Azelis, a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, is supporting the Sustainable Guar Initiative of Solvay, a world leader in guar derivatives used in home and personal care. Solvay has launched this initiative together with TechnoServe, a non-profit organization which teaches and promotes sustainable agricultural practices among 3,000 farmers across twenty villages in the desert region of Bikaner, Rajasthan. The partnership with Solvay will allow Azelis to distribute sustainably sourced guar derivatives to its Home and Personal Care customers in the mandated countries within Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
The Sustainable Guar Initiative targets to increase the revenue of engaged guar farming households by 25% through best guar farming practices while also supporting initiatives such as groundwater-preservation, women’s empowerment, health and hygiene as well as climate-resilient practices in guar farming and tree plantation. Next to backing up the Sustainable Guar Initiative, Azelis is also a member of RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), a non-profit organization that develops global standards for sustainable palm oil through the supply chain to minimize the negative impact on the environment and communities in palm-oil production regions. The Azelis RSPO membership includes more than 40 entities with distribution licenses in EMEA, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, all committed to produce, source and/or use sustainable palm oil certified by the RSPO and with guaranteed traceability.
Dennis Hublitz, Market Segment Director Personal Care EMEA, comments:
“Sustainable products and sourcing is a key pillar of our sustainability strategy ‘Action 2025’. We didn’t hesitate a second to get on board with the Solvay’s Sustainable Guar Initiative. Through this program, we can have a positive impact on the lives of the farmers and their families involved while contributing to a more sustainable and transparent value chain. We will proudly promote and distribute the guar derivatives from sustainable agriculture in India.”
Anne Thomasson, Regional Market Director at Solvay, adds:
“We are proud to welcome Azelis to our Sustainable Guar Initiative program. Thanks to this partnership, we will expand the positive impact of this initiative on the daily lives of enrolled guar farmers, especially women farmers, while supporting a long-term sustainable, fair and transparent value chain. And we are sure this program will also inspire our beauty care customers for their future formulations."