for land restoration.
Internally, regional sustainability trainings strengthened frontline capabilities, embedding a culture of accountability, innovation, and measurable impact. And our GMP Food laboratory in Kaiseraugst (Switzerland) has achieved the My Green Lab Platinum certification, the highest global standard for sustainable laboratory practices, reinforcing our leadership in environmental responsibility and innovation.
Innovation
We advanced our leadership in strategic health innovation areas linked to key consumer trends and needs. We expanded our health from the gut solutions with multiple new Humiome® concepts comprising prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics. In 2025, we continued to accelerate the strategic shift from fish oil to our proprietary, sustainable algal-based omega-3s through the continued growth of the life’s®OMEGA portfolio. We also obtained new regulatory approvals, notably in China, for our GLYCARE® HMO portfolio.
Key product launches in 2025 included:
life’s®OMEGA O2722: in China: our single-source algal omega-3 has the same EPA-to-DHA ratio naturally found in standard fish oil, but with twice the potency. It was launched after meeting stringent Chinese regulations (see Leading the algal shift)
Humiome® post LB: The world’s most clinically proven postbiotic was launched in an allergen-free form, allowing its incorporation in tending formats like gummies
Our pharma taste portfolio: With 14 distinct flavor tonalities and optimized formulas to limit number of ingredients, this portfolio is designed to streamline the regulatory approval process and overcome flavor challenges from infants to adults
Biomedical certified the entire Ulteeva Purity™ portfolio as bio-based and introduced new vibrant colors to provide contrast to white high-strength orthopedic sutures that simplify complex arthroscopic procedures.
Partnerships
HNC is committed to addressing major global challenges in human health and nutrition, recognizing that meaningful progress requires strong partnerships built on a shared mission. Through continuing collaborations with organizations such as the Gates Foundation and the World Food Programme, we are helping to combat hunger and malnutrition among the world’s most vulnerable populations, including children and pregnant women.
In 2025, these efforts contributed to expanding access to essential micronutrients for millions of people through cost-effective, large-scale food fortification. By incorporating high-quality, affordable nutrients into widely consumed staple foods, we are helping to tackle malnutrition at its root and driving measurable improvements in health outcomes worldwide.
See Sustainability performance and Sustainability Statements for more information.