IFRA-IOFI Sustainability Charter_

More than one hun­dred and forty com­pa­nies have sig­ned the IFRA-IOFI Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Char­ter, sup­por­ting a collec­ti­ve effort to rai­se the bar for sus­tai­na­bi­lity in the fla­vor and fra­gran­ce sectors.

Our volun­tary fra­me­work demons­tra­tes our sen­se of res­pon­si­bi­lity and our com­mit­ment to making the dif­fe­ren­ce for the pla­net, for peo­ple and for our business.

The Char­ter is open, inclu­si­ve and com­prehen­si­ve, taking a life-cycle approach and giving the oppor­tu­nity and tools for ever­yo­ne in our indus­tries to con­tri­bu­te to a brigh­ter and more sus­tai­na­ble future.

First con­cei­ved in 2016, and laun­ched in 2020, the Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Char­ter has been further deve­lo­ped and refi­ned. The recently relea­sed ​‘Char­ter 2.0’ rein­for­ces an already ambi­tious approach to sus­tai­na­bi­lity across the two indus­tries and expands the focus areas and com­mit­ments. The main sus­tai­na­bi­lity com­mit­ments inclu­de work on sus­tai­na­bi­lity defi­ni­tions, alter­na­ti­ves to ani­mal tes­ting, bio­di­ver­sity – inclu­ding defo­res­ta­tion and car­bon mana­ge­ment – Green Che­mistry, work­pla­ce cul­tu­re, and the ​‘essen­tia­lity’ of fla­vors and fragrances.

Visit the IFRA-IOFI Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Char­ter website »

See the list of Char­ter Signatories »

Repor­ting on Progress

The Inter­na­tio­nal Fra­gran­ce Asso­cia­tion (IFRA) and the Inter­na­tio­nal Orga­ni­za­tion of the Fla­vor Industry (IOFI) published their joint first Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Report in June 2021, whe­re we pre­sen­ted the sta­te of play – on how sig­na­tory com­pa­nies are ful­fi­lling or wor­king towards the Com­mit­ments in the Charter.

The report itself is based on the results of an anony­mi­zed sur­vey sent out to the current Char­ter sig­na­to­ries to the IFRA-IOFI Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Char­ter, spread over 21 coun­tries world­wi­de. The Char­ter is a collec­ti­ve effort to ​’rai­se the bar’ for sus­tai­na­bi­lity in the fla­vor and fra­gran­ce sec­tors, with the current 17 spe­ci­fic com­mit­ments split across five ​‘Focus Areas’.

The second joint fra­gran­ce and fla­vor Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Report was published in June 2023. The report high­ligh­ted the pro­gress the sec­tors are making in beco­ming more envi­ron­men­tally friendly, on impro­ving work­pla­ce cul­tu­re, on pro­mo­ting alter­na­ti­ves to ani­mal tes­ting and on being more transparent.

The 3^rd IFRA-IOFI Sus­tai­na­bi­lity report publi­ca­tion is plan­ned for 2025.

Down­load the Reports here »

Rai­sing the bar for sustainability

The IFRA-IOFI Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Char­ter rai­ses the bar for sus­tai­na­bi­lity in the fla­vor and fra­gran­ce sec­tors, pro­vi­ding a new collec­ti­ve fra­me­work to enhan­ce our indus­tries’ con­tri­bu­tion to sus­tai­na­ble development.

Our Char­ter builds on our proud heri­ta­ge and on the long-stan­ding com­mit­ment to sus­tai­na­ble deve­lop­ment across its many dimen­sions that has been shown by many indi­vi­dual com­pa­nies in the fla­vor and fra­gran­ce sectors.

A volun­tary initia­ti­ve, the Char­ter com­ple­ments com­pany sus­tai­na­bi­lity pro­grams, hel­ping our indus­tries as a who­le to make advan­ces on sus­tai­na­bi­lity by sha­ring best prac­ti­ce and bench­mar­king progress.

Making the dif­fe­ren­ce – for pla­net, peo­ple and business

The IFRA-IOFI Sus­tai­na­bi­lity Char­ter is our indus­tries’ collec­ti­ve con­tri­bu­tion to impro­ving our envi­ron­men­tal, social and eco­no­mic sus­tai­na­bi­lity per­for­man­ce for the pla­net, for peo­ple and for our busi­ness, ins­pi­red by the Uni­ted Nations Sus­tai­na­ble Deve­lop­ment Goals.

Our Char­ter under­li­nes the cen­tral role sus­tai­na­bi­lity plays in our busi­ness: we play a pivo­tal and uni­que role in sour­cing a wide ran­ge of raw mate­rials from natu­ral and synthe­tic ori­gin and tur­ning them – with the help of cut­ting-edge scien­ce – into valued high-end products.

We act res­pon­sibly, using our influen­ce throughout the value chain to dri­ve posi­ti­ve chan­ge ups­tream, with far­mers and other sup­pliers; in our own indus­tries; and downs­tream, with con­su­mer goods com­pa­nies and retailers.

Our Char­ter reflects the core prin­ci­ples that have gui­ded our work in the past and set the path for a sus­tai­na­ble futu­re: a com­mit­ment to human and envi­ron­men­tal health and safe use, and to excep­tio­nal pro­duct per­for­man­ce; a focus on inno­va­tion and on eco­no­mic sus­tai­na­bi­lity and pros­pe­rity; and a spi­rit of transparency.