Bell Renews Strategic Partnerships to Drive Sustainability Commitments

Bell Flavors & Fragrances Renews Strategic Partnerships to Drive Sustainability Commitments

 

Global Flavors and Fragrances Company Dedicated to Corporate Sustainability


August 22, 2022 —

Bell’s Sustainability Program
Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. is a signatory member of the IFRA-IOFI Sustainability Charter, which is built around five focus areas: Responsible Sourcing, Environmental Footprint, Employee Well-Being, Product Safety, and Transparency. Whether it is by reducing use of finite resources, careful management of renewable resources, responsible employment practices, promoting leading-edge safety standards, or nurturing of relationships with stakeholders, customers and consumers, all aspects of a business value chain can benefit from a sustainable approach.

“Bell partners with suppliers and focuses on sustainability and responsible sourcing to provide solutions for customers and consumers that demand and expect transparency. Our company is committed to make a difference for the planet and customers – our passion for the environment drives us to protect its ecosystem use and the integrity of our supply chain,” states Diego Darquea C., Vice President of Global Flavor & Fragrance Quality, Compliance and Safety.

Bell has programs in place for supplier approval and validation for 3rd party certification requirements such as EcoVadis, Sedex and Safe Quality Food. Furthermore, through Bell’s culture of strong cooperation and win-win attitude, they are actively exploring the potential for certification or verification from accredited sustainability programs with supply chain partners (i.e., UEBT, Rain Forest Alliance/UTZ, ECOCERT).

EcoVadis
Bell was recently awarded a silver medal in recognition of sustainability achievements by EcoVadis after completion of its audit at Bell’s global headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois. EcoVadis provides holistic sustainability rating that covers a range of systems including environmental, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. To date, Ecovadis has rated over 75,000 partners worldwide including some of the world’s largest organizations while positively impacting the environment and fostering transparency.

Safe Quality Food
Bell has partnered with the Safe Quality Foods Institute to showcase their commitment to a “culture of food safety and operational excellence in food safety management. The Safe Quality Food Program is a rigorous and credible food safety and quality program that is recognized by retailers, brand owners, and food service providers world-wide, recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative.” Bell is pleased to announce that for the 2021-2022 period, all of its four North America sites received an “Excellent” rating.

Sedex
Bell is proud to continue their ongoing corporate membership with Sedex, the largest and most recognized ethical data exchange platform and audit program with over 55,000 members in 180 countries, across 35 industry sectors, including food, agriculture, financial services, clothing and apparel, packaging and chemicals. This voluntary, global certification is renewed annually, with Bell required to undergo a Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) performed at five site-specific levels, including Illinois (corporate headquarters), New York, Mexico, Canada and Germany. SMETA is one of the most widely used social audits in the world, conducted to understand labor and human relations conditions, such as the health and safety of workers.

U.S. Organic Certification
Each year, Bell certifies its organic flavors as a flavor manufacturing house that handles organic products prior to reaching consumers and store shelves. In order to be defined as organic, the flavors, botanicals and ingredients that Bell uses for final product applications must meet certain criteria and strict compliance standards, including growth and extraction without synthetic pesticides or GMO’s. Among other criteria, protein-producing animals are also treated properly and without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones. Bell currently produces over 200 certified organic flavors held to these high Quality Assurance International (QAI) and USDA standards.

European Union (EU) Organic Certification
In order to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of flavors fitting market needs and growing consumer demands for organic products, Bell EMEA (Europe) has carried out an organic certification for its European site. Bell offers a new designed range of organic certified natural source flavors and beverage compounds, enabling beverage manufacturers to meet the new EU organic regulations while delivering authentic taste properties such as orange, lemon, apple, lime or cola, among others. The range further aims to add value for manufacturers and brands that are highly committed in sourcing solely organic-certified raw materials and claiming to provide market products based on exclusively organic ingredients.

“With investing in organic certified product solutions, we are not only supporting our customers in developing EU-compliant organic products. We are further reflecting Bell’s ambition to target consumer’s health and wellness aspirations and to provide our customers with opportunities to engage with broader target groups while increasing their brand‘s own value,” said Antje Wittich, Head of Marketing Bell EMEA.

Sustainability Through the Supply Chain
Bell is proud to partner with suppliers and focus on sustainability and responsible sourcing in order to provide solutions for customers and consumers that demand transparency. Bell is committed to making a difference for the planet and its customers, and the passion for the environment and its employees drives the company to protect its ecosystem use and supply chain health and safety.

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For media requests please contact David Banks, Senior Director of Marketing.

About Bell Flavors & Fragrances:

Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. is a leading supplier of flavors, fragrances, botanical extracts and ingredient specialties to the food and beverage industry, as well as the household care and personal care industries, offering over 100 years of exceptional customer service and experience. Bell has nine manufacturing plants worldwide including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Germany, Singapore, and China. Bell operates sales offices in more than 40 countries. Bell’s global presence allows flexibility in the world marketplace while constantly responding to emerging industry trends with solutions that bring added value and business opportunities to our customers. bellff.wpengine.com

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