Empowering Sustainable Sourcing: A Comprehensive Risk Assessment for Personal Care Products Company
Challenge
A global personal care products company set new ESG commitments aimed at improving its sustainable sourcing practices. To gain deeper insight into the social and environmental impacts of the ingredients used in their products, the company sought assistance from Antea Group to develop a sustainable sourcing risk assessment model. This model was designed to support four key ESG goals:
Define, map, and publish a list of priority ingredients for the company’s sustainability programs.
Continually enhance sourcing policies and practices.
Improve the sustainability profile of key ingredients throughout the product lifecycle, from sourcing to usage.
Identify opportunities to protect the environment, improve livelihoods, and build resilience among farmers, workers, and communities within the supply chain.
Solution
To meet these objectives, the project was organized into three primary activities:
Data Collection: Collaborating with the client’s Procurement and ESG teams, Antea Group gathered essential ingredient data, including bill of materials, chemical properties, purchase volumes, and supplier information.
Risk Model Development: Antea Group created a comprehensive risk model, incorporating data from over 30 globally recognized sources, to assess the environmental and social impacts of the materials. Additionally, a preliminary water risk assessment was conducted for key supplier and co-manufacturer locations.
Risk Drivers Research: Further research was conducted to identify the drivers and root causes of sustainability risks for priority ingredients, providing the foundation for future strategy and solutions development.
To ensure accurate assessment of chemical properties and risks, Antea Group engaged a PhD chemist to support the analysis.
Result
The risk assessment enabled the client to identify priority ingredients and the associated environmental and social risks that would be the focus of their immediate sustainable sourcing efforts. The findings have since been integrated into cross-functional discussions across various departments, including procurement, R&D, marketing, and regulatory affairs. Antea Group remains engaged with the client, offering ongoing support as they continue to implement these strategies in future projects.
