Lindt & Sprüngli Leads the Charge in Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable procurement is a vital tool for advancing business innovation and success.
In a conversation with EcoVadis' Annette Gevaert, SVP, Alliances & Strategic Initiatives for its EV Talks series, Julia Laveissierre, Head of Responsible Sourcing at Lindt & Sprüngli Group, explores how integrating EcoVadis and Sievo has shifted its procurement approach.
Integrating sustainability into procurement
Lindt & Sprüngli, the renowned Swiss confectioner, adopts an innovative approach to sustainable procurement by embedding EcoVadis Ratings directly into its Sievo sourcing platform.
The integration reshapes how the company evaluates and manages supplier sustainability across its worldwide supply chain.
The Sievo-EcoVadis connector is pivotal, centralising sourcing decisions and granting easy access to information during the risk validation process. This streamlines sustainable procurement, reaching 76% supplier coverage while fortifying supply chain resilience.
Lindt & Sprüngli merges EcoVadis sustainability data with Sievo's procurement intelligence, creating a centralised source of sustainability insights within its sourcing operations, alleviating the need to switch between various systems.
With a commendable 76% of its suppliers covered by sustainability ratings, the company gains valuable visibility into its supply chain.
This access facilitates swift risk assessments by making important sustainability data readily available during sourcing decisions, boosting supply chain resilience through sustainability assessments.
The integration ensures procurement teams can make knowledgeable decisions balancing cost, quality and sustainability without disrupting existing processes.
The result is a more robust, sustainable supply chain aligned with Lindt & Sprüngli's commitment to responsible sourcing, enhancing its operational efficiency.
Bringing order to data complexity
Determined to measure supplier sustainability maturity, Lindt & Sprüngli selects EcoVadis for its ability to integrate seamlessly into its chosen procurement analytical tool, Sievo. This integration houses all necessary data for informed sourcing decisions.
The API integration into Sievo introduces order to previously unstructured data, standardising supplier names and simplifying the buyer's responsibilities.
"Sievo is acting like a data lake," Julia explains: "Suddenly, in one place, the buyer can manage sustainability as they manage the rest."
Julia illustrates an example where, within Sievo, a scorecard request can be directed to a supplier, enabling access to results. Buyers can promptly identify which suppliers have not completed their sustainability assessments and view scores, which can then be presented back to the supplier.
The integration promotes uniformity and transparency, empowering Sievo to serve as a key resource for buyers making decisions, as well as utilising the platform's evaluative capabilities.
Sievo users can conveniently access supplier performance, spend and sustainability data.
Julia adds: "The beauty of that is, because this tool is highly adopted for a long time, the buyer suddenly also has access to sustainability and it becomes fully integrated into discussion with suppliers, into category reviews, risk management. In one place, they can do everything."
Strengthening supply chains with partnerships
As procurement teams are tasked with adhering to stringent regulations, EcoVadis emerges as an instrumental tool for Lindt & Sprüngli, assisting in due diligence and risk validation efforts.
In reducing carbon footprints, Lindt solicits supplier collaboration. If a supplier is deemed high risk, the EcoVadis score aids in fulfilling due diligence needs.
Sustainable procurement is instrumental for Lindt & Sprüngli, with Julia emphasising it as a fundamental element for the long-term development of the business.
Sustainable procurement fosters resilience within Lindt & Sprüngli’s supply chain, aiding in the management of supply crises.
Looking forward, Julia anticipates continuity in challenges, stressing the importance of a resilient supply chain in addressing these hurdles.
Effective dialogue with partners is key, as highlighted by Julia's assertion that innovation holds significance: "To be able to be resilient, you have to do business differently than you do today, and your partners or suppliers can't do it alone."
Julia concludes: "We cannot just ask suppliers to do things. We need to partner with them - it's a virtuous circle where you create innovation, you can invest and help them to change."
