EcoVadis Announces 2023 Sustainable Procurement Leadership Award Winners

Estée Lauder, EVONIK, Shiseido Company, Limited, Deutsche Post DHL, Clariant, Lidl International, and Lenovo Recognized for Excellence in Sustainable Procurement Performance

EcoVadis, the leading provider of business sustainability ratings, today announced the winners of its seventh annual Sustainable Procurement Leadership Awards program. Winners were announced at the EcoVadis Sustain 2023 virtual conference.

The EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement Leadership Awards recognize companies who are leading the charge in engaging and integrating sustainability into their relationships with trading partners around the globe.

“Despite the challenging business and regulatory environment we were honored to receive more than forty highly qualified award nominations - the most ever. This year’s winners exemplify the tangible actions and progress being made to drive positive change through their sustainable procurement initiatives,” said Frédéric Trinel, Co-CEO of EcoVadis. “We congratulate these organizations and individuals who are taking the lead in incorporating sustainability into their supplier relationships worldwide.”

The Awards cover three main categories:

Best Value Chain Engagement

Winners: Deutsche Post DHL, and Clariant

This award – selected from over 26 applications – was given to two companies and recognizes their excellence in engaging trading partners in sustainability initiatives and honors best-in-class examples of driving internal engagement to roll out global sustainable procurement programs. Nominees were evaluated on strategy and approach, procurement integration, scale and coverage, and program results.

The award was selected by an independent panel of judges composed of industry experts: Brigitte Monsou Tantawi, Former Director of Sustainable Value Chain of WBCSD; Divya Demato, CEO of GoodOps; and Sarah O’Brien, CEO of Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council.

In the case of the two winners, the judges noted their comprehensive and consistent programs aimed at educating suppliers not only on what to do but why. Whether across a massive supplier base or a more specialized and limited population of suppliers, both winning candidates set very clear expectations and integrated them not just in codes of conduct but in specific detailed engagements to ensure understanding and alignment.

Anna Spinelli, Chief Procurement Officer, Deutsche Post DHL

“We are delighted to receive this recognition from EcoVadis. Sustainability is a core element of Deutsche Post DHL Group strategy and an integral pillar of our Procurement Strategy 2025. I am deeply convinced that procurement is generating substantial value for the business, creating a true competitive advantage through its ESG Supplier Programs.

“For Deutsche Post DHL Group a ‘great place to work for all’ means also for the suppliers who have been working tirelessly, in particular during the recent difficult times, to build a sustainable value chain. Building from this foundation is undoubtedly a great motivation for our global team.”

Nicola Comiotto, Head of Global Function Procurement, Clariant

“We are honored EcoVadis recognized our ongoing initiatives in improving supply chain transparency and decarbonizing our global value chain. Clariant stands for Greater Chemistry – between people and planet. Engaging with our suppliers to continuously improve their environmental and social practices is central to our sustainability strategy. These collaborative efforts in building a resilient and sustainable supply chain not only contribute to our Scope 3 reduction targets, but also ultimately create value for our customers’ own sustainability journey.”

Read the full profiles of the expert judges and details on the key attributes of these winning programs here.

Outstanding Program Leadership

Winners: Vishal Gajjar (Lidl International), and Qing Qu (Lenovo)

This award recognizes individuals with outstanding contribution to driving a sustainable procurement initiative forward within their company. The award is nominated and selected by the EcoVadis team based on sustainable procurement program leadership, results and demonstrated excellence in program strategy and execution.

Stefan Haensel, Vice President CSR, Purchasing and QA Non Food, Lidl International

“We are very proud that Vishal Gajjar has been awarded with the EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement Leadership Award. Social responsibility, fair trade, sustainable production and careful use of natural resources are firmly anchored in our processes and are a central component of our economic activities. For us, the award shows that we are on the right path together with our suppliers – but we also know that there is still a lot to do. Together with our suppliers, we want to continue working to use our influence to make positive changes in our supply chains. Many thanks to EcoVadis for supporting us on this path.”

Dustin Deal, Director of Global Supply Chain Sustainability, Lenovo

“It’s a great honor to receive the Outstanding Program Leadership award from EcoVadis, our partner on the Sustainability journey. This recognition is a testament to our commitment to creating a better world for future generations through sustainable business practices. We are constantly looking for ways to improve sustainability in our operations. This award is a recognition of the progress we have made so far. A special thank you to Qing Qu, Rita Yang, Zhexian Xue, Yuky Cheng, Zhuoran Xu and Lenovo Global Supply Chain team for the collaboration with EcoVadis and contributions to our success.”

Best Portfolio Performance Improvement

Winners: Estée Lauder (Americas), EVONIK (Europe), and Shiseido Company, Limited (APAC)

This award is granted to three companies by region whose portfolio demonstrates the strongest improvement in sustainability performance, based on several program scope and improvement factors of their EcoVadis scorecards published in 2022. This category was not open for submissions and was instead granted based on the EcoVadis data.

Americas: Roberto Magana, Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer, The Estée Lauder Companies

“The Estée Lauder Companies is proud to be recognized by EcoVadis for our commitment to collaborating with our suppliers to advance sustainability across our end-to-end value chain. Our responsible sourcing, procurement and sustainability strategies all place a strong focus on supporting our partners on their own continuous improvement journeys. Our close partnership is absolutely critical to driving collective progress. To that end, I want to thank our suppliers and invite them to share in this great achievement, which would not have been possible without their dedication and action. Congratulations!”

Europe: Dr. Gӧtz Lauschke, Chief Procurement Officer, EVONIK

“We are very proud to receive the EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement Leadership Award 2023. Sustainability is at the very core of our business purpose at Evonik and we emphasize sustainable procurement practices throughout our supply chain. This award highlights that we are on the right track to create long-term value for all stakeholders and contribute to a more resilient and prosperous future for the society and the planet. Of course, this is only possible in trustful cooperation with our business partners. Therefore, I would like to thank our suppliers and Evonik colleagues for their outstanding contributions towards a more sustainable supply chain.”

APAC: Daiji Sugata, Vice President, Procurement Department, Shiseido Company, Limited

“We are greatly honored and humbled to receive the ‘Best Portfolio Performance Improvement’ for the EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement Leadership Awards 2023. We believe that we received this award as a result of our close collaboration and partnership with our suppliers and EcoVadis.

“Driven by our corporate mission, ‘BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD,’ and looking ahead to our vision for 2030, Shiseido is committed to helping create a sustainable world where everyone can enjoy a lifetime of happiness through the power of beauty.

“We place Sustainability at the core of Shiseido’s business strategy and strongly encourage ‘Responsible Procurement.’

“To strengthen our sustainability initiatives, we established a new responsible procurement policy in 2022 and deployed EcoVadis in all regions. Our goal is to create a sustainable supply chain and minimize risks across the entire supply chain together with our suppliers and EcoVadis.

“We would like to share our sincere gratitude to our suppliers and EcoVadis for their continuous support and truly look forward to achieving our goal together.”

In addition to these awards, EcoVadis also recognizes a selection of small- and medium-sized rated companies across the globe who achieved exceptionally high performance in their EcoVadis rating in the past year. Learn more on the 2023 Sustainability Leadership Awards here.

About EcoVadis

EcoVadis is a purpose-driven company whose mission is to provide the world's most trusted business sustainability ratings. Businesses of all sizes rely on EcoVadis’ expert intelligence and evidence-based ratings to monitor and improve the sustainability performance of their business and trading partners. Its actionable scorecards, benchmarks, carbon action tools, and insights guide an improvement journey for environmental, social and ethical practices across 200 industry categories and 175 countries. Industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, L’Oréal, Unilever, LVMH, Bridgestone, BASF and JPMorgan are among the 100,000 businesses that collaborate with EcoVadis to drive resilience, sustainable growth and positive impact worldwide. Learn more on ecovadis.com, Twitter or LinkedIn.

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